Mesquite Local News took home first place for digital online excellence and also was awarded second place in newspaper general excellence at the Nevada Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest.
The newspaper was given the awards at the NPA annual banquet, held this year at the Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas on Sept. 29, on a night in which Battle Born Media owner Tim Dahlberg was inducted into the newspaper Hall of Fame.
Dahlberg and Sherman Frederick, who is also in the Hall of Fame, started Battle Born Media in 2011 and acquired Mesquite Local News in April of 2014. Dahlberg has been a long-time sports columnist for the Associated Press. He began his career at the Sparks Tribune (a publication now owned by Battle Born Media) and also worked for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The first-place award for digital excellence was a first for Mesquite Local News. The judge said he “looked for something different here, and the first and third place winner provided a different look — a little less cookie cutter than some of the others. I particularly liked the story layouts for the winner.”
In finishing second in newspaper general excellence (behind the Boulder City Review), the judge said the newspaper was “well written, catering to a visitor’s crowd.”
“We are proud to earn both first place in online general excellence and second place in newspaper general excellence,” said Kirk Kern, publisher of Mesquite Local News. “We are the only newspaper in town that regularly covers city council and water board and our sports content is second to none in the area.
“It’s an honor to be the only news outlet that gives Mesquite residents the news they need to know.”
Thomas Mitchell, who runs a regular weekly column for Mesquite Local News and all six Battle Born Media newspapers, took home first place in the non-staff column category. The judge commented that Mitchell had a “good variety of topics, well-written and provocative.”
