Third year among finalists in streak for paper 

The results of this year’s Ohio Associated Press Media Editors awards have been tallied and the Ironton Tribune took first place in its division for general excellence.

The win comes in addition to nine other awards, announced last week, won by the paper in the competition for content produced in 2022.

This is the third year in a row that The Tribune has been among the top three finalists.

The paper came in first place for 2020 and had a second place win for 2021.

The Tribune competes in Division I of the awards, which is the largest category, comprised of dozens of newspapers of similar circulation size.

Winning individual awards for 2022 were longtime sports editor Jim Walker and Kandi Thompson, the paper’s former creative director who continues to work as a freelance contributor to the paper and its publications.

Walker won first place for Best Daily Sports Section, while coming in second for Best Special Sports Section (for the annual Pigskin Preview publication) and third for Best Sports Writer.

Thompson, as has been the case in many years, won first place for Best Graphics Artist, while also scoring first and second place wins Best Illustration or Informational Graphic. 

Tribune community editor Heath Harrison repeated his first place win from the last two years for Best Editorial Writer, while also scoring a second place win for Best Headline Writer.

The paper also earned a second place win for Best Enterprise Reporting, awarded to Gordon Hall for his four-part series on the history of WIRO Radio, which was published throughout October.

General excellence is tabulated from the number of awards and placement earned by a publication.