Dispatch receives four awards at state awards contest
News | Published on February 3, 2026 at 5:50pm GMT+0000 | Author: Tucker Henderson
0Awards were presented as part of 159th annual state newspaper convention
By Chad Koenen
Publisher
The New York Mills Dispatch was honored as one of the top newspapers in the state as part of the annual Minnesota Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest. The Dispatch was recognized during the 159th annual Minnesota Newspaper Convention, which was held at the Marriot Hotel in Brooklyn Center last week. More than 4,100 entries were received for the annual Better Newspaper Contest.
The Dispatch received four awards, including a first place finish, for work completed from September 1, 2024 through August 31, 2025. The Dispatch competes in the category of weekly newspapers with a circulation under 1,000.
Publisher Chad Koenen took first place in the category of sports feature story for an article he wrote about Ayla Olson recording 1,000 digs, assists and kills in volleyball.
Graphic artist Rachel Poser took third place in the category of best advertisement for an ad she created for Creative Shindigz.
The Dispatch also placed second in the category of General Reporting and third place in the category of Use of Photography as a Whole.
The Frazee-Vergas Forum and Citizen’s Advocate were also recognized in the state contest with Forum editor Robert Williams receiving first place in the category of Human Interest Story – Personality Feature/Profile.
The Citizen’s Advocate received nine awards including second place in three categories including Editorial Page as a Whole, Sports Reporting and Use of Photography as a Whole.
Poser received first place in the category of best advertisement for an ad she created for First National Bank’s tailgate party.
Koenen took first and second place in the category of news photography. The first place entry was of a picture he took of kindergarten students throwing snowballs during the Christmas program, while he took second place for a picture he took of the Veterans Days program. Koenen also took second place in the category of best columnist and third place in the categories of hard news for a story he wrote about the Henning School Board’s intentions to stay as Heninng Hornets for athletics, as well as in the category of human interest story – news feature- for a story he wrote on the one year anniversary of the disappearance of Robert Shaw.