Imperial Republican wins state journalism awards

The Imperial Republican won several awards in the Nebraska Newspaper Publishers Association 2021 Better Newspaper Contest, including the statewide feature photo of the year, “I’m ready for my ride, grandpa,” by Diane Stamm.

 Overall, The Imperial Republican captured 11 awards.

A first-place award went to Russ Pankonin for “2020 precip lowest since 2002.” A first-place award for feature photography of the year went to Stamm for “Grabbing a snack.”

“A Salute to Beef,” which is a collaboration by staff members at The Imperial Republican, The Holyoke Enterprise and The Grant Tribune-Sentinel, won first place for special single section.

A second-place award went to Stamm for a state track signature ad. Kim Large won second place in the classified section category. A second-place award for best sports pages went to Stamm, Pankonin and Jan Schultz.

The Imperial Republican staff came home with second-place honors for editorial page, headline writing and front page.

A third-place award went to Large for a Chase County Community Hospital ad campaign.

The awards were announced at the 2022 Nebraska Press Association annual convention held April 29-30 in Kearney, Nebraska.