The Cassville Democrat newspaper won 22 total awards, including nine firstplace honors, at the Missouri Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest Lunch on Saturday at the Lodge of the Four Season in Osage Beach.

Two of the newspaper’s supplemental publications, Trout Times and Connection Magazine, both won first place in their respective categories, and the Democrat’s website and sports pages also received top honors.

Editor Kyle Troutman netted five first-place awards, including best sports feature story, best news photograph, best story about the outdoors, best news story and best breaking news story.

“To win so many first-place awards and in such a wide variety of categories, from news to sports and magazines to digital, is a great honor,” Troutman said. “These humbling recognitions show we continue to be on the right track with our coverage, and to be valued by your peers in this way is a feeling that never gets old.”

Cassville won second place in best overall design and best editorial pages. Troutman also received runner-up awards in the best sports columnist and best photo package categories, and Cassville Democrat reporter Jordan Troutman received a secondplace award for best health story. Third-place awards went to the paper for best headline writing and community service, and Troutman also took third in best news photograph, best sports feature story and best columnist – humourous. The three honorable mentions were to the paper for best front page, and to Troutman for best sports feature story and best sports feature photograph.

“Each year, we attend the Missouri Press Association convention for in-service sessions, candidates forums and roundtable discussions, a valuable time that always leaves us refocused and reenergized. And, none of that would be possible if we did not live and work in a community that loves and supports its newspaper. I hope these honors remind us of the commitment we make every day for you, our readers, to provide the most informative, factual and unbiased news, coupled with the most entertaining and educational features and sports.”

The Cassville Democrat is a previous winner of six consecutive Gold Cups (2015-2020), naming it the best small weekly in the state of Missouri.