On Thursday, The News was honored to win a handful of awards from the Michigan Press Association’s 2024 Better Newspaper Content.

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

— Third place for Spot News Story for Steve 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 former Publisher Justin Hinkley’s commentary

— Third place for Best Columnist for Managing Editor Torianna Marasco’s commentary

— First place for Best Page Design for Graphic Artist Angie 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 a local resident’s life as a sports official

And, while it is nice to be recognized, it’s not why we do what we do.

The recognition that means the most to us is the feedback we get from people in the community.

We want to hear what they are passionate about so we can continue to write about those topics. We want to know when they think we are doing well, as it encourages us to stay on that path. We also want to know what we can improve on so that we can get back on track.

We do what we do because our community needs us, and we need them.

We want to be a paper that a community can be proud of and to be a reliable source for them to stay informed about the goings-on around town.

When we hear from the community about the impact that we have on them and their lives — for example, hearing how grateful people were for the content we provided during the ice storm — that’s the best reward there is.

You, Northeast Michigan, are the reason we work so hard. You are the reason we put our all into each and every paper.

It’s your stories we want to continue to tell, and if an award comes out of it, well, that’s just a bonus.