WILLIAMSBURG—The Galax Gazette, a twice-weekly newspaper based in Galax, was recognized Dec. 3 with Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s 2025 Ishee-Quann Award for Media Excellence, the top honor in Farm Bureau’s annual Journalism Award program.
The Gazette is published on Wednesdays and Fridays and covers Galax, Carroll and Grayson counties in Southwest Virginia. Its agricultural coverage over the past year included a multitude of articles focused on the damage caused by Hurricane Helene and the many efforts to help farmers recover from that. Even though Hurricane Helene bolstered their agricultural coverage, there was “a plethora of excellent stories on a wide variety of farming issues,” the judges said. “Their breadth, depth and consistency of agricultural storytelling was very impressive. They did an excellent job of telling stories through farmers’ voices and are deserving of this top honor.”
The Ishee-Quann Award was first presented in 2009 and is named in part for Jeff Ishee, president of On the Farm Radio and a past recipient of numerous VFBF Journalism Awards for work in radio and television, and online. The late Homer Quann was WSVA radio’s farm news director for several decades and was known as the most dedicated agricultural reporter in Virginia.
The Gazette also received the top honor in the award program’s non-daily newspaper category. Their dedication to keeping readers informed of Hurricane Helene impacts and relief efforts, as well as other local agriculture issues, is “an inspiring showcase of how a community newspaper can uplift its farmers during times of uncertainty,” the judges said.
VFBF Journalism Awards recognize exemplary ongoing coverage of agriculture issues, practices and events by print and broadcast news operations. Award recipients were announced during the VFBF Annual Convention in Williamsburg.
Farm Bureau also awarded a top place honor in its TV category to WSLS 10 in Roanoke.
Judges said that the station’s reporting of Hurricane Helene impacts in its coverage area as well as stories about vet shortages, drought and the spotted lanternfly stood out. They said the news crew, led by news anchor Rachel Lucas, “balance difficult topics with optimistic outlooks and place farmers at the forefront of their coverage.”
Rachel Tillapaugh, a reporter with WSET 13 in Lynchburg, was given an honorable mention. Judges said that her coverage made good use of farmers’ perspectives about critical agricultural issues like farm equipment road safety, eminent domain takings on farmland and the effects of solar projects on agriculture. They also said Tillapaugh’s packages included a nice mix of visuals, statistics and sources. One judge said they “found myself smiling while reviewing her submissions!”
With almost 137,000 members in 88 county Farm Bureaus, VFBF is Virginia’s largest farmers’ advocacy group. Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, voluntary organization committed to supporting Virginia’s agriculture industry.
View more convention news as it becomes available at vafb.com/convention, and follow us on social media via #VFBF25 .
Contact Kathy Dixon, assistant director of communications, at 804-370-3055.
