A banquet room of writers and editors gathered at Carson City’s Nugget for the 2017 Nevada Press Association convention and awards ceremony.
General Manager, Eric Dahlberg, who represents Mineral County Independent News and other Nevada-based Battle Born Media owned newspapers, accepted the number one spot for the general excellence award for the Sparks Tribune, which was acquired in February of 2015. Many other specific awards were given to Battle Born Media staff writers, with Dahlberg accepting on their behalf.
The Independent-News took home the second place award for general excellence, which honors the best community paper in the state each year, as well as a third-place award to Heidi Bunch for best business feature and best sports feature writing. Bunch earned the honor for her story on the 1964 Mineral County High state champion basketball team. Dahlberg also won third place in the best sports spot news story category for his story on the Serpents state title win this year.
The Nevada Gram, also known as Nevada Travel, received the award for best platform writing, which included the website’s various writers and correspondents that contribute. The monthly local correspondent representing Mineral County and Hawthorne since 2016, was Sheri Samson, joining David and Robin Toll, Founder and Writer for Nevada Gram, and Donald Dickerson, Editor, for a photo op at the celebration.
The weekend also included a tour of the historic Rinckel Mansion, home of the Nevada Press Association and the Associated Press; a book signing with Brendan Riley; a Newspaper Hall of Fame storytelling presentation and a personally guided tour of the Nevada State Museum.
A highlight from the awards ceremony was the 2017 honoree to the Nevada Press Hall of Fame, Myram Borders, a journalist for 36 years. She shared her personal accounts of breaking news for the United Press International, during the days when the Las Vegas strip housed famous movie stars and wealthy casino owners. She followed stories that involved the Mafia and famous arrests, while working the journalist-beat as a woman with an eye for creating her own opportunities.
