Harris takes 1st for best serious columnist; Troutman gets trio of 1sts

On Saturday at the Broadway Hotel in Columbia, the Cassville Democrat newspaper won 21 total statewide awards — including five first-place plaques — for calendar year 2025 work entered in the Missouri Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest.

Sheila Harris, sales executive and reporter for the Democrat, broke through in the Best Serious Columnist category this year, taking top honors in the category for the first time. The category requires three pieces to be entered as a group, and Harris’ columns tackled the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, state laws regarding “Major Water Users” and treatment of minorities in the U.S.

The judge of the category said of Harris’ articles, “The author has done an excellent job tackling complex social and political issues in a way that only local newspapers feel. These columns read like a paraphrased version of what’s talked about at the local coffee shop, and the newspaper makes it possible for the entire community to get in on the conversation.”

As a staff, the Cassville Democrat’s Through the Years magazine took top honors in the Best Special Section, Magazine or Alternative Publication category.

The judge said of Through the Years, “WOW. Well done with exceptional graphics.”

Kyle Troutman garnered first-place honors in the Best Editorial and Opinion Pages category.

“The judging criteria says the opinion sections are to be placed considering ‘Power of original editorial matter; layout and design of pages; quality and diversity of content; informational value; and community involvement,’ the judge said. “These pages hit on all accounts. What a remarkable opinion page for the size of the paper. From so many ‘guest views’ to the more newsy ‘publisher views’ — and letters yet! — this op-ed page gives reader their money’s worth, and then some. Very nice.”

Troutman also took first place in the Best Breaking News Story category for coverage of the Barry County Swiftwater Rescue team’s efforts in April to save four adults, one juvenile and one dog in two incidents.

“Great coverage of this flooding event — detailed story and impacting photos,” the judge said.

Lastly, Troutman received a first-place award for a Trout Tales editorial cartoon in January, satirizing a local individual’s photo of their hot tub following a snowstorm.

The judge described the entry as, “Different style, most original.”

The Democrat received six second-place awards, including: Jordan Troutman, Best Serous Columnist; Sheila Harris, Best Investigative Reporting and Best Story About Marginalized or Underrepresented Communities; Kyle Troutman, Best Story About Education, Best Story About the Outdoors and Best Online Newspaper or Website; and Staff, Community Service project.

Finally, the Democrat secured nine third-place awards, including: Staff, General Excellence and Best Special Section, Magazine or Alternative Publication (Trout Times); Kyle Troutman, Best Sports Pages, Best News Story, Best Humorous Columnist, Best Photo Illustration, Best Photo Package, Best Multi-Media Reporting and Best Headline Writing.

“Over the last dozen years, we have become accustomed to winning awards at the state level for our reporting, photography, opinion writing, design and community service efforts — and this year was no different,” Publisher Kyle Troutman said. “My favorite thing about this year’s results was the Best Serious Columnist category. I have won that one multiple times myself, but this year, it worked out where Sheila and Jordan met entry qualifications. I could not be more proud that they took first and second place, and I did not place at all.

“I also could not be more proud of the wide range of categories in which we were awarded. From hard news to sports, page design to magazines, and photography to video, we held our own among the small weekly newspapers in the state of Missouri. The variety in categories we placed in is a testament to how hard we work to bring every angle and medium possible to our readers and followers — and we have every intention to keep it coming.”

The Gold Cup this year went to the Maryville Forum, ending the Cassville Democrat’s two-year streak of being the best small weekly newspaper in the state of Missouri.

“Having won eight Gold Cups since 2015, it has almost become an expectation for us to bring it home annually,” Troutman said. “We were neck and neck with Maryville in the awards, but their first place in General Excellence to our third place provided the points they needed to win it this year. Congratulations to Maryville on their victory, as it shows the amount of stellar journalism you can find all across the state of Missouri. It also serves as motivation to get the grand prize back in 2027, and the only way to do that is to give you, the readers, our absolute best, day in and day out. I look forward to making that goal a reality. 

“Finally, I thank all of you — for being involved as a subscriber, casual reader or social media follower — because without a hunger for local news and pride in our community, none of this would be possible.”