Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
For her persistence, courage, and sheer determination to seize every opportunity to do meaningful reporting, Amanda Mendez, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Howell County News, Willow Springs, and more recently the Laclede County Record, Lebanon, is Missouri Press Association’s first Missouri Journalist of the Year.
Mendez was one of five nominations received for this first year of the award, all of which were reviewed by a selection committee to determine this year’s recipient. Nominees were considered for the significant impact, locally or statewide, their work had in the previous calendar year.
With coverage across multiple issues and deep dives into questions the public deserved answers to, Mendez tackled topics that affected the Howell County News’ entire readership. Through her work, the committee found that Mendez didn’t just do meaningful reporting, but that her journalism helped change the community.
At the beginning of 2025, reporting by Mendez in January revealed an elected position in Willow Springs had quietly been left off the general election ballot. After articles and columns brought the issue to public attention, the city reversed course and agreed to let voters decide the matter.
Later that month, her reporting exposed the employment of a public defender’s office employee who had served time in connection with his stepdaughter’s murder. After state legislators refused to begin budget discussions with the office until the matter was addressed, the employee was terminated.
August proved to be a defining month for the work Mendez was doing for her community, as a local school district announced a dangerously low reserve balance and blamed faulty financial projections. Rather than accept that explanation, she spent six weeks digging through budgets, spreadsheets, cash ledgers and individual line items. Her reporting revealed not malfeasance, but something perhaps just as troubling: gross financial incompetence and a lack of meaningful oversight.
The reporting culminated in a column calling for the resignation of five school board members, prompting an extraordinary public reaction, including seven reader letters in a single issue. An independent financial consultant later confirmed the findings, spending was reduced by $2.5 million, and the superintendent had to leave the district. The column also won Mendez honors from an international journalism group.
Amanda and Ron Mendez purchased the Howell County News in July 2019, and under their ownership the newspaper has won numerous awards and been recognized for its work as a community institution. In September 2026, they purchased the Laclede County Record in Lebanon, further expanding their journalism brand in southwest Missouri.
Watch the video that was played during the Saturday awards brunch here.
2027 Missouri Journalist of the Year
The Missouri Journalist of the Year Award is an annual competition open to all professional journalists currently working for a member of the Missouri Press Association.
Journalists of all experience levels can be nominated for this award. Recipients will be chosen for the significant impact, locally or statewide, their journalism work had in the previous calendar year. Individuals can be nominated for this award or self-nominate.
All nominations must include:
In addition, nominations can include:
Recipients receive $500 and a plaque presented during the coming year’s Missouri Press Foundation Better Newspaper Contest awards presentation.
Nominations for the 2027 Missouri Journalist of the Year will be accepted through the first Monday of April. For more information about the award, please contact Matthew Barba at mbarba@mopress.com.
