Photo by Kevin Sweeney, New Ulm Journal Pictured is Independent Editor Mike Lamb with the first place General Excellence award for daily newspapers with a circulation under 10,000.

The Marshall Independent has been named one of the best daily newspapers in the state of Minnesota.

Thursday night, at the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s annual award banquet, The Independent received the first place General Excellence award for daily newspapers with a circulation under 10,000.

“This publication recognizes the importance of state and national news… but commitment to their editorial page and, the paper has lots of news hole (local news), said the MNA judges. “The local photography is excellent, and the classifieds are clean and easy to read.”

As indicated by the judges’ comments, the entirety of the newspaper is considered in this award, including quality of writing, photography, design and advertisements.

A unique feature of The Independent also garnered judges’ praise.

“A fun note is that at the top of 1A daily, a different subscriber is recognized and thanked,” they stated.

This is the second consecutive year The Independent has received a General Excellence award, finishing second in 2019.

“I am immensely proud of the work not only of the editor, Mike Lamb, but the entire staff,” Publisher Gregory Orear said. “Despite the fact we are one of the smallest daily newspapers competing in this category, we were still able to win this coveted award, which is truly a testament to the amazing work being done by everyone on staff at The Independent.”

In addition to the General Excellence, the newspaper also received second place for general news reporting and third place in general sports reporting.

“The Independent editions were the best-edited entries in this class,” according to judges’ comments. “Stories were easy to read and well-written.”