InMaricopa took home two first-place awards in the Arizona Media Association’s Better Newspapers Contest yesterday, one more than last year.
Both first place awards went to Managing Editor Elias Weiss in the Investigative Reporting and Best Narrative Work categories.
Weiss’ three-part series exposing stolen valor in Maricopa, Scamouflage, published between July 2023 and May 2024, won best in state for investigative journalism. (Read the series here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
September 2023’s Raising Kane, a vivisection on the Sovereign Citizen and Constitutional Sheriff movements, won best narrative piece in Arizona last year.
“This is an example of how InMaricopa goes above and beyond its contemporaries to bring the kind of hard-hitting, first-class journalism usually found in big markets to the great city of Maricopa,” Weiss said. “While I am honored to be recognized for my contributions to journalism in Arizona, all credit goes to our talented editorial staff, without whom such undertakings would not be possible.”
InMaricopa Publisher Scott Bartle added: “I am proud of Elias and our entire editorial team, who work tirelessly to provide Maricopans the news they want to know and the news they need to know.”
AMA is a nonprofit organization that represents more than 350 media brands across the state, including radio, TV, print and digital publications.
Last year, InMaricopa took home 10 awards as a first-time contestant among midmarket Arizona news publications. Other publications in this category included The Arizona Mirror, The Navajo Times and Phoenix Business Journal.
Among last year’s awards, InMaricopa.com snagged first place for best website and InMaricopa won four second-place awards, including best news story and best sports photograph.
