The Cashton Record stayed on par with last year and brought six first place awards back from Madison this past Friday.
"While we didn't increase in the amount of awards from last time, I'm still proud of what we accomplished," said Logan Everson, editor for the Cashton Record.
The Wisconsin Newspaper Association announced their 2025 Better Newspaper Contest winners during an awards ceremony at The Madison Concourse Hotel on March 6. Everson along with publisher and Evans Print & Media Group owner Greg Evans and Monroe County Herald staffer Eric Roellig attended the luncheon banquet.
Everson says that the most important honor for the Record was receiving first for 'Best Front Page'.
"The front page is the most important part of a newspaper," said Everson. "It's what can make someone pick up the paper off the newsstand. It's purpose is to inform readers of the most important news and to let them know what else they can find inside. I'm very happy to have won that award."
In total, the three newspapers owned by Evans Print and Media Group garnered 37 different honors.
The Monroe County Herald accounted for 21 awards, Cashton Record had 10, and the Hillsboro Sentry-Enterprise added 6.
Everson says that while she is proud to have won six awards, the biggest disappointment was not repeating with a first place award for All-Around Newspaper Photography. The Record received second in this category.
"Not winning the all-around for photography hurt. I know I put our best editions in with only the highest quality photo pages, so it stings," said Everson. "But each judge is different. You never know what they are looking for. All you can do is your best and hope that they like what they see."
Sports editor Nate Beier secured two of the Record's six first places in the categories of Sports Feature Photo and Overall Page Design. The other first place awards include Sports Action Photo, Best Small Ad, and Best Multiple Advertiser Layout.
The sports department across the three publications combined for 20 awards total, with seven of those reaching top place.
The 2025 Better Newspaper Contest entries were judged by members of the Colorado Press Association and the cycle date for submissions was for anything published between Sept. 1, 2024 and Aug. 31, 2025. The contest received 2,493 entries from 103 newspapers.
