The Winston-Salem Journal received 14 awards, including two first-place honors, during the N.C. Press Association’s annual convention in Raleigh on Thursday.
The awards for the period were for stories, editorials and photographs published between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2025. The 2025 NCPA contest awards continued a string of strong performances by the Winston-Salem Journal.
Seven current and two former staff members received awards.
The Journal competes with the state’s major metro newspapers for individual awards.
“It’s always nice to win awards,” said Dimon Kendrick-Holmes, executive editor of the Winston-Salem Journal, “but what matters most is that we’re serving our audience, telling them great stories and giving them information they want and need.”
“We encourage our readers to let us know when they think we’ve done a good job or when we can do better,” Kendrick-Holmes said.
Walt Unks, the Journal’s photography editor, received two first-place awards in two categories.
Unks received the Hugh Morton Photographer of the Year award and first place in the general news category for a collection of photos, “Now It’s All Gone,” which showed the damage in Old Fort in McDowell County from Hurricane Helene.
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Unks also received third place in the feature photography category with the photo, “Season’s Meetings.”
Sports reporter Marc Pruitt received a second-place award in sports enterprise reporting for his story, “A Road Less Traveled,” about Ariel Odugba, a senior and a member of the North Forsyth girls’ basketball team.
Tom “Skip” Foreman Jr., the Journal’s regional sports editor, received a second-place honor for sports column for his work, “Just keep believing; ‘I didn’t come here to leave,’” about Bill Belichick, the UNC head football coach.
Metro Columnist Scott Sexton received a second-place award in the serious columns category for his column, “Volunteers offer a lesson; ‘Beauty in the ashes’; Liberty Street buildings.”
Sexton also received a second-place honor in the lighter columns category for his column, “138 merit badges; A chance to play; Reynolds students run.”
Photographer Allison Lee Isley received a second-place honor in spot photography for the photo, “The Reynolds Wiley Shooting.”
Isley also received third place in spot photography for the photo, “Child Critical After Rescue,” and third place in the general news category for the photo, “Remembrance.”
Connor McNeely, a former reporter, took second place in the city/county government reporting category with the story “That’s a bit much” and third place in the same category with the story “Chemical Imbalance.”
Reporter Richard Craver received third-place honors in the business category for the story, “Exit Strategy.”
Former Reporter Chaewon Chung’s story “Fighting Misinformation” received third place in the beat news reporting category.
jhinton@wsjournal.com
336-727-7299
@jhintonWSJ
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