Smoke Signals receives five ONPA awards for work published in 2022

By Dean Rhodes

Publications coordinator

Smoke Signals received five awards – two firsts and three seconds – during the 136^th annual Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Conference held Thursday and Friday, Sept. 28-29, in Gleneden Beach.

The awards in the Associate Member category were given for work published in 2022.

Smoke Signals Graphic Designer Samuel Briggs III received a first-place award in the Graphics category for an illustration tracing the Tribe’s two-year anniversary of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic published on March 15, 2022. He also took second place in the same category for a graphic depicting where all of the Indian boarding schools were located in Oregon that was published on June 1, 2022.

Smoke Signals Page Designer and Tribal member Justin Phillips took second place in the Design competition.

Smoke Signals Editor Danielle Harrison and Social Media/Digital Journalist and Tribal member Kamiah Koch received a second-place award for the series titled “Parenting From Prison” in the Best News Writing competition.

Former Smoke Signals Photojournalist Timothy J. Gonzalez received a first-place award in the Best News Photo category for a photograph of Tribal Council member Jon A. George harvesting lamprey at Willamette Falls that was published on Sept. 1, 2022.

Smoke Signals was once again the only Tribal newspaper honored in the statewide competition. The newspaper finished second in the Associate Member competition behind the Salem-based agricultural newspaper Capital Press for the most awards received for work published in 2022.

“Smoke Signals continues to deliver excellence as it champions the independent free press in Indian Country,” said Grand Ronde Editorial Board member Andy Jenness. “As a Tribal member and Editorial Board member, I applaud the award-winning dedication of our staff.”

Earlier this year, Smoke Signals won six awards from the Indigenous Journalists Association, including first place in the coveted General Excellence category in its circulation category.

Smoke Signals has now won 131 state and national journalism awards since 2007.