Beacon Publishing wins 13 awards at annual convention

Beacon Publishing picked up 13 awards at the Washington Newspaper’s Publisher Association’s 139th annual Convention and Awards Dinner Oct. 2-3 in Everett.

Competing in category one, Beacon President and Mukilteo Beacon Editor Paul Archipley won three first-place awards. Managing Editor and Edmonds Beacon Editor Brian Soergel picked up one first-place award.

The contest considered stories and photos from April 1, 2024 to March 30, 2025.

• “Gas prices spike more than 20% in Snohomish County.” The judge wrote, “Getting gas price perspectives from police, fire and schools is something that the "average Joe" may not think about” (news story, long).

•“Special needs kids enjoy ‘normalcy’ at day camp.” The article focused on Camp Prov, an annual summer camp at Everett’s Forest Park hosted by Providence Regional Medical Center. “(Archipley’s) able to blend traditional journalism with emotional resonance, making the article strike a chord with readers,” the judge wrote (social issue story).

•“Kamiak girls wrestling takedown success”: Archipley wrote about the school’s decision to separate the boys and girls practice sessions, which led to an increased turnout from the girls. The judge wrote: “Covered all of the interesting questions: Why do they do it? What do they gain from it? What are the concerns?” (sports news story).

Archipley won three second-place awards: “City sweetens the pot for out-of-town police recruits” (news story, short); and “Student/teacher connection endures” (education story); “The state’s regressive tax system is burying cities” (editorial).

Former Mukilteo Beacon Editor David Pan won a second-place award in the general news photo category for his picture of a Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center’s Myron Travis giving a thumbs-up to a young shopper during a Shop With a Cop event at Fred Meyer.

Archipley also took home a third-place award for best editorial for “A vote for singing about America’s best features.”

Soergel was awarded first place in the general news photo category for his picture of Edmonds Police Cmdr. David Machado escorting protestor Meegan McKiernan away from “Big Red,” a 102-year-old coast redwood about to be chopped down.

“Regardless of your feelings about the situation,” a judge wrote, “this photo captures the emotion of the moment. Not only the sadness, but also the calm of the officer. Well done.”

Soergel won three second-place awards: “Hidden danger: Edmonds teacher recovering after surgery to remove wire bristle from grill brush” (health or medical story); “Scoop: It’s up to citizens to clean up after pets” (news of the weird); and “An extraordinary artist” (personality profile, short).

Soergel also took third place in the environment story category for “Who is thinning trees?”