Cardinal News wins 18 first place awards, 47 total, and Outstanding Young Journalist and Salesperson of the year

Emily Schabacker was awarded Outstanding Young Journalist, Sherry Quinley won Outstanding Sales Professional, and Cardinal News took home 47 other journalism awards, including 18 first-place awards, at Saturday’s Virginia Press Association annual awards banquet.

Cardinal also took home the Sweepstakes Award as the most awarded newsroom in the online group, and won three Best in Show awards.

”I couldn’t be happier for Emily, Sherry and all of the Cardinal team members who were honored by VPA. I am so proud of our team and all that each one of these talented members of the flock bring to our organization and our communities,” said Luanne Rife, executive director.

”It’s almost unbelievable how well we did in the state’s contest, but our audiences wouldn’t be surprised as they see every day in every story and every interaction with us, the talent and dedication of our team to produce journalism worthy of our communities.”

More on Emily and Sherry’s achievements below.

A baker’s dozen of first place reporting awards, and five top video/photo finishes

Emily Schabacker took home first place for in-depth and investigative reporting, with her story on how a free clinic’s CEO nearly doubled her own salary to over $500,000 in two years. The judges wrote: “Excellent investigative reporting. I particularly appreciated the context provided — i.e. comparing with the salaries people running other organizations. Also great follow-up reporting to uncover the government funding provided to this organization.”

Grace Mamon, last year’s outstanding young journalist winner, took home first place for Feature Series or Continuing Story with “Let those voices be heard.” The judge wrote: “The reporter draws readers right into this difficult period, and then lets those involved tell the story themselves. Great writing framed by a moving set of pictures and the snippets of transcript. Really moving presentation overall.”

She also won first place awards for business and financial writing, public notice story on Pittsylvania County cemeteries, and public safety writing. Grace also received the top award for feature photo. 

About her public safety stories, the judge wrote: “You made complex topics readable and were thorough in your interviews. I appreciate your EMS coverage especially, since the topics overlapped but each article stood on its own with unique information and perspectives.”

Susan Cameron won first place awards for breaking news writing for her coverage of the Virginia Intermont College fire and breaking news photo for a candid shot of Russell County citizens’ reactions to the vote at a board meeting. The photo also won a Best of Show award.

Tad Dickens took home first place for health, science and environmental writing. The judge wrote: “I really like the voice in these — it helps break up the complexity of these subjects. Stories are very well researched and informative!”

Lisa Rowan was awarded first place in the education writing category for her stories on how the reality of closing schools hits communities. A judge wrote: “Wow! These are really well done stories with great sourcing and focus on local impact.”

Zachary Shelton, with Grace Mamon, won the top award for video for their piece on the Caesar’s Casino opening.

Dwayne Yancey won first place in data journalism for his many demographic studies of our region. The judge wrote: “Sometimes data is just data. It’s what you do with it that’s important. Great analysis from an obvious data wonk.”

Dwayne and his colleagues Brooke Stephenson, Robert Lunsford and Dutchie Jessee got the top prize for multimedia report with “D-Day, in the words of the Virginians who were there.” This work also won a Best in Show for Digital. The judge wrote: “Well-written, thoughtful, evocative, and comprehensive account of a horrible day. Great graphics, and who thought of using the kids and legislators to read the reports? They seldom get better than this. OK, I cried. A prime example of how journalism can move.”

Cardinal News freelancers also were awarded several first place prizes.

Ben Earp won for Picture Story or Essay with his work on covering the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Mark Taylor won for Feature Profile Writing.

Mark Robertson won the top award for Sports Writing Portfolio.

Robert Anderson won for Sports Feature Photo.

The Cardinal News staff won the general news writing category’s top award for their work on Helene’s lasting impact on Southwest Virginia. They also won a Best in Show in Online Writing for this coverage.

Emily Schabacker is the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year

Emily’s work reflects her beat mission statement. In her own words: “I work to bridge the gap between complex health policies and the real-world experiences of patients, providers and underserved populations. This coverage should inform policy makers, health leaders and everyday Virginians.”

Emily was able to gain the trust of people on all levels of this often-broken health care chain, from expectant mothers to caregivers to medical professionals and administrators. She found a mother with a preexisting condition that would complicate childbirth, living an hour away from the closest maternal health care. She found a doula who drove from North Carolina to help expectant mothers. She found a woman named Miracle who, battling her opioid addiction and the loss of her first children due to that addiction, realized going to jail would give her a better chance to beat her addiction in time to save her next child from inheriting it. She found the former head of an opiate abatement authority who’d fought his own battle with drugs.

Emily said she was “thrilled, and a little shocked” to receive this recognition for her reporting on maternal health in Southwest Virginia. “For many of us, especially young reporters, it’s stories like these that fuel our passion for journalism. I’m so grateful to the women and families who trusted me with their stories. Their openness made this work possible.”

“This award is also a reflection of the incredible mentorship and support I’ve received since joining the Cardinal News team just a year ago. It’s an honor that deepens my commitment to reporting on the issues that matter most in our rural communities.”

Executive editor Jeff Schwaner said, “I saw from my first day with Cardinal News that Emily had a great project on her hands, and she did superb work amplifying the unique challenges that mothers face in our readership area.”

Sherry Quinley is Outstanding Sales Professional of the Year

Sherry came on board in fall 2023 and immediately started building relationships with the business community across Cardinal’s vast geographic territory. Within two weeks, she had sold nearly all the spots through the end of the year in Cardinal’s daily and four specialty newsletters.

She was instrumental in setting up a series of Cardinal Connects open houses across the region. 

In one year she created a sponsorship program for Cardinal News from the ground up. She built solid relationships in the business community, built inventory and metrics tracking systems, and brought in more than $150,000 in new revenue.

Sherry has a background in both sales and journalism. 

“Sherry instinctively understands that it takes wide community support to fund and sustain local journalism,” said Rife.

She’s also a one-woman show: She schedules the creatives (and sometimes builds them) and creates reports for sponsors, and she worked with an IT specialist to create calendars, metrics and coding.

Sweeping categories and stacking up wins

Cardinal swept first, second and third place awards in three categories: business and financial writing (Grace Mamon, Matt Busse and Susan Cameron); sports writing portfolio (Mark Robertson, Mark Taylor and Robert Anderson); and public safety writing (Grace Mamon, Markus Schmidt and Susan Cameron).

In four other categories Cardinal took home first and second place awards: breaking news writing (Susan Cameron and a staff effort including Elizabeth Beyer, Matt Busse, Samantha Verelli, Lisa Rowan, Tad Dickens and Emily Schabacker); picture or story essay (Ben Earp and Bob Brown); data journalism (Dwayne Yancey and Kevin Myatt); and multimedia report (Dwayne Yancey, Brooke Stephenson, Robert Lunsford, Dutchie Jessee for “D-Day,” and Dwayne, Dutchie and Cloe Logan for “The Black Loyalists”).

The complete list of first, second and third place winners can be found below.