The Johnson County Post’s coverage of the 10th anniversary of hate-fueled shootings in Overland Park as well as a Shawnee Mission high school football player’s tragic death after a summer practice were among the works cited for awards this year by the Kansas Press Association.
KPA this week unveiled winners for its annual Awards of Excellence. The Post, overall, earned six citations, including three first-place prizes, and a nod for “Best Newsletter” for our “Out Front” newsletter that goes out to subscribers every weekday morning.
The Post’s awards include:
- Kaylie McLaughlin, First Place in the “Feature Story” category;
- Kylie Graham, First Place in the “Feature Photo” category;
- Kyle Palmer, First Place in the “Best Newsletter” category;
- Sofia Ball and Grace Rau, Second Place in the “Youth Story” category;
- Mike Frizzell, Second Place in the “Spot News Photo” category
- and the Johnson County Post website also earned 3rd Place in the “Best Website” category.
“We’ve come a long way over the past 15 years,” Post publisher Jay Senter said in reaction to the awards announcement. “This recognition from the KPA is a testament to the growing capacity of our newsroom, all made possible by the subscribers who support our work.”
Kaylie McLaughlin’s stirring feature takes top honor
Kaylie McLaughlin, who has been a staff reporter for the Post since 2023, spent months researching the 10th anniversary of shootings in Overland Park carried out by a self-professed antisemite.
The shooter killed three people, Bill Corporon, Terri LaManno and Reat Underwood, and left indelible psychic wounds for the victims’ families as well as witnesses to the crime and first responders who rushed to the scenes at the Jewish Community Center and Village Shalom retirement community.
Kaylie tracked down more than a dozen people directly impacted by the tragedy, listened to the stories of how their lives have played out in the decade since and stitched together a stirring tribute that is well-deserving of the top “Feature Story” honor.
Photography work earns plaudits
In addition, two freelancers earned praise for their photography work for the Post this past year.
Kylie Graham, an Olathe native who has done assignments for the Post for the past two years, earned first place in the “Feature Photo” category for her memorable photo of a young pie-eating contest participant getting a clear advantage over the competition.
“Great action shot, well framed, perfect focus. Great job!” the judge for this category noted.
In addition, longtime freelance contributor Mike Frizzell took home second place in the “Spot News Photo” category for his timely picture of law enforcement officers advancing toward an Overland Park home during a standoff.
“Great job from this photographer following the breaking news beat. He captured an intense moment under difficult circumstances,” the judge noted.
Accolades for Shawnee Mission student journalists
The Post was also pleased to see that two local high school journalists earned recognition for work they published on our site last year.
Sofia Ball and Grace Rau, reporters for the Shawnee Mission Northwest High School student newspaper, covered the tragic death last September of Ovet Regalado, a sophomore football player who suffered a medical emergency at a football practice.
The judges noted how Sofia and Grace told the story with humanity and sensitivity, gaining comments from Ovet’s teachers and friends the day after the news hit the school.
These student journalists worked with speed and precision in publishing the story soon after the incident happened, bringing to light the impact Ovet’s death had on the SM Northwest community.
Read ‘Full of love and life’ — SM Northwest mourns football player who died after practice”
Post’s digital products are also viewed as top-notch
Finally, the Post staff were heartened to see recognition for our efforts at making our online product accessible and user-friendly for readers.
“Out Front,” the daily newsletter that goes out to our roughly 8,000 subscribers each weekday morning, was recognized as tops in the “Best Newsletter” category, with the judge noting how professional and easily readable it is.
If you’d like to get “Out Front” in your inbox at the start of each weekday, sign up for a $1 trial offer today.
We were also pleased to see our website earn third place in the “Best Website” category after our first year of moving to the new Johnson County Post brand and URL.
We wanted to make that change, in part, because we felt our prior format (under the Shawnee Mission Post and Blue Valley Post banners) was not as easily digestible as the format we now run with, which highlights multiple top stories at a time and gives readers scannable columns broken out by local cities.
The Post competes in KPA’s largest division
With roughly 8,000 paying subscribers, the Post competes in KPA’s largest division, reserved for publications with a circulation of at least 5,601.
Other publications in this division include the largest daily newspapers covering the state of Kansas, including The Kansas City Star, Wichita Eagle, Topeka Capital-Journal and Lawrence Journal-World, as well as newer online-only publications, like the Wichita Beacon and Kansas Reflector.
KPA’s Awards of Excellence in all categories and divisions will be given out during the organization’s annual conference in Salina on June 5-6.
