The Western Wayne News, Wayne County’s local newspaper, was recognized for its sports reporting and photography at an awards event on Friday, April 21 in Carmel.
Winning first place in sports photography for publications with a circulation of 10,000 or less was WWN photographer Rachel Hilligoss Moore’s “Walk Off Feeling” photograph of Hagerstown’s Preston Allred, celebrating after scoring the walk-off run against Team Midwest during the 2022 Little League World Series. The photo appeared in the August 24, 2022 issue of the Western Wayne News.
Winning third place in sports reporting for publications with a circulation of 10,000 or less was WWN sports reporter Dan Harney’s coverage of the Hagerstown Little League team in their journey to the Little League World Series. His stories appeared in multiple issues of the paper during August 2022.
The awards were given by the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which promotes the development of current and future journalists by offering training and networking opportunities as well as college journalism scholarships. The judging and ceremony recognized works of journalism from 2022 across a broad range of categories and formats.
“While we don’t do what we do for awards, we’re all very proud of Rachel and Dan for their excellent work telling the Hagerstown team’s story last year,” said Chris Hardie, owner and publisher of the Western Wayne News. “This recognition affirms that the paper’s coverage of our community is on par with the best journalism happening in Indiana right now, something our readers already know.”
The Western Wayne News was founded in 1991 by Janis Buhl and later expanded under the ownership of Janis’s daughter, Brenda McLane, and her husband Jim McLane. The McLanes owned the WWN at the time these award-winning items were produced, and they join the newspaper staff in congratulating Harney and Moore. In October 2022, Hardie took over ownership of the paper with plans to continue growing its coverage and service to the community. The Western Wayne News reaches many thousands of readers every week in print and online.
A version of this article appeared in the April 26 2023 print edition of the Western Wayne News.