Carlsbad Current-Argus honored for reporting at annual New Mexico journalism ceremony

Oct. 28-- Oct. 28--Reporters from the Carlsbad Current-Argus won multiple awards at the 111th annual New Mexico Press Association conference and awards banquet in Albuquerque.

The paper took home three awards for its reporting in the last year.

On Saturday night, the awards banquet saw daily and weekly newspapers throughout New Mexico honored for their work in 2018 and 2019.

The Carlsbad Current-Argus was presented with the Associated Press' Member of the Year award, given to one paper in the state each year chosen by the AP's New Mexico office for "outstanding cooperation" with the AP.

Individual Awards were given in four divisions: Weekly 2 -- for weekly papers with circulation less than 5,000; Weekly 1 -- for weekly newspapers with circulations of more than 5,000; Daily 2 -- for daily papers with circulations less than 11,000; and Daily 1 -- for newspapers with circulations more than 11,000.

The Carlsbad Current-Argus, in Daily 2, took home honors in two categories.

Sports reporter Matthew Asher was honored with second place for overall sports coverage and reporter Adrian Hedden won second for digital breaking news for coverage of a string of tornadoes that struck the region in early 2019.

The ceremony also presented each division with a General Excellence award. The winners were the Albuquerque Journal for Daily 1, The Roswell Daily Record for Daily 2, the Taos News for Weekly 1 and the Independent in Edgewood for Weekly 2.

The contest was judged by the Oklahoma Press Association.

The conference, spanning Friday and Saturday at the Albuquerque Marriot hotel featured training sessions for reporters and journalism students supported by the Associated Press Media Editors News Train, a national organization dedicated to journalism instruction for new and experienced journalists.

The Carlsbad Current-Argus was also recognized for a months-long project on waste water created by the oil and gas industry.

The USA Today Network's quarterly journalism awards are given out four times per year to newspaper in the network in three divisions based on size.

The project, known as "Waste to Water" reported on how oil and gas companies address waste and produced water in oil and gas fields across the country, and investigated potential solutions for New Mexico and the booming Permian Basin.

Carlsbad Current-Argus staff took second place in Division 3 in the third quarter awards, behind the Jackson Sun in Jackson, Tennessee which won for coverage of the Jackson mayor's controversial business dealings.

"'Waste to Water' provides an in-depth look at how states with oil and natural gas production handle the billions of gallons of wastewater produced during hydraulic fracturing," read the judges' comments on the Carlsbad Current-Argus' award. "The months-long project offers a detailed look at what officials could do to address the issue locally."

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

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