Charleston-The staff of the Wetzel Chronicle and the Tyler Star News picked up 24 awards at the 2025 West Virginia Press Association Advertising and Editorial Better Newspaper Contest. The haul led to the Wetzel Chronicle receiving third place General Excellence in Advertising and Tyler Star News receiving third place General Excellence in Editorial in Division 4 of the newspapers.

The awards were handed out during the WVPA annual convention held on the campus of the University of Charleston on Saturday, October 11th. They honored news, sports, feature and editorial writing along with advertising work done in 2024.

The newsroom staff picked up 14 awards including: (5) first place awards, (6) second place awards, and (3) third place awards. First place awards included: Best News Coverage of Breaking News (Ed Parsons/Wetzel Chronicle), Best Legal Affairs Reporting (Shelley Hanson/Wetzel Chronicle), Best Lifestyles Feature (Shelley Hanson/Wetzel Chronicle), Best Lifestyles Page (Randy Rutherford/Tyler Star News), Best Editorial (Ed Parsons/Tyler Star News).

Second place awards included: Best Coverage of Breaking News (Shelley Hanson/Wetzel Chronicle), Best In-Depth Reporting (Randy Rutherford/Tyler Star News), Best News Columnist (Chuck Clegg/Tyler Star News), Best Lifestyle Columnist (Chuck Clegg/Tyler Star News), Best Lifestyle Pages (Randy Rutherford/Tyler Star News), Best Editorial (Ed Parsons/Tyler Star News),

Third place awards include: Best Coverage of Breaking News (Ed Parsons/Wetzel Chronicle), Best Sports Columnist (Ed Parsons/Wetzel Chronicle), Best Editorial (Ed Parsons/Tyler Star News).

Advertising awards included: Best Classified Ad (1st and 2nd place/Wetzel Chronicle), Best Theme Page (1st place/Wetzel Chronicle), Best Single Black and White Ad Quarter Page or Less (1st place/Wetzel Chronicle), Best Color Ad Quarter Page or Less (2nd place/Tyler Star News), Best House Ad (2nd place/Tyler Star News), Best Political Ad (2nd place/Wetzel Chronicle), Best Special Section-Sports (3rd place/Wetzel Chronicle).

Eric Anderson, publisher of the Wetzel Chronicle and the Tyler Star News, said “we are very pleased with the recognition our staff has received, as it is a testament to the hard work they put in each week in creating newspapers that help keep our readers informed of their local communities, as well as providing a great vehicle for businesses to reach people.”

Forty-one newspapers submitted more than 1,000 entries for judging by the New York Press Association and the New York Publishers Foundation.