BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. – Journalist Rachel Mergen, the lone news reporter at the Winona Daily News, won three awards at the Minnesota Newspaper Association annual meeting.
> “Bloedow Bakery’s 100th Anniversary” (May 2024), second place as a business profile.
> “Anniversary of Madeline Kingsbury’s Disappearance” (March 2024), second place as hard news.
> “Need for More Foster Parents” (August 2024), third place as a social issues a story.
The Daily News won first place for the use of photography as a whole. This was mostly for the work of Saskia Hatvanym, who is on-call from the LaCrosse Tribune for shoots for 11 papers in the Lee Enterprises chain. The Winona paper doesn’t have a photographer of its own.