134th Annual Montana Newspaper Association Convention

The 134th Annual Convention of the Montana Newspaper Association was held June 7 & 8 in Big Sky, Montana.

Association members chose Kellyn Brown of the Flathead Beacon as the 2019-2020 President. Erin Leonard of the Madisonian was elected 1st Vice President. Chad Knudsen, from the Glendive Ranger Review was elected 2nd Vice President, and George Hoffman of the Belgrade News was elected 3rd Vice President.

At the Montana Newspaper Advertising Service annual meeting, Jeff Martinsen, Choteau Acantha, was elected President and Summer Goddard, of the Valley Journal, was elected Vice President.

Mike Gulledge, former Publisher of the Billings Gazette, was honored with the 2019 Master Editor/Publisher Award for his significant contributions to the Montana newspaper industry.

Robert “Bob” Gilluly was inducted into the Montana Newspaper Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was established by the Montana Newspaper Association and the University of Montana School of Journalism, and honors Montana journalists who have made outstanding contributions to the profession, the arts, and their community.

Cindy Sease of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and Theresa “Terry” Trang of the Glasgow Courier were honored with the 2019 Dick Crockford Distinguished Service Award for their contributions to the Montana newspaper profession and to their community.

The top awards from the 2019 Better Newspaper Contest were presented to:

Billings Gazette – The Sam Gilluly Award for Best Daily Newspaper in Montana

Flathead Beacon – The Thomas Dimsdale Award for Best Weekly Newspaper in Montana

Roger Dey, Blackfoot Valley Dispatch – Mel Ruder Photograph of the Year Award

Ekalaka Eagle – Division 1 Newspaper General Excellence

Whitefish Pilot – Division 2 Newspaper General Excellence

Lewistown News-Argus – Division 3 Newspaper General Excellence

Flathead Beacon – Division 4 Newspaper General Excellence

Billings Gazette – Division 5 Newspaper General Excellence

The full presentation of all the awards can be found online at: https://awards.mtnewspapers.com/awards2019/presentation.php .

The mission of the Montana Newspaper Association is to advance and sustain the news publishing industry in Montana. The association has 84 professional member newspapers and was established in 1885.