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LINCOLN — Cedar County News Co-Publisher Rob Dump was elected April 13 as the Vice President of the Nebraska Press Association.
Wayne Herald Publisher Kevin Peterson, who has served as president of the 150-year-old Press Association for the past year, had his term extended for six months. Dump will take over as president in October and also serve for 18 months.
Dump previously served as president of the Nebraska Press Association Advertising Service and as president of the Nebraska Press Association Foundation. Cedar County News Co-Publisher Peggy Year has also served as Preident of the statewide association, leading the NPA in 2018.
Marsha Hora, publisher of the Stapleton Enterprise, was elected as President of the Nebraska Press Association Advertising Service. She succeeds Norfolk Daily News advertising manager Vicki Hrbanek in the position.
For the second time in the past five years, the News was named the top community newspaper in the state for its digital news coverage.
The award recognizes a newspaper's dedication to digital journalism. Judging is based on a newspaper's websites, video production, digital news, digital ads and the quality of its social media updates.
For earning the sweepstakes award, the News was presented with the Edgecombe Family Sweepstakes award. This traveling trophy will remain at the News office until next April when the 2024 award winner is named.
In all, the Cedar County News picked up 30 awards during Saturday night’s 2023 Better Newspaper Contest awards ceremony in downtown Lincoln. Those awards included 12 first-place plaques, eight second-place plaques and 10 third-place plaques.
The awards ceremony is held each year in conjunction with the Nebraska Press Association Convention. This year’s event marked the NPA’s 150th anniversary.
The Hartington newspaper was also singled out for several other prestigious honors. Judges deemed three Cedar County News entries in particular were in the top three in the state.
Newspaper judges determined that Cedar County News editor Rob Dump penned one of the top two editorials in the entire state last year when he wrote about his decision to leave the Republican Party and his concerns that the party's win-at-all costs approach to governance was harmful to American democracy.
The News was also recognized for producing one of the top three news photos and one of the top two sports photos in all of Nebraska's weekly newspapers.
Kellyn Dump’s photography following the horrific murders of four Laurel residents was deemed as a third-place finisher in the News Photo of the Year contest. Jeremy Buss’ photo of Hartington-Newcastle pole vaulter Aiden Gratzfeld was named the runner-up in the Sports Photo of the Year category.
The News also finished in third place in its circulation category in the print sweepstakes contest. The News competes in the second largest circulation category for community newspapers.
