Elliot Hilden, managing editor

The 2022-23 Better Newspaper Contest (BNC) Awards Gala is an annual event that celebrates both professional and collegiate level newspaper achievements. This year, the gala took place on Feb. 1, as part of the 157th Annual MNA Convention & Trade Show. In this year’s Better Newspaper Contest, there were 4,095 entries spanning across 20 awards at the college level, and 57 professional awards. The awards have a large range of themes, with some focused on individual stories, and others on multimedia use or general excellence. These awards are judged by a panel of judges based in South Dakota, North Carolina and New Jersey. It stands tall as one of the largest contests in the nation, the judges narrowing the thousands of entries down to hundreds of winners. 

The Echo placed second in two categories: Government/Public Affairs Reporting and Investigative Reporting. In the category of Government/Public Affairs Reporting, Joe Ramlet was awarded for his article “Court Order Hopes To Change Race-Based Policing By MPD,” published on April 17, 2023. The article looked into the Settlement Order and Agreement that provided guidelines on race-based policing in the Minneapolis Police Department that led to the murder of George Floyd in 2020. In the category of Investigative Reporting, Luís Millan, Zully Sosa and Mina Himlie were awarded for their article titled “Student Workers Across Campus Face Reduced Hours,” published on Feb. 20, 2023. Their article investigated the decrease in student worker positions within Augsburg, and the impact that had on students working in places like DPS and the library.

On the collegiate level, there were several schools that dominated the contest, owne of which was The Bark, the official student news organization at the University of Minnesota Duluth. They won 15 awards, including first, second and third place in the Best Use of Multimedia category, and third place in General Excellence. Another common winner was The Record, the official student newspaper of the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. They received 13 awards, five of which being first place, including the award for General Excellence. Some other common names were the MSU Reporter of Mankato State University, TommieMedia of the University of St. Thomas and The Clarion of Bethel University. 

The contest is run by the Minnesota Newspaper Association (MNA). According to their website, the MNA is “the voluntary trade association of all generational-interest newspapers in the State of Minnesota.” The MNA was founded in 1867 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and remains one of the oldest state newspaper associations in the United States. They have many goals in their corporation, primarily “to promote the welfare of the newspaper industry and the interests of the press by securing unity of thought and action in all matters pertaining to the profession of journalism and the newspaper publishing business.”

While the Echo only placed in two categories this year, it is still a remarkable achievement to have won in any sense. Visit the MNA website to see all of the winners and keep your eyes peeled for more wins in the future for the Echo!