farragutpress shines at TPA, reaching a new milestone
the winners of 22 Tennessee Press Association awards, which were announced Friday, Oct. 17.
Farragutpress was the newspaper with the most awards — 22 — followed by The Bledsonian-Banner and the McNairy County News of Selmer, with 12 awards each.
“Farragutpress once again celebrates excellence in design and production, as our exceptional team — Tony Christen and Cindy Wilfert — earned 22 awards, including 11 first-place honors, at the 2025 Tennessee Press Association Annual Ideas Contest Awards,” farragutpress general manager Kathy Hartman said.
“For the second year running, their outstanding work earned second runner-up for Best of Show, further cementing their reputation for consistency, creativity and excellence,” she said. “Tony and Cindy continue to push the boundaries of creative design in community journalism.
“Their work doesn’t just win awards — it drives results for our advertisers and deepens the paper’s connection with our readers,” Hartman said. “These statewide commendations are more than just recognition; they’re a reflection of the skill, passion and teamwork that define farragutpress’s commitment to quality.
“We’re proud to have such dedicated professionals shaping the visual identity of our publication, and we look forward to building on this continued success,” she added.
“I am extremely happy with what we achieved at TPA,” said Tony Christen, farragutpress production manager/circulation manager. “Surpassing 200 awards since 2018, along with receiving second runner-up again for Best of Show for the second year in a row, is just remarkable. It’s such a boast
for our organization, an organization that does so much with so little.
“We have an outstanding team,” Christen said. “I would like to point out someone who goes unrecognized, Cindy Wilfert (graphic designer).
“She is one of the most talented individuals that I have worked with,” he added. “We would not be where we are today without her.
“Cindy brings so much to our team and our organization. I’m proud to call her my teammate and my friend,” Christen said.
“It’s so encouraging to receive this recognition from TPA,” Wilfert said. “We work hard as a team every week to produce the best community newspaper and special sections as possible.
“I love working with Tony Christen, who has great talent and has been a wonderful teacher for me. God has blessed us with success through the years, and I’m proud of the accomplishments of our small but mighty team,” she said.
This year the farragutpress team has won:
• Third place in Best special Section for Courtney: End of an Era;
• First place in Best Self-Promotion of a Newspaper for TPA Winners and third place in that category for National Newspaper Week;
• First place in Best Sales Promotion for a Retailer for Water Into Wine and second place for 105.3 WFIV;
• First place in Best Use of Multi-Color Ad for Reckless Hippie;
• First place in Best Use of Single Color Ad for Adorable Pets;
• First place in Best Feature Page or Pages for Remembering the Fallen wrap;
• First place in Best 1/4 Page or Smaller Ad for Pinnacle Assisted Living;
• Second place in Best Food Store Ad for Water into Wine Spring Menu;
• First place in Best Automotive Ad for Rusty Wallace Home Run and third place for PureMagic;
• First place in Best Professional Service Ad for Little Fixes;
• Second place in Best Furniture and/or Appliance Ad for Amish Elegance;
• First place in Best Carrier Recruitment for Company Car; second place for Thank You to our Carriers and third place for Missing Piece;
• First place in Best Niche Publication for Courtney: End of an Era and third place for Meigs County Fair;
• First place in Best Use of Humor in an Ad for Company Car and second place for Whatchamacallit.
In all, farragutpress received 21 general awards, of which 11 were first-place awards, five were second place and five were third place.
Additionally, it received second runner up in Best of Show for the Remembering the Fallen Memorial Day wrap.
