Moonshine Ink took home numerous news coverage and advertising awards from the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest for pieces submitted from 2021. North Tahoe/Truckee’s monthly newspaper, the Ink publishes in-depth news, columns, features, and photos about local issues in the North Tahoe and Truckee regions and in Reno, South Lake Tahoe, and the western Sierra Nevada foothills. The 20-year-old newspaper is supported by advertising and membership contributions from readers.
Of the annual NNAF slate of awards, Moonshine scooped 13 editorial awards in the following categories:
- Community service, second place for the You Asked. They Answered. column
- Editorial, first place for The Positive Effect of Negative Space (Sara Smith)
- Editorial, honorable mention for Tahoe is Broken (Cheri Sugal)
- Environmental story, second place for Shake, Rattle, & Roar (Laura Read)
- Environmental story, honorable mention for Blazin’ Trails (Bill Hatfield)
- Profile feature story, second place for Changing Lives from the Ground Up (Becca Loux)
- Investigative or in-depth story or series, third place for Short Circuit at TDPUD (Alex Hoeft)
- Communication in crisis, third place the September housing crisis stories Voices of the Displaced, In Memoriam, ‘The Struggle is Real’, and Keeping It in the (Tahoe) Family (Becca Loux, Alex Hoeft, Kara Fox)
- Front page design, second place for the July 2021 cover (Mike English)
- Breaking news photo, third place for the tragic plane crash photos (Sawyer Mahoney)
- Localized national story, first place for Timber! (Melissa Siig)
- Sports story, first place for Going the Distance (Bill Hatfield)
- Sports photo, honorable mention for Natural Born Shredder (Wade Snider)
An ad series created for Pass It On Thrift, a shop in downtown Tahoe City for gently used eclectic clothing, housewares, and gear, received third place.
The National Newspaper Association promotes news literacy, protects the First Amendment, and enhances the quality, role, and capabilities of community newspapers and community journalists across the U.S. Each year, the association honors the best in community journalism in the Better Newspaper Editorial Contest and the best in community newspaper advertising in the Better Newspaper Advertising Contest.
