Managing Editor Paul Gaudette was recently named as Journalist of the Year for North and East Texas Press Association and the Dublin Citizen team was named as the best small weekly newspaper.
Awards were announced Saturday, April 5 in Fairfield to conclude NETPA’s 98th annual convention.
“Once again, the team at the Dublin Citizen has proven that they publish one of the best papers in Texas,” said Brett Wesner, owner of the Citizen. “Not only did the staff bring home the Sweepstakes Award as best paper in the region at the North and East Texas Press this weekend, but Citizen Managing Editor Paul Gaudette was named Journalist of the Year by the prestigious organization,” he said.
“These awards do not come without years of hard work and dedication to the Citizen’s readers,” Wesner said. “I am proud to be a part of a newspaper that serves its community in such a committed way.”
Judges complimented Gaudette on his strong writing.
“In my opinion, this was a collaborative collection of a variety of topics, all well covered and touching the heart of the community,” the judge wrote.
For the third year in a row, The Citizen team earned first place in Sweepstakes, which is the contest’s highest honor determined by total number of points earned through first, second, third and fourth place awards. The newspaper competed in the small weekly division judged by a panel of journalists from the Gulf Coast regional association in Texas.
Editors Wyndi Veigel-Gaudette and Paul Gaudette received first place in headline writing and page design.
For headline writing, judges touted ‘Dublin under sun block’ used during the eclipse as ‘clever.’
Entries for page design included newspapers published in December and September 2024.
Paul also received first place in Sports Writing for entries on Madison Turley’s last basketball game due to an injury while she was a senior, and Mariana Ortiz being named 3A State Champion in powerlifting.
Judges complimented Gaudette as having great leads, using quotes well throughout the stories and drawing the reader in from the very beginning.
Wyndi also received a second place in news photography for coverage of a house fire and a motorcycle accident, and both Wyndi and Paul received a second place award for feature photography.
Entries included coverage from the Hispanic Heritage celebration and the Back to School Fair.
Paul earned a second place award for column writing with entries about confusion about numbers in the office and regarding Mac McKinnon moving from Dublin.
“ W o n d e r f u l characterization. I could almost see him in my mind,” the judge wrote about the column on Mac.
Paul also received a second place award for sports coverage with the judge complimenting the variety of sports covered.
The paper received a third place award for General Excellence, which judges the entire composition of the newspaper.
“I love the look of your paper,” the judge touted.
Paul received a 4th place in sports photography for football and volleyball coverage.