MONTPELIER — The Addison Independent was recently recognized by its peers in the Vermont journalism community for the excellence of the twice-a-week publication.
The Independent won five awards — including a coveted first place for general excellence — at the annual Vermont Press Association (VPA) convention and awards ceremony held at the Capitol Plaza in Montpelier on Dec. 13.
Competing in the non-daily category against more than three-dozen other publications throughout the state, the Independent also  won:
•  Third place for Outstanding Website.
•  Second place to Trent Campbell for General News Photograph.
•  First place to Andy Kirkaldy for Sports Writing.
•  First place to Jessie Raymond for Feature/Humor Column.
•  First place to the Addison Independent for General Excellence.
Addison Independent editor and publisher Angelo Lynn congratulated his staff members for their sustained hard work.
“We’re honored to have Jessie, Trent and Andy recognized for their outstanding work,” he said. “I have always considered ‘General Excellence’ to be the top award any newspaper can win, as it rewards a combined effort.”
Lynn also praised the work of multimedia maven Megan James, who started managing addisonindependent.com and the publication’s social media accounts last spring. He expects that the Independent should place higher in the Outstanding Website category in the coming year.
Co-Publisher Christy Lynn called the awards “excellent recognition” for the work of the newspaper and the website.
“People who work at the Addison Independent and our sister publications continuously make great efforts to keep the people of Addison County informed about what’s going on in their government, their schools and their broader communities,” she said.
Journalists from other states evaluated all of the entries. The contest is open to 11 daily and more than three-dozen non-daily newspapers in Vermont.