The newspapers owned by Hampton-based Mid-America Publishing Corporation recently collected 16 awards during the Better Newspaper Contest at the INA Convention in Des Moines on Friday evening.

The awards recognize the best of the best of work as submitted by newspapers across the state.

“It’s a great tribute to the hard work of the men and women who work for Mid-America,” said Ryan Harvey, President and CEO of Mid-America. “While we strive to provide the best content we can produce each and every week for our readers, this allows us to measure ourselves against the finest members of the Iowa media.”

The Graphic-Advocate from Lake City and Rockwell City collected a company-high four awards.

In the weekly Class 1 division, which features circulation of 1,125 and below, the paper earned a first and a third place award for “Best Ad featuring Automotive, Boats, Aircraft, Tires, Gasoline, etc.” for an ad featuring Champion Chrysler of Rockwell City. The paper also collected a third place award for an ad series for Champion Chrysler for “Best ad series or campaign featuring any service or merchandise.” News Editor Ken Ross also picked up a third place award for master columnist for his Ross’ Rambles.

The Hampton Chronicle collected three awards at the recent convention in the weekly Class 3 division, which features circulation above 2,101.

The staff collected first place awards for a story written by former news editor Jeff Forward for Best Breaking News Story and “An ad series or campaign featuring any service of merchandise category” for a series of ads featuring Franklin General Hospital.

The staff collected second place awards for “Best Special Section” for last year’s Winery and Brewery section.

The Leader, based in Garner and Britt, collected two “Best video awards” in the Weekly 2 category, which pits papers with circulation from 1,126 to 2,100. News Editor Rebecca Peter earned a second and third place award in the category.

The now defunct Fremont-What Cheer Vine collected a pair of awards in the Weekly 1 category. The paper earned a first place award in the Best Web Advertisement category for a subscription ad while Former News Editor Mendy McAdams collected a third place in the “Best Video” category.

Five newspaper earned one award each.

The Pioneer Enterprise, based in Rockwell, claimed first place in the Weekly Class 1 “Best Spot News” category for a tornado photo taken by Nick Pedley last year near Sheffield.

The Kanawha Reporter collected a Best Special Section Advertising award in the Weekly Class 1 category. The paper finished second in the category.

John Jensen, the News Editor at The Grundy Register, collected a second place award in the Weekly Class 2 division of the “Best Sports Photo” contest.

Clae Goater collected a second place award for the Eagle Grove Eagle in the “Best News Story” category. The award was collected in the Weekly Class 2 division.

The Record’s News Editor, Rob Maharry, also collected a third place award in the Weekly Class 1 “Best News Feature” category.

“I’m really proud of the efforts each member of our staff has put forth over the past year,” Harvey said. “Each day they strive to provide top notch quality for our readers to enjoy. Their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by myself or our readers and I thank them for that.”

In addition to his awards for Mid-America papers, Nick Pedley won Excellence in Editorial, Weekly Class 1 for the Ocheyedan Press-Melvin News, his hometown paper. 

Mid-America would also like to congratulate former MAP staffers Whitney Sager of the Tri-County Times and James Jennings of the Montezuma Minute on their awards at the convention.

Some of MAP's awards are pictured below.