Wright County Journal wins eight MPA awards

The Wright County Journal received eight awards during this year’s Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest awards ceremony held on Saturday, Sep. 21 at the Hotel Vandivort in Springfield. The special event came at the conclusion of the 158th Annual MPA Convention and Trade Show held Sep. 19-21.
Overall, the Wright County Journal received six second place and two third place honors in the statewide competition.
The most prestigious honor the publication earned this year was a second place certificate for Class 2 weekly newspapers in the Best Overall Design category.
“This means the judge was impressed with how our publication looks from page A1 to the final page in the B section,” Schott noted. “To get second place means our newspaper stood apart as one of the best in the state to this judge. It is a blessing to receive that special recognition.”
Schott also won a second place honor for Best Photo Illustration featuring a graphic he designed for a Valentine’s Day story on Mansfield’s Gary and Erin Greene. This award came out of the combined Class 2 and Class 3 entries.
One judge said, “the decor piece serves as a perfect backdrop for the couples photos.”
In the area of sports, the Wright County Journal’s sports pages were awarded a second place honor for Class 2 in the Best Sports Pages category.
The judge said, “Great pages! Especially the quality of writing, layout, design and local features.”
One of those features about Norwood’s Kaytlynne Drake received a Class 2 second place recognition in the Best Sports Feature Story category.
As for the Best Headline Writing category in Class 2, the publication earned a second place certificate, credited to Schott and contributing reporter Chris Roden.
The headlines included “Lots to unpack from contentious Mountain Grove meeting,” “Fire department extinguished,” “Giving dreams a chance at Image Spa,” “Lighting up the holiday season” and “Officer cruiser hit from behind.”
Though the judge felt the newspaper would have done more on a couple of the headlines, they also said, “some of these were clever and draw you in, especially about the fire department.”
Another second place award went to Schott for his story about milk hauler Jared Pounds in the Class 2 Best Story About Rural Life or Agriculture category.
Schott’s editorial column entitled, “City government 101,” earned him a third place award in the Class 2 Best Editorial category.
“This is what local news is supposed to do, made interesting by the ‘101’ reference,” said the judge.
Schott’s story on the Southside Baptist Church fire earned him a third place honor in the Best Story About Religion category featuring entires from both Class 1 and Class 2.
“This writer did a good job of showing the emotional fallout of a catastrophic event as well as the physical details,” the judge said.
“Once again, it’s humbling to receive recognition from my peers in the newspaper industry,” Schott said. “I’m just grateful that God allows me to do what I do and all glory and honor goes to Him.”
Earlier in the day, Schott was officially elected to the MPA Board of Directors to serve a three-year term. He served on the MPA Board as secretary in 2024. 
"I look forward to serving our industry at the state level for the next three years," Schott said. "This industry has meant so much to my family and I for more than 20 years now. Getting to serve at the state level is a tremendous honor."