Union-Bulletin takes home 2 awards in SPJ journalism contest

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin staff won two awards in the Society of Professional Journalists 2025 Northwest Excellence in Journalism Contest.

The Union-Bulletin competed against other medium-sized news outlets in the Northwest. SPJ announced its contest results earlier this week.

Competing against publications of all sizes, the U-B took second place in at-large multimedia storytelling for "In Recovery," its look at how southeast Washington is surviving and addressing the opioid epidemic. Journalists Erick Bengel, Jake Bertram, Jeremy Burnham, Loryn Kykendall and Greg Lehman were honored for their collaborative work on the project.

"Great series on the local impact that fentanyl has had in the community and the people and agencies working to recover their communities," the judge for the category said.

Kathleen Ballard took second in print page design for "Making space," which the judge applauded for its "excellent use of photo illustration with typography."

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This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 10:03 PM.