Herald awarded at annual WPA convention

By Bryon Glathar, Herald Managing Editor
Posted 1/28/25

The Uinta County Herald was recognized during the 126th annual Wyoming Press Association convention, held Jan. 16-18, at the Little America in Cheyenne.

The contest included entries originally …

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Herald awarded at annual WPA convention

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The Uinta County Herald was recognized during the 126th annual Wyoming Press Association convention, held Jan. 16-18, at the Little America in Cheyenne.

The contest included entries originally printed between Nov. 1, 2023, to Oct. 31, 2024. Journalists from South Dakota donated their time and served as judges for the contest.

Reporter Kayne Pyatt led the Herald in accolades, earning two first-place awards. In the General News category, a trio of Pyatt’s stories — “Council meeting ends abruptly after citizen expresses concern,” “Majority of council has no confidence in mayor” (which was co-written by reporter Amanda Manchester), and “Council hears request for air conditioning, water tower relocation” — earned the Herald first place.

“This was a brutally tough category to judge,” wrote the judge, “but I felt this entry stood above the rest. These stories are a perfect example of fine journalism and why we exist — to be watchdogs of the government. It can be hard to write these types of stories, but the writer did so in a fearless and cohesive way. … Well done. A bread and butter story on an important topic.”

Pyatt also took first place in the In-depth Reporting category for her three-part series on the dangers of children using cellphones.

“Great in-depth unbiased writing showing a lot of research in a developing issue everywhere,” a judge wrote on that entry.

Herald sports editor Don Cogger also earned some hardware in the contest, taking first place in the Sports News Story category for “Chasing History: Red Devils 4x800 team breaks record.”

A judge wrote of Cogger’s winning entry, ““This story stood out compared to the many game recaps in this division. The creativity was apparent. Really appreciated the historical ties in the story and how it showed the relationship between the old and new teams.”

Managing editor Bryon Glathar also earned the Herald a first-place award. His nod came in the Front Page Design catgegory.

“Alignment and visual aesthetic is excellent,” wrote a judge. “Pages are not all carbon-copies of each other, providing readers with variety, which is important. Selection of front page material is variable, which is ideal.”

Manchester earned an honorable mention in the Feature Story category for her story about local woman April Lange finishing a triathalon  by running 24 miles on a broken ankle.

“This is just a wonderful story about somebody who seems to be a remarkable person, or at least remarkable athlete," a judge wrote of Manchester's story. "I would read something like this every time, and I'm glad you went with a strong headline to attract readers.”

Finally, the Herald earned two honorable mentions in major award categories: General Excellence and Advertising Excellence.

The contest splits Wyoming newspapers into three divisions based on circulation. Division B, in which the Herald competes, saw the Lovell Chronicle win General Excellence. The Thermopolis Independent Record took home the Advertising Excellence award, and the Newcastle News Letter Journal took home two major awards — Editorial Excellence and Typographic Excellence.