At about 2 pm. Saturday, I was suffering an onset case of clammy hands, a sweaty forehead and the inability to breathe normally.
I was at the Hotel Vandivort in Springfield, where it was announced the Cassville Democrat had won 33 awards in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, including first place in General Excellence. All that was left was the announcement of the Gold Cup winner.
I had been in that position many times before, six to be exact, but this time was different. This contest, which has more than 40 reporting, design and photography categories, represented our best work in 2023 — the year Jordan and I dove headfirst into newspaper ownership after being bought out only nine months prior by a corporation based in New Jersey.
We don’t write stories or take photos with the intention of winning anything. Rather, each March when the contest deadline approaches, I spend any free time I can find coming through our 52 eligible issues and entering content that shows our paper and our community at its best.
I could have blown out a million candles with the breath I released when the “Cassville Democrat” was announced as this year’s Gold Cup winner. I could not be more proud, nor more humbled — it’s a feeling that does not come around often.
We have not won a Gold Cup since 2020, which was our sixth straight, and the quality and breadth of our coverage last year I hoped would propel us back into the mix.
So, for a second, I’d like to brag on some of the things we’ve done in the past year that have earned Cassville statewide recognition.
A new thing I started last year was the Trout Tales comic, where our “reporter” Trout Brown points out funny, lighthearted happenings throughout the county. That addition, which I was encouraged by Webster County Citizen Publisher Dan Wehmer to essentially steal from his paper, was widely acclaimed. We swept the editorial cartoon category in the first time we’ve ever entered it.
We also won multiple design awards, many of which go back to former Cassville Democrat Publisher Jacob Brower, who redesigned the paper in 2014 and gave us a framework for a decade of well-designed issues.
We earned first place in headline writing, with the judge commenting, “These make you wonder what’s coming next, which is always intriguing.”
Our annual effort to support Breast Cancer awareness was awarded first place in Community Service, recognized for our variety in coverage of the issue and our pledge to donate to Power of Pink in Wheaton — a $1,600 check we cut in December.
News-wise, our coverage of the Citizens for Justice meeting was recognized in the multi-media category for use of live streaming combined with print and opinion articles.
I was honored with a first place in the serious columnist category, where each writer had to submit two columns from consecutive months and one of choice. The judge in that entry said, “Kyle Troutman writes with obvious love and care about the community his paper covers. I get a real sense of empathy and admiration for his readers. I would read his column every time it ran.”
Wow. I could not ask for higher praise in column writing. I also placed second in humorous columnist, so I’m clearly not as funny as I think I am.
Sheila Harris earned multiple awards for her coverage of land-applied wastewater in the area, including second place in investigative reporting. That entry included 42 individual pages and the judge commented, “There is a lot of good reporting here, and the reporter’s hard work and determination are clear in her work.”
The first-place award in that category went to The Maryville Forum for a cold case investigation, a topic we have previously won the category with. My friend and colleague Ken Garner owns and operates that publication, and although he has a larger staff, we are incredibly similar.
We are both members of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, putting an emphasis on quality opinion writing to help drive our communities forward.
We also both take great pride in the depth and breadth of our news and sports coverage, our photography and our design, our websites and our business practices as publishers — and we both received awards reflecting our dedication in each of those areas.
It was clear from the award announcements one of us would win the cup. I later learned he had 32 total awards to our 33, but he also has 13 firsts to our 11. Ultimately, it was just one or two awards that separated us.
It makes me tremendously happy and proud to bring this honor back to Cassville, and we hope to share in celebration with you. Without your cooperation in reporting our stories or allowing us to take your photos and package them in a way you enjoy, none of this would be possible.
We live in a remarkable community with a remarkable sense of itself, and that spirit guides our coverage and our work as we bring the best of you to your mailbox.
We are hoping to host a community appreciation event soon, but plans for such an event have yet to be finalized. In the meantime, come by and see our new trophy! Drop a story tip or let us know what we can be doing better.
This honor is as much yours as it is ours, and whether we have more in our future or this is our last, we will continue to strive to provide the best small weekly newspaper in Missouri to you, week-in and week-out.
Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he is a two-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cassville-democrat. com.
