Woodburn Independent recognized by Oregon news association for outstanding coverage

Published 4:30 am Friday, July 25, 2025

The results are in, and writers for the Woodburn Independent were showered with honors for their work in 2024.

The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association presented the awards in its Better Newspaper Contest on Friday, July 18, at the Boulder Falls Center in Lebanon. The Independent staff was awarded a total of four awards for their coverage.

Reporter Sophia Cossette took home two awards for writing, coupled with two awards from former Independent photojournalist Jaime Valdez.

Cossette took home first place in Best Coverage of Business or Economic Issue for “‘This is kind of a scary year’”, chronicling ongoing challenges the local wine industry faces. She also won third place in Best Educational Coverage for ongoing reporting on state testing as it relates to Woodburn, Gervais and North Marion Schools.

Valdez won first place for Best News Photo and third place for Best Photo Essay for his photographic coverage of the wine industry story. Valdez won a total of 10 ONPA awards for 2024.The association recognized reporters and editors from the Independent and other sister publications, among other media outlets across Oregon, for their outstanding coverage.

Lauren Bishop, editor for The (Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Sherwood) Times, the (Forest Grove and Hillsboro) News-Times, the Columbia County Spotlight, the Newberg Graphic and the Woodburn Independent received one solo second-place award and two first-place and a third-place accolade for stories written in conjunction with colleagues.

Assistant editor Kaelyn Cassidy was honored with two second-place solo awards for her reporting at the Columbia County Spotlight and two first-place honors in conjunction with colleagues through ONPA in 2024.