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E-mail This StoryThe Texas Community Newspapers Association and the Texas Press Association recently named The Mesquite News and The Rowlett Lakeshore Times among the state’s best small weekly newspapers.
Both newspapers were honored for general excellence in the respective contests. The Mesquite News picked up a total of three awards.
The Mesquite News and The Rowlett Lakeshore Times are sister papers operated by Star Community Newspapers and parent company American Community Newspapers, L.L.C.
“Before joining Star Community Newspapers in January, I was impressed by the long history of award-winning journalism,” said Bill Weaver, group publisher of Star Community Newspapers. “I am very proud of the men and women who are dedicated to keeping the tradition alive.”
The Mesquite News was honored with a first place award for general excellence among weekly full-color newspapers, under the leadership of managing editor Brian Porter, by the Texas Community Newspapers Association.
The Mesquite News has been awarded first place for general excellence in its division by the Texas Community Newspapers Association in each of the past four years. The edition selected for this award chronicled an annual sale on U.S. 80, the Addressing Mesquite program and the debate over 190 in Sunnyvale, among other community news and sports coverage.
The Mesquite News is celebrating its 125th year of continuous circulation. It is the oldest newspaper in Dallas County and the state’s second-oldest newspaper. Only the Galveston County newspaper has been in longer continuous circulation.
“This award demonstrates the tradition of continued excellence in news coverage provided by The Mesquite News,” Porter said. “This validates our approach to covering community news in Mesquite and indicates The Mesquite News remains a leader in news coverage.”
The Texas Community Newspapers Association also awarded Chris McGathey third place honors for his coverage of Dinner Under the Cedars, an annual event of Historic Mesquite, Inc., and a photo of the Mesquite girls volleyball team celebrating a district championship.
The Rowlett Lakeshore Times, also under the leadership of Porter, won third place in the Texas Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest for small weeklies. The Sachse News won the division and the South Tarrant Star was runner-up.
The edition focused on the drought of 2006, in addition to other community news and sports coverage.
Judges indicated they “Like the layout and everything was easy to find. Good coverage of local events with a nice mix of news and features.”
The award follows 2006 recognition by the Texas Press Association of The Rowlett Lakeshore Times as the Newspaper of the Year in its division and marks consecutive years in which Rowlett has been named among the best small weekly newspapers in the state.
“Rowlett is a growing, thriving community,” Porter said. “We believe the news coverage of the Rowlett community has never been better than it is today in this paper.”
