News Photo by Darby Hinkley The Alpena News won five Michigan Press Association awards, announced Thursday at the MPA Banquet in Frankenmuth. Among the winners were, from left, News Managing Editor Torianna Marasco, News Staff Writer Steve Schulwitz, and News Graphic Designer Angie Hall.

ALPENA — The Alpena News won five awards in the Michigan Press Association’s 2024 Better Newspaper Contest, with Managing Editor Torianna Marasco winning two awards, Staff Writer Steve Schulwitz winning one, Graphic Designer Angie Hall winning one, and former Publisher Justin Hinkley winning one.

In several categories, in which The News competed against papers with similar circulation sizes, the MPA announced Thursday that the Alpena paper won:

— Third place for Spot News Story for Schulwitz’s “Elk living its best life in Rogers City,” a story highlighting a young bull elk that was a frequent visitor to the city.

— Second place for Best Columnist for Hinkley’s commentary.

— Third place for Best Columnist for Marasco’s commentary.

— First place for Best Page Design for Hall’s Northern Lifestyles designs.

— Second place for Sports Feature for Marasco’s “Retiring ref from Hubbard Lake recalls 53 years of calling games,” featuring Les Miller’s life as a sports official.

Marasco received the email announcing the awards on Thursday evening.

“Just seeing The Alpena News was exciting,” Marasco said. “I was genuinely shocked to see my name. This is my first year in journalism, first year being out of college, so it was quite an honor, and really encouraging.”

She said she doesn’t think about awards when she’s writing, but it’s nice to be recognized for working so hard to tell Northeast Michigan stories that might otherwise go untold.

“I’m never thinking about awards, really,” Marasco said. “I’m thinking about providing interesting material. When I’m writing my columns, it’s usually about things that I think are interesting or special.”

Marasco has been managing editor since Nov. 13, 2023.

“Features are always just fun to do,” she added, referring to the sports feature on Miller. “It’s nice to highlight someone in our community, especially in a smaller community. It feels good, on his behalf, as well, to see that award for his story. I just wrote it. It’s his story.”

She added that winning awards for coverage during a year in which the newsroom has been short-staffed reflects the hard work and dedication to getting the job done, no matter what.

“Last year, we struggled a bit,” she said. “We were short-staffed. I was new. I was still learning the ropes. It’s just really nice to see those awards, especially when we’re working so hard.”

She added that the fully staffed newsroom will continue to work hard to provide quality coverage in the coming year.

“I’m excited, moving forward, with a full staff,” Marasco said. “We can all focus on our priorities, our beats, and really dedicate ourselves to putting out good content every day.”

Schulwitz has been at the paper for 26 years.

“It’s always nice to be recognized,” Schulwitz said. “But it’s not about the recognition. The award means more to me because of the people in Rogers City, and the people who had an emotional stake in this story, particularly Roger the Elk. Unfortunately, a year later, the story had taken a drastic turn for the worst.”

Schulwitz was referring to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ decision to euthanize the elk in October 2024, stating public safety issues as the reason.

“Really, for me, this award is for Roger and the people of Rogers City that enjoyed their time with Roger the Elk, and then, ultimately, their loss of him,” Schulwitz said.

Having written many stories over the years, Schulwitz said when you find a really special one, “you just know.”

“The uniqueness of a story,” he said. “How often do you get an elk that picks up shop for a month in a small town? There’s a little intuition that lets you know that this might have a chance.”

He said his job is all about sharing engaging stories with readers.

“It’s about the people and the subjects of the story that I think make the award special to me,” Schulwitz said. “It’s more of a salute to them, and their story, and I just had the privilege of sharing their stories.”

Schulwitz enjoys the opportunity to learn on a daily basis, as well as interact with people daily.

“I learn something every day,” he said. “I’m a very social creature. I love to learn, I love to communicate, I love to share my knowledge and my experiences with other people.”

He added that there are challenges to being a journalist.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “You can go, in the blink of an eye, from being praised to being public enemy number one, but that just goes with the territory. But, I love The News, and I love the Alpena community.”

He added that the award winners are not the only ones who deserve credit.

“Over my time at The News, I’ve had some amazing mentors, from Bill Speer to Steve Murch to Justin Hinkley to Diane Speer, and the list goes on and on,” Schulwitz said. “It’s those veteran leaders that prepare us and equip us with the tools to report the way that we do, so we can have the success that we’ve had.”

Hall has worked as a graphic designer at The News for 21 years. She was both surprised and excited to learn about winning the first-place award for her page designs.

“It’s actually rewarding,” Hall said. “You feel like you’re actually making an impact.”

She explained how she uses photos and graphics creatively to make the page visually appealing.

“My brain kind of works like a puzzle,” she said. “I see the pictures, I read part of the story … and I just choose graphics to go with it. If it’s for dancing, I’ll look for some kind of music notes or fun backgrounds to go along with it.”

She typically chooses a feature photo to focus on.

“I just build around it and make it attractive, fun to look at, and fun to read,” Hall said.

She enjoys the creative process, as well as learning new techniques as technology changes.

“It’s just very intriguing to see things that I’ve done, in print,” Hall said.

She enjoys her role at The News, as it helps draw attention to the stories and ads. She uses a wide variety of fonts, matching the type of font to the feel of the story. She primarily uses Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop when crafting the layouts for the Northern Lifestyles section, which runs on Saturdays.

News General Manager Christie Werda said she is proud of the work the team has accomplished.

“It’s good to give praise to everybody that won awards,” Werda said. “It just means that we’re doing a good job providing great content to our subscribers and the community.”

With a fully staffed newsroom since March, and a cooperative and productive staff in advertising, circulation, the press room, and the mailroom, The News team works together to create a product that keeps Northeast Michigan up-to-date on current events and community happenings, Werda said.

“I think the newsroom is heading in a wonderful direction now, with a full staff,” Werda said. “We’re getting more local content, which means more coverage of our area.”

Werda has worked at The News for 24 years, succeeding in roles from a part-time classified sales representative to advertising manager, and as of March 19, she was promoted to general manager. She took over for former Publisher Justin Hinkley.

“There’s great teamwork,” Werda said. “Everybody is wonderful, in my eyes, and I’m very proud to have them all here. Overall, I’m just really happy with the staff at The Alpena News. We’re like a family.”

Darby Hinkley is Lifestyles editor. She can be reached at 989-358-5691 or dhinkley@TheAlpenaNews.com.