The Concord Monitor recently won two top awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association, including Sunday Newspaper of the Year honors.

The association gives the award out in two categories for newspapers above and below a Sunday circulation of 20,000 editions. The Monitor won in the smaller category.

In addition, the Monitor’s “Counting Cops” series received one of 13 Publick Occurrences awards, which recognizes the very best work that New England newspapers produce each year regardless of their size.

“After devoting more than a year to this investigation, the Concord Monitor revealed that a dramatic increase in the number of police, local and state, is having a significant impact on town and regional budgets,” the judges said. “Their reporting showed the number of police officers increased by an average of 20% statewide, but crime actually fell during that time period. Important information to have when considering police budgets and staffing.”

The stories were written by reporter Cassidy Jensen, who now works for the Baltimore Sun, and it was completed with research assistance from the Granite State News Collaborative and MuckRock.

The New England Newspaper of the Year award was judged by New England newspaper readers who evaluated the entries from a news consumer point of view. The contest dates were for editions published between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the staff for their accomplishments over the past year,” said Monitor publisher Steve Leone. “The Sunday Newspaper of the Year recognition is very competitive, and it includes many strong news organizations from across New England. I think that award really represents the quality of work produced, from our talented journalists to our dedicated ad staff, all the way to our printing operation and our digital team.”

In addition to the New England award, earlier this year the Monitor won first place for General Excellence, the top award for large news organizations in the state given by the New Hampshire Press Association. The Monitor has won that award three out of the last four years.

In that contest, the Monitor and its staff won three other first-place awards in government reporting for the Counting Cops series, business reporting for its Two New Hampshires profile of the tourist economy of Meredith, while reporter Michaela Towfighi was named the Rookie of the Year. Sports reporter Eric Rynston-Lobel finished in second place for Rookie of the Year.