Xpress staff take home multiple N.C. Press Association honors

Posted on by Dan Hesse
Xpress staffers Virginia Daffron and Max Hunt earned accolades from the North Carolina Press Association. In all, Xpress won five awards from the NCPA 2016 contest.

The North Carolina Press Association has announced the winners of its 2016 Editorial and Photojournalism and Best Advertising contests and Xpress took home five awards; three for editorial content and two for advertising excellence.

Associate Editor Virginia Daffron earned second place in the News Feature Writing category for her story Beyond bathrooms: HB2 accelerates changes in attitudes, language. In the story, Daffron examined an unintended and paradoxical consequence of North Carolina’s ‘bathroom bill’: its role as a catalyst for meaningful conversations and increased public awareness of transgender identities. Daffron covers city government, the environment and a variety of news topics for Xpress.

Staff Writer Max Hunt garnered a third place award in the Beat News Reporting category for Toxic legacy: CTS site breeds heartache for residents. Hunt’s piece provides an in-depth look at the lingering effects and attempts to mitigate decades-old contamination in South Asheville. Hunt continues to follow this and other cleanup efforts in the region. Another of his recent articles, In situ remediation could revitalize hazardous waste sites, examined new techniques for cleaning up contamination. Hunt writes news features on a wide range of topics for the newspaper, and he edits the Clubland section.

Our entire editorial staff earned third place for Best Community Coverage.

Our design department notched two first place awards in categories of Best Apparel, Jewelry & Accessories Ad and Best Real Estate Ad in a Niche Publication. Those awards come from innovation in creating ads for Ad-Lib Clothing for Real Women and The Matt & Molly Team.

Xpress competed in the category for the highest circulating Community (non-daily) Newspapers.

Congratulations to our staff for their well-earned recognition and a hearty thank you to our readers for giving us a reason to work on a product we are proud to share with you.

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Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Dan Hesse
I grew up outside of Atlanta and moved to WNC in 2001 to attend Montreat College. After college, I worked at NewsRadio 570 WWNC as an anchor/reporter and covered Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners starting in 2004. During that time I also completed WCU's Master of Public Administration program. You can reach me at dhesse@mountainx.com.
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One thought on “Xpress staff take home multiple N.C. Press Association honors”

  1. John Penley

    You guys deserve the awards. With your small staff Mountain XPress does a fantastic job with its local coverage.

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