News

Lightning wins 5 awards, repeating as best website

Hendersonville Lightning editor Bill Moss accepts gavel from Sandra Hurley, Mount Airy Media Group Regional Publisher and immediate past president, after his election as president of the North Carolina Press Association.

By Lightning Reports, Published: October 12, 2022

The Hendersonville Lightning won five awards during the recent annual meeting of the North Carolina Press Association, including first place in General Excellence in Websites for the second year in a row.

The awards ceremony culminated the association’s three-day convention during which Bill Moss, the Lightning’s founder, publisher and editor, was elected NCPA president for the 2022-23 year.

In comments to association members, Moss emphasized that he is bullish on the future of newspapers.

“I don’t need to be sold on newspapers,” he said. “I started the Hendersonville Lightning and HendersonvilleLightning.com 10 years ago in the depths of the Great Recession and after thousands of obituaries had already been written about our industry.” The newspaper and website has gone on to experience month-over-month, quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year circulation growth from 2012 to today.

Moss told NCPA members that his top priority during his term as president is passage of the Government Transparency Act, a bill in the N.C. Legislature to open personnel records of state and local employees who are terminated or disciplined for wrongdoing.

Matt Matteson won an award in news enterprise for his reporting on the growth locally of Latino-owned businesses, which a contest judge praised as ‘a wonderfully reported and written series.’Lightning awards and judge’s comments were:

• First place, business writing, Moss, for coverage of the May 2021 apple freeze, agriculture damage caused by tropical storm Fred and a new law allowing cities to create outdoor “social districts” that permit adult beverages. “In-depth reporting on a good variety of topics.”
• Second place, serious columns, Moss, for opinion pieces on the 2021 city elections, the Lightning’s 10^th anniversary and the Ecusta Trail. “Good voice, clear arguments. Packed quite a bit of story and information in each column. Really appreciate the tight edit of thoughts.”
• Third place, breaking news, Moss, for coverage of Covid-19 vaccine demand in early 2021. “Very thorough with a lot of information on the vaccine issue. Well-written information on what needs to be done, how to do it and who is involved.”
• Third place, news enterprise reporting, Matt Matteson, for a two-part series, “As Latino population grows so do their businesses,” published in July 2021. “A wonderfully reported and written series. The articles do a great job highlighting the Latino population’s contributions to the area.”