The Pilot was awarded first place among newspapers with a circulation higher than 10,000, the highest circulation category in the competition. Contrest entries came from 36 states. The Pilot won second place in the contest last year.
The Inland Press Foundation, based in Des Plaines, Ill., singled out the newspaper for its ability to attract readership, design for readability, community coverage and writing quality. The panel of judges that conferred the award included David Nelson, a member of the faculty of the Northwestern University School of Journalism.
Newspapers in the competition were required to submit one edition each from the months of January, June and September. The Pilot’s entry included one edition from the week of the U.S. Women’s Open and one that reported on the local impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The judges said The Pilot is “an elegant newspaper that does a good job catching the spirit of its community with a range of well-written stories…beautifully packaged.”
The award will be presented Feb. 22 at the Weekly Newspaper Publishers Conference in Naples, Fla.
The Navajo Times in Arizona won second place. The Portland Tribune was third.
In January, The Pilot was recognized as North Carolina’s best community newspaper, winning first place for general excellence in the North Carolina Press Association competition for 2001.
“This award is a tribute to our entire staff,” said David Woronoff, publisher of The Pilot. “Being singled out as the best in North Carolina and the best in America in the same year is a distinct honor. It proves once again that there is nothing small-time about a good small-town newspaper. And we are determined to build on this by making The Pilot even better in the year ahead.”
