Northern Nevada Business Weekly reporter Kaleb M. Roedel earned a pair of awards for journalistic excellence from the Nevada Press Association this past weekend, including a first-place honor for writing.
Roedel and other Silver State journalists were honored Saturday night, Sept. 18, at the NPA’s annual Better Newspaper and Magazine Contest awards banquet in Reno.
The story discussed initial impacts of pandemic-related closures and restrictions on the region's restaurant industry, including interviews with several establishments grappling with the unknown of when — or, for some, if — they will be able to reopen their doors.
“Solid reporting, smooth writing and a thorough look at how a global crisis has reverberated through a local food and drink scene,” contest judges wrote about Roedel’s story. “At once a critical social story and an economic one.”
“Nicely written and reported look at COVID’s impact on a service industry. Good mix of sources,” judges wrote of Roedel’s reporting.
For this year’s contest, the NNBW competed in the Magazines category, pitting it against large-scale publications such as Tahoe Quarterly, edible Reno Tahoe, Las Vegas Weekly, rjmagazine, Las Vegas Magazine and Nevada Magazine, among others.
Go here to view full results from the 2021 Nevada Press Association Better Newspaper and Magazine Contest.
Entries for this year's contest — which covered a timeframe of April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021 — were judged by journalists within the Montana Newspapers Association. Of note, NPA’s other contest categories for this year were Urban (including, among others, The Nevada Independent, Reno Gazette Journal and Las Vegas Review-Journal) and Rural (including, among others, The Record-Courier, Nevada Appeal, Elko Daily Free Press, Sparks Tribune and Lahontan Valley News). Journalists with NNBW sister newspapers The Record-Courier, Nevada Appeal and Lahontan Valley News — including NNBW page designers Lauren Solinger and Kyler Klix — also earned several awards in this year’s contest; go here and here to read more about those awards.
