Two photos by Jessica T. Payne, including this one of the Tyler Legacy volleyball team's season opener against Longview in 2021, earned the Tyler Morning Telegraph a second place award in the sports photo category of the 2022 Better Newspaper Contest.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph earned 15 awards Saturday at the North and East Texas Press Association Better Newspaper Contest awards banquet.

The newspaper brought home five first place awards, six second place awards including the contest’s highest honors of Sweepstakes and General Excellence, along with three third places and one fourth place award.

“Our team continues to focus on bringing the best possible content to our readers through our print, digital and live coverage,” said Justin Wilcox, publisher of the Tyler Morning Telegraph and senior vice president of M. Roberts Media. “These awards reflect our team’s commitment to inform the community and fulfill our duty as a local news organization. We are proud of each member of our staff and thank the North and East Texas Press Association for recognizing their collective efforts.”

Tim Thorsen, editor of the Morning Telegraph and vice president of audience for M. Roberts Media, accepted the awards at the NETPA’s second annual joint convention with the West Texas Press Association in Hamilton on Saturday morning.

“These awards are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our journalists,” Thorsen said. “I’m thrilled to see their work rewarded and proud to be a part of such a talented team.”

The second place sweepstakes honor was a result of total points from first, second and third place awards. The Morning Telegraph earned second place behind its sister paper, the Longview News-Journal, which earned first designating it as the best large daily newspaper in the region.

The Morning Telegraph also placed second in General Excellence behind the News-Journal, which earned first. This achievement recognizes a paper’s quality in news coverage and writing, composition/display, headlines, use of photos and artwork and the front page and specialty pages.

The Morning Telegraph team earned first place for its staff editorials, including one about action seen in North Tyler and another arguing that competing vaccine mandates put businesses in a tough spot.

It also earned first place for its headline writing, for a collection of three headlines written by Managing Editor Santana Wood.

Multimedia Reporter Ana Conejo earned first place in the news photo category for her photos of Tyler Mayor Don Warren rolling down a ramp on a skateboard as Faulkner Skate Park opened in March 2021 and another of a toddler’s reaction to a “Titanic” exhibit at the Tyler Public Library in April 2021.

Design Desk Manager Alexandra Dominguez earned first place in the page design category for a collection of five front and specialty pages.

The Morning Telegraph team also earned first place in the special section category for its 2021 Texas Rose Festival Souvenir Magazine.

All awards were for work produced in 2021. Other awards include:

● Second place, feature story for Multimedia Reporter Jessica Payne’s “Flying high: Jacksonville teen earns his pilot’s license” and former reporter Raquel Torres’ “Ruby: The woman who started a business with $21”

● Second place, sports coverage for two full sports sections with work from Sports Editor Phil Hicks and Sports Writer Brandon Ogden

● Second place, sports writing for Ogden’s stories “Overcoming adversity: Bullard battles challenges on, off field to reach regional finals” and “Final chapter: Set to retire, Adair leads Malakoff to first state tournament”

● Second place, sports photo for two entries by Payne, one of the Rusk baseball team advancing to state and another of the Tyler Legacy volleyball team during its season opener

● Third place, column writing for Hicks’ “Coach Coleman — a true sportsman and gentleman” and “12 Mighty Orphans offer hope and inspiration” and Ogden’s “Waiting on that call” and “Connecting the dots for East Texas at the softball state tournament”

● Third place, feature photo for Payne’s photo from the Cherokee County Livestock Show and another one by Payne of the Tyler Police Department honoring fallen officers

● Third place, news writing for the news team’s collective project on the city’s response to Winter Storm Uri titled “What could have been done differently during the storm” and for its coverage of the fatal shooting of Winona Pastor Mark McWilliams

● Fourth place, Journalist of the Year to Torres, for a collection of five business, news and health stories

All of the M. Roberts Media newspapers had an impressive showing at Saturday’s banquet, as the News-Journal earned 16 awards; the Kilgore News-Herald earned 10 awards; Panola Watchman won 11; and the Marshall News-Messenger took home 12 awards.