Howdy everyone! Welcome to another edition of our biweekly subscriber-exclusive newsletter, where we talk shop with Racket readers.

That’s right—we’re #3. That’s according to the 2024 Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists’ Page One Awards, held last Tuesday. Two worthy publications, Sahan Journal and the Star Tribune, beat us out, and it’s a real honor for our scrappy lil four-person newsroom to take the bronze. In fact, this is the second year in a row we placed third in that category (last year the Strib and the Grand Forks Herald beat us out), so I guess we really must be third best.

That was just one of five awards we won this year at the SPJs. I know, I know—awards don’t matter, and it’s a little gauche to get all worked up about them. But we don’t get a chance to boast about ourselves a whole lot, so I am un-Minnesotan-ly taking this opportunity to do so. 

Let’s start with 2023. Last year was the first we entered competition, and the night largely belonged to Jay. He got a first place plaque in Arts & Entertainment Reporting for “How Music Streaming Impacts Minnesota Musicians.” (This, like all of our awards except for the website, was in the “small” category, which covers publications with less than 50,000 in circulation.) Em placed second in that category with “The Renaissance of Minnesota Drag, and the Right-Wing Groups That Want to Stop It.” Jay also placed second in the Enterprise/In-Depth Reporting category for his story “What the Hell’s Been Going on at MPR?”

We did even better this year. Jay won a well-deserved third Enterprise/In-depth Reporting award for “There’s a Massive, Hidden Lake of Mining Residue Above the North Shore. It Might Grow.” And I took the bronze in the Arts & Entertainment Reporting category for my story “Is Touring Even Worth It?” (No spoilers; you have to read it to find out. That’s how headlines work.)

Also (this is what we in the biz call “burying the lede”) I won TWO first place awards. I placed first in A&E/Culture Criticism/Reviews for “I Saw 30 Concerts in 30 Days,” which makes sense because personally I think I deserve an award just for leaving the house 30 nights in a row at 54. But the one that really meant a lot was Best Interview for this talk I had with my niece Julia last year about Taylor Swift. In fact, I had to miss the awards dinner this year because I was in New Jersey to attend her high school graduation. 

If you’re a longtime Racket subscriber, maybe you recognize a few of these stories already. If you’re a new subscriber who joined during our sale last month, maybe they’re new to you. Either way, this serves as a reminder of the kind of features you can only find here at Racket. And we only have the opportunity to write them because of your subscriptions. No you, no Racket. It’s as simple as that. So thanks again for all your support. (And I don’t just mean your money, though I very much do mean your money.)

Who knows? Someday, with your help, we may even become the second best website in Minnesota.

Keith

P.S. To send you off, here’s Julia getting her high school diploma last week.

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