I’ll most likely be spending a good portion of this weekend, and a few additional nights over the coming week, at the office putting in some longer hours than usual.

The time has come, once again, for the West Virginia Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, and I, unfortunately, am nowhere near as complete with gathering our entries as I would like.

Compiling these entries typically involves a full review of every newspaper published in the previous year. I will admit, it has become a little easier over the years, as we can go through digital copies of the newspapers, especially since that’s the preferred format for submission of entries. In years’ past, I would spend hours hunched over a table, or sitting on the floor somewhere, sifting through piles of printed copies of The Weirton Daily Times, turning all of the pages, and periodically taking breaks to wash the ink off of my hands.

Now, it basically just takes a few clicks of the computer mouse to review everything.

The contest includes a variety of categories in both news/editorial and advertising, looking at our coverage of hard news, features, opinion pieces, photography, and more.

More recently, the contest has started to include categories for digital content as that is the direction this industry is heading.

In particular, there have been video categories included, which is something many of the journalists in my generation and before probably never imagined being a part of newspaper work. We’re starting to dip our toes into that realm, though, which also means having to pick up some new skills to include in our journalist toolbox.

Now, if I could only remember to upload some of the video I have put together. It really does help to enhance our work, giving more of a feel of what we experience while we’re in the field.

Our sports photography work has done well in recent years, thanks to the talent of Andrew Grimm, our sports editor. In addition to being able to capture the spirit behind our local high school athletic events through his words, Andrew has developed a great eye when it comes to capturing the action through the lens of a camera, and has been recognized several times for his work.

Our news reporters, Warren Scott, Linda Harris, and Christopher Dacanay, all work incredibly hard to cover their beats and the goings on in many of our communities. Community editor, Julie Stenger, had big shoes to fill when she stepped into the role almost two years ago, but has put her own personality into it and received a few awards last year as a result.

It’s not just about the awards, though.

This is a non-stop business, and we often find our minds tend to blur when it comes to recalling when certain things happen. I’ve caught myself looking back at a particular event, only to realize it was two or three years ago and not the couple of months as it initially seems.

Doing a review for this contest also helps to jog the memory and put some things into perspective.

The way some things have happened, for example, it may seem as if certain elected officials have been in their offices for quite some time, but many have been there less than four months.

For me, the last year included coverage of several local elections, reporting on the idling of the Weirton tin mill, the final dissolution of Weirton Transit Corp. and the rollout of what is now known as Weirton Ride, the official opening of Form Energy, there also were groundbreakings for the utility expansion projects in Weirton, and the welcoming of a new four-legged friend at Weirton Elementary.

It will be interesting what memories are brought up as I continue compiling our entries in the coming days.

(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @CHowellWDT)