Whitefish Pilot earns several awards in newspaper contest

The Whitefish Pilot won 14 awards in Montana Newspaper Association’s 2022 Better Newspaper Contest.

The awards were presented Saturday, June 17, in Helena during the newspaper association’s annual convention. The Whitefish Pilot competes in Division 2 against other weekly papers of similar size across Montana. The Washington Newspaper Publishers Association judged this year’s contest.

Whitefish Pilot Managing Editor Whitney England won first place in the design category for Best Sports Page Layout. England also placed second in five categories including feature photo, sports story and sports feature story, education coverage and news layout and design. The best sports story was on the Whitefish girls soccer playoff win over Laurel and the best sports feature was the article on WHS football coach Chad Ross stepping down.

Reporter Julie Engler took first place for the Mark Henckel Outdoor Writing Award for her story on the progress Whitefish Legacy Partners made toward “Closing the Loop” on the Whitefish Trail. Engler also placed third in investigative journalism and best news story.

The Pilot Staff including England, Engler and Advertising Director Jessica Tullos brought in a second-place award for their work on the special publication Best of Whitefish 2022. The Pilot also won first place for Best Website.