Daily Sun earns investigative, podcast honors in NH Press Association 2023 contest

MANCHESTER — Three journalists from The Laconia Daily Sun were honored Thursday night during the New Hampshire Press Association Excellence in Journalism Awards Banquet for outstanding achievements in the year 2023, held at the Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

Reporter Adam Drapcho and Editor Julie Hirshan Hart earned a second place award for The Granite Beat podcast. Former Daily Sun reporter Catherine McLaughlin earned two second place finishes for investigative and feature reporting. The Daily Sun competes in the large news organizations category, vying for recognition against more than a dozen outlets statewide.

Judge's comments about The Granite Beat read, "I really enjoyed these in-depth discussions with various journalists from across New Hampshire, from the Boston Globe’s new NH reporter to NHPR’s '13th Step' podcaster. Learned a lot about the business of covering the state."

The Granite Beat podcast is produced through partnerships with The Granite State News Collaborative and Franklin Pierce University. The project was also awarded second place for best podcast through the New England Newspaper and Press Association earlier this year.

McLaughlin's series about the Laconia School District superintendent investigation earned the second spot in investigative reporting, showcasing a nearly year-long reporting project that incorporated numerous public document requests, dozens of sources and interviews and even a complaint to the state Office of the Right to Know Ombudsman. 

McLaughlin's story about the 100th anniversary of Laconia High School, "Making history: LHS senior compiling the Sachem story for the first time," won second place in feature writing. Judge's comments include, "It’s not only important for communities and institutions in them to share their story arch — but to recognize a story about someone so enthusiastically immersing herself into memorializing that history is just plain good journalism that produced a great feature."

McLaughlin now reports for The Concord Monitor.

The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Shawne K. Wickham of the New Hampshire Union Leader, James Rinker of the Keene Sentinel earned the Dennis Joos Memorial Award, and Mike Pride was posthumously recognized with the Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award.

Geoff Forester of The Concord Monitor was named photographer of the year, and Michaela Towfighi of The Concord Monitor earned journalist of the year honors. Rookies of the year were Christopher Cartwright of the Keene Sentinel for large newsrooms and Ani Freedman of InDepthNH for small newsrooms. 

The New Hampshire Union Leader was awarded general excellence in the large organizations category, with Mt. Washington Valley Vibe taking the top spot in excellence for small organizations.

To see the full list of awards, visit pressnh.org.