The Missoulian and Ravalli Republic staff took home a plethora of awards this weekend for reporting, editorial writing, and photography in 2023.
The Missoulian won 23 awards for large daily newspapers at the 139th annual convention of the Montana Newspaper Association, which took place in Kalispell on Saturday. The Ravalli Republic took home 13 honors in its division. The Missoulian won the most awards in its division.
In the best feature/lifestyle category, Missoulian arts reporter Cory Walsh won 1st place for his story, “AI bot snags dozens of Montana book authors.”
Missoulian photographer Ben Allan Smith won 1st place for best news video for his drone footage of the train derailment near Quinn’s Hot Springs in April.
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Missoulian outdoors reporter Joshua Murdock won nine honors, including 1st place coverage with Elko Daily Free Press reporter Lydia Snow for their story on the solar eclipse that passed through parts of the U.S. in October of 2023. Murdock also won 1st place in the best sports feature for the Missoulian for a story about a moto racer’s road to recovery after suffering a major injury at an event.
Other wins for the Missoulian include:
- Ben Allan Smith, Best Sports Photo
- Antonio Ibarra Olivares, Best General News Photo
- Josh Murdock, Best News Video
- Josh Murdock, Best Graphic
- Nora Mabie, Best Investigative Journalism
- David Erickson and Josh Murdock, Best Continuing News Coverage
- Staff, Best Website
- Staff, Best Page Layout and Design
- Staff, Best Front Page
- Nora Mabie, Best Use of Social Media
- Josh Murdock, Best Sports Video
- Josh Murdock, Best News Video
- Anne Cruikshank, Best Graphic
- Josh Murdock, Best Headline Writing
- Rob Chaney, Best Editorial
- Josh Murdock, Best Investigative Journalism
- Nora Mabie and Jeff Welsch, Best Sports Story
- Bret Anne Serbin, Best Political Coverage
- Staff, Best Digital Presentation
Ravalli Republic editor Jessica Abell took home 13 awards, including 1st place for news coverage on election integrity in Ravalli County. She won 1st place in the best feature/lifestyle story category for a profile on author John Maclean. Abell won 1st and 3rd place for different stories for best political coverage, and 3rd place for best education piece. Abell also took home several wins in various photo award categories.
Griffen Smith, who’s been a reporter at the Missoulian since January 2024, won eight awards in the Division 1 category for his work while he was editor at the Seeley Swan Pathfinder in 2023. He took home three 1st-place awards for three categories: 1st place in best breaking news coverage for his story on Holland Lake’s wastewater lagoon leaking, best reporting based on public notice, and best general news photo.
