Staff Report news@robconews.com Robertson County News On Saturday, June 20, at noon, the Texas Press Association hosted the annual Texas Better Newspaper Contest awards ceremony, celebrating excellence among community newspapers across the state. The event took place at the DFW Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas, bringing together journalists, editors, and publishers to honor the outstanding work produced by local newsrooms. The contest divides newspapers into categories based on circulation size, ensuring that publications compete with others of comparable readership. The Silsbee Bee entered its division alongside newspapers with similar circulation numbers, while the Robertson County News competed in its own appropriate division. This system allowed each newspaper to showcase its work on a level playing field, highlighting the best journalism relative to its community reach. Unfortunately, a mix-up during the judging process caused the Robertson County News to be placed in direct competition with much larger newspapers, including the Fredericksburg Standard—the largest weekly community newspaper in Texas. This was a simple clerical mistake on the part of the Texas Press Association, unintentionally placing the paper in a division with significantly higher circulation competitors. Obviously, a paper the size of the Fredericksburg Standard has the advantage of a much larger staff, working to produce a five-section newspaper, which gives them an edge over a smaller publication like the Robertson County News. However, the Robertson County News has proudly been an award-winning Texas Press Association paper for the past 15 years. Despite competing against some of the largest newspapers in Texas this year, we still managed to bring home a first-place award for advertising design. In June of 2025, Phillips Publishing acquired The Silsbee Bee in Hardin County, Texas. As a result, for the first five months of 2025, The Silsbee Bee did not have any content eligible to submit for the contest that year. Although The Silsbee Bee had no eligible content for the first half of 2025, we proudly submitted work from June through December. Despite the shortened timeframe, The Silsbee Bee earned an impressive eight awards, showcasing the strength and dedication of our team even within a half-year of competition. The Silsbee Bee garnered an array of accolades, including first place in both feature writing and news photography. Additionally, the paper secured second place for editorials, sports photography, and special sections. Rounding out the honors, The Silsbee Bee earned third place in general excellence—an overall category—and fourth place for advertising. In addition to the eight individual awards, The Silsbee Bee also earned second place in the overall contest sweepstakes. The sweepstakes is a cumulative category, awarding points for each prize received, with the top-scoring newspaper taking first. Placing second among roughly 25 to 30 competing newspapers in our division is a significant accomplishment. We are honored by the result and excited to aim for the top spot next year. Phillips Publishing takes immense pride in the dedicated staff serving both Hardin and Robertson Counties. These talented individuals have committed their time, passion, and loyalty to their communities and publications, and their dedication is evident in every success. We want to extend our gratitude to everyone involved. Once again, our communities are well represented at the Texas Press Association as award-winning newspapers for 2025. Now, as we move beyond the midpoint of 2026, we eagerly anticipate submitting once more, continuing to demonstrate that our communities are home to the finest newspapers possible.