Pilot Wins Top National Award For Second Consecutive Year

The Pilot won first place in the General Excellence category — recognized as the top community newspaper in the nation — for the second consecutive year.

Winning in the non-daily division with circulation of 10,000 or more, judges lauded The Pilot’s news content, and for including multiple opinion pages, plenty of contributed photos, an exhaustive and well-played community calendar, and a wide variety of sports news.

“In an upscale market having lots to work with, The Pilot of Southern Pines, NC, makes the most of it,” the judges wrote. “Photography and writing is of the highest quality.”

The contest required the submission of three complete newspapers: two from June 2015 and one from November 2015.

In June, The Pilot published in-depth coverage of the events surrounding the firing, and subsequent rehiring, of Moore County Schools Superintendent Dr. Bob Grimesey.

The November edition emphasized a broad range of news and community coverage regularly published. The front page included news of the death of former Congressman Howard Coble, the investigation into rules violations by the Pinecrest High School football program, a Veterans weekend parade and reporting on the controversial homeless shelter zoning discussion in Southern Pines. The issue also included a feature detailing the global farming adventure of two former interns and a Halloween horse dress-up event for the Walthour Moss Foundation on the Hoofbeats page.

“It’s particularly gratifying that two of the judged papers showcased the community response last year over the firing and rehiring of Schools Superintendent Bob Grimesey,” said The Pilot’s editor, John Nagy. “The coverage in those papers demonstrated the symbiotic relationship this newspaper has long enjoyed with its community. We are all interdependent on each other for the success of this special place we call home.

In addition to General Excellence, The Pilot captured three additional awards including First Place for Best Serious Column, won by John Nagy, and Honorable Mention awards for Community Service and Best Headline.

Nagy’s column, Our Starry Flag Unfurled, The Hope of All the World, was described as “a wonderful column that quickly grabs your attention and maintains interest throughout, while making a bold point.”

The Pilot’s advertising content was also recognized for its use of QR codes, providing several pages of classified advertising, a separate marketplace section, and offering “a beaut of a Service Directory.”