June 16, 2021

OGDENSBURG – Two for two.

For the second year in a row, the North Country Catholic has won a Catholic Press Award from the Catholic Media Association (formerly Catholic Press Association).

This year, the North Country Catholic won third place in the category “Best Regular Column – Pandemic” for three installments of editor Darcy Fargo’s column.

The entry included Fargo’s column from March 25, 2020, “You’re bitter? Don’t be,” one from April 15, 2020, “Seeing the beauty, not the stumbles” and a column from June 17, 2020, “But Jesus was there.”

“It’s an honor to win this award,” said Fargo. “We compete with much larger newspapers and media organizations, so it’s really gratifying to know our work here in our small diocese and for this small newspaper is strong enough to win.”

Top honors in the category went to the Clarion Herald for a column by Peter Finney Jr.; second place went to the Arlington Catholic Herald. Honorable mentions were also given to Catholic New York and The Observer (Diocese ofRockford, Illinois). Other winners in the commentary awards included Aleteia.org, Catholic News Service,The Tablet (Diocese of Brooklyn), The Catholic Register, National Catholic Reporter, The Compass (Diocese of Green Bay) and Denver Catholic.

In 2020, the North Country Catholic was awarded first place in the category, “Best Reporting on the Celebration of a Sacrament” for the piece “Finding faith in a fortress.”