In a field of tough competitors, Polk County Publishing Company (PCPC) received 14 awards in the 2025 Better Newspaper Contest during the 146th annual Texas Press Association (TPA) Convention & Trade Show held June 18-20 at the Hyatt Regency DFW Airport Hotel in Dallas.
This year, 103 newspapers from throughout the state submitted 1,020 entries in 17 different categories. Competitors were divided into divisions in which newspapers competed against publications of similar circulation. The entries were judged by members of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association.
Publisher Kelli Barnes, Polk County Enterprise Managing Editor Emily Banks Wooten, Tyler County Booster Editor Chris Edwards and Tony Farkas, editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times, attended the convention and trade show, participating in numerous informative sessions on current industry topics.
The Polk County Enterprise earned first place honors for page design, sports coverage and community service; second place honors for advertising; and fourth place honors for editorial writing.
The first place for page design is for a collection of four pages (front, opinion, sports, and lifestyle) designed by Design Editor Beth Faircloth and Graphic Designer Cheryl Lloyd. The first place for sports coverage is for work done by Sports Editor Brian Besch and Sports Writer Albert Trevino. The first place for community service is for Wooten’s compilation of the newspaper’s coverage of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas.
The second place for advertising is for ads designed by Design Editor Amy Holzworth for MannaFest, Scenic Loop VFD Annual Crawfish Boil & Fish Fry, and Grease Monkey.
The fourth place for editorial writing is for two editorials. One, written by Barnes, was titled “Do you agree with canceling the editorial page?,” and the other, written by Wooten, was titled “Newspapers play a vital role in informing, empowering and uniting our communities.”
Other newspapers owned by Polk County Publishing Company that placed in the contest are the Tyler County Booster, the San Jacinto News-Times and the Trinity County News-Standard.
The Tyler County Booster won second place for news photography and fourth place for column writing.
The San Jacinto News-Times won first place for page design and news writing, third place for sports coverage, and fourth place for column writing and headline writing.
The Trinity County News-Standard won second place for news writing and third place for column writing.
During the TPA annual business meeting, Barnes, an elected TPA director who serves as treasurer, presented the nominations. Barnes was also invited to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Texas Newspaper Foundation.
Four people were inducted into the Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame for exemplary service to their community and to the Texas newspaper industry – William Blair Jr. of The Elite News Dallas; Randy Mankin of the Eldorado Success; Frank W. Mayborn of the Temple Telegram; and Burl Osborne of The Dallas Morning News.
Three people were honored with TPA’s Golden 50 Award which honors men and women who have displayed exemplary service and selfless contributions to journalism for 50 or more years. Those three were Dana Garrett of the Lockhart Post-Register, Phil Major of the Wood County Monitor in Mineola; and Sherrie Geistweidt of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post.
Next year’s convention and trade show is slated for June 17-19 at the Hilton College Station and Conference Center in College Station.
