The Redmond Reporter recently won six awards, including photographer of the year and first places for education story and personality profile, in the 2011 Washington Better Newspaper Contest.

The awards were presented last Friday at an awards dinner during the 124th annual Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Convention, at the Holiday Inn Downtown Everett.

The Reporter, which has a circulation of 25,000, competed against other newspapers in Group IV, the highest circulation category. The newspapers were judged on work produced from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011. The contest drew 2,523 entries from 78 community newspapers; entries were judged by members of the Texas Press Association.

The Redmond Reporter won the following awards:

• Photographer of the Year: Chad Coleman for a portfolio of his work.
• First place: Best Education Story, “Students feeling the space crunch,” Samantha Pak.
• First place: Best Personality Profile (Long), “‘Last of the beat cops’ steps down,” Bill Christianson.
• Second place: Best Health or Medical Story, “Hill’s ‘huge miracle’,” Bill Christianson.
• Second place: Youth-Oriented Content (Advertising and Special Sections), “Pacific Northwest Junior Golf,” Ernie Yip.
• Third place: Best Government Reporting, “A lifesaver with limits,” Samantha Pak.

Altogether, Sound Publishing Co. received 194 awards, up from 174 in 2010.