We were named 2 of best sports news outlets in America, but that doesn’t matter without you

The news hook here is that we just won a lot of awards.

The spin is that we worked hard for those awards and having our reporting recognized by top journalists from across the country speaks to the quality of what we do.

But honestly, those awards hold no value. Your readership does, and for that I wanted to take a moment to say thank you.

Some of you have subscribed to us for decades and still get our papers delivered to your driveway seven days a week. Others consume our content strictly online. The best way to support us is with a digital subscription, but whether you’re a subscriber, pick up the occasional single copy at a kiosk or click a story every once in a while on our websites, your readership matters and helps us continue to do the great work that we do.

This past week, the combined sports staffs of The Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer won 15 awards at the annual Associated Press Sports Editors contest. The awards are voted on by editors across the country from papers as large as The Washington Post to rural county weeklies and are considered the “Oscars” of sports journalism.

CharlotteObserver.com was named one of the country’s 10 best sports news websites and the Observer was honored among the 10 best Sunday sports sections (awards were in the second-largest circulation category). The N&O was an honorable mention in the best Sunday section competition, putting it among the 15 best in the country. Those awards are thanks to quality content from our team.

Our team took four of the top 10 spots in feature writing: Scott Fowler was recognized for his piece of a former Hornets general manager Carl Scheer’s battle with dementia; Jonathan Alexander wrote about how UNC’s Toe Groves escaped the projects with help of his imprisoned father; Andrew Carter shed light on how high school football is used as a tool in North Carolina’s poorest communities; and Brendan Marks wrote about how Kyle and Samantha Busch handled the news of their miscarriage.

Sports Pass: Get around our paywall for only $30/year. Unlimited access to all of The Charlotte Observer’s national award-winning sports coverage.

Luke DeCock detailed how Apex Friendship is trying to find the future of football, and Marks wrote about how Cam Newton’s vegan diet could potentially play a role in his rehab. These won top 10 for explanatory writing.

Duke reporter Steve Wiseman was named one of the best beat writers in the country. Photographer Jeff Siner’s shot of a defeated Kyle Allen walking off Lambeau Field in the snow was voted 10 top for best feature photo.

This is just a sampling of the national recognition we received over the past week, and we take pride in those awards, but they mean little without dedicated readers like you who support our work.

Since I arrived in Charlotte in July to lead our talented team of sports reporters, columnists and editors in North Carolina, quality and accountability have been our top priorities. That means not only breaking news, but explaining what that news means and why it’s important; telling wonderful stories of sports figures you care about that make you laugh and cry; putting fun quirky facts in our newsletters; and it’s holding universities, teams and government officials accountable for their actions — even when that news may not be what you want to hear.

Sports Pass: Get around our paywall for only $30/year. Unlimited access to all of the News & Observer’s national award-winning sports coverage.

In Charlotte, we’ve renewed our commitment to covering NASCAR, made the blossoming athletic program of the Charlotte 49ers a priority and are the first news outlet to hire a full-time reporter to cover the MLS team that will begin play in 2021.

In the almost nine months I’ve been here, I’ve been (honestly) shocked by how welcoming the North Carolina sports community has been to me and how big of a role the Observer and N&O play in and around Mecklenberg and Wake counties. It’s a blessing to be a part of serving you.

If you’re enjoying our coverage or are interested in checking us out more and are tired of hitting that paywall, you can get a digital sports subscription for $30/year at CharlotteObserver.com/sportspass or NewsObserver.com/sportspass. You can access the same great coverage of Triangle college sports and the Hurricanes of our Raleigh-based reporters through the Observer site, and you can get Panthers, Hornets and NASCAR from our Charlotte-based staff through the N&O.

We are not perfect. Unfortunately, no media organization is. But we are dedicated to providing top-grade sports journalism, analysis and commentary to North Carolina, and that will never change. If there’s anything you’d like to see more of, or if you have other feedback about how we’re doing, please email me at mstephens@charlotteobserver.com. I’m always up for a good conversation.

Thanks for reading.

Observer and N&O awards from APSE

Our North Carolina-based team of reporters and editors

• Scott Fowler, columnist
• Luke DeCock, columnist
• Alaina Getzenberg, Panthers reporter
• Rick Bonnell, Hornets reporter
• Chip Alexander, Hurricanes reporter
• Alex Andrejev, NASCAR and MLS reporter
• Andrew Carter, sports enterprise and investigations
• Langston Wertz, Charlotte preps
• Jonas Pope, Raleigh preps
• Jonathan Alexander, UNC reporter
• Joe Giglio, N.C. State reporter
• Steve Wiseman, Duke reporter
• David Scott, Charlotte 49ers and Davidson
• Todd Adams, deputy sports editor/colleges
• Jessaca Giglio, deputy sports editor/preps
• Matt L. Stephens, senior sports editor

This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 5:57 PM.

Matt L. Stephens

The Charlotte Observer

Matt L. Stephens is the Senior Sports Editor for The Charlotte Observer and oversees sports coverage for the Raleigh News & Observer, The State in Columbia, S.C., and McClatchy’s other properties across the Southeast. Before coming to Charlotte in July 2019, Matt was an award-winning editor, columnist and investigative reporter at The Denver Post and Fort Collins Coloradoan.