The Polk County Enterprise was one of several Polk County Publishing Company-owned newspapers that received recognition in the 2026 Better Newspaper Contest at the 88th annual Texas Gulf Coast Press Association Convention held April 16-18 in Port Lavaca.
The Polk County Enterprise earned the Farris Block Memorial Community Service Award for its coverage of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas over the course of the calendar year 2025. Managing Editor Emily Banks Wooten compiled the coverage which included articles, photos and explanations.
In the special sections category, the Polk County Enterprise earned second place honors for its Veterans Day section which ran in the Nov. 9, 2025 issue. The 16-page, full-color section was a tribute to Polk County’s veterans past and present.
The Polk County Enterprise earned third place honors for display advertising and editorial writing.
The third-place award for display advertising was for three advertisements designed and built by Graphic Design Editor Amy Holzworth. One was an advertisement for MannaFest that ran on page 6A in the Feb. 6, 2025 issue. Another was an advertisement for the Scenic Loop Volunteer Fire Department’s annual crawfish boil and fish fry that ran on page 6A in the May 15, 2025 issue. The final one was an advertisement for Grease Monkey that ran on page 2E in the Nov. 2, 2025 issue.
The third-place award for the two entries entered in the editorial category were “Do you agree with canceling the editorial page?” in the March 27, 2024 issue written by Publisher Kelli Barnes and “Newspapers play a vital role in informing, empowering and uniting our communities” in the Oct. 5, 2025 issue written by Wooten.
The Polk County Enterprise received honorable mention for sports photos and sports coverage. The sports photos were taken by Sports Editor Brian Besch and the sports coverage was created by Besch and Sports Writer Albert Trevino.
Other newspapers owned by Polk County Publishing Company (PCPC) that placed in the contest were the Tyler County Booster, the San Jacinto News-Times and the Trinity County News-Standard.
The Tyler County Booster won first place for serious columns and honorable mention for humorous columns and news photos.
The San Jacinto News-Times won second place for general excellence, third place for humorous columns and honorable mention for news writing.
The Trinity County News-Standard won second place for serious columns, third place for general excellence and honorable mention for feature writing.
Barnes serves as secretary on the Board of Directors of the Texas Gulf Coast Press Association and PCPC Regional Sales & Marketing Director Ashley Keenan serves as second vice president. Keenan has previously served as contest chairman and sponsorship chairman and will serve as convention chairman for the upcoming year.
