The Keizertimes won five first place awards in the 2023 Better Newspaper Contest from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, at its summer convention held at Eagle Crest Resort near Redmond.
The paper won first place for general excellence. The Keizertimes won the Elmo Smith Award of General Excellence, for its division.
Other first place honors presented the Keizertimes were for:
• Best Spot News Coverage, Quinn Stoddard, for his story, Keizer’s Invisible Population, about the city’s homeless population.
• Best Educational Coverage for a special section about Chemeketa Community College, presented to the staff;
• Best special section for the 2023 KeizerFEST guide, presented to the staff;
• Best Photo Essay, to Joshua Manes for his photos about McNary High School’s Blue Day.
The Keizertimes also won one second place and three third place awards.
The staff was recognized with a second place win for best special section for the 2023 High School Football Season Preview.
The three third place awards for the Keizertimes went to;
• Best spot news coverage to Madi Lietz, for her story about McNary High School’s principal, Erik Jespersen’s idea about daycare at the school for staff and students.
• Best Lifestyle Coverage to Robin Barney and Lyndon Zaitz for Spotlight on Keizer’s doers;
Joshua Manes won a third place award for Best Sports Story, Putting pen to paper.
At the same convention, Les Zaitz an owner of the Keizertimes and the Malheur Enterprise in Vale, Oregon, was inducted into the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame, a prestigious honor.
The 2023 contest was judged by members of the Oklahoma Press Association.