Catholic Media Association touts The East Tennessee Catholic, DioNotes, staff
The East Tennessee Catholic
The East Tennessee Catholic and the Diocese of Knoxville communications office have been recognized by the Catholic Media Association with top awards for content created during the 2025 calendar year.
During the CMA annual conference June 16-19 in Atlantic City, N.J., it was announced that The East Tennessee Catholic received the first-place award in the Best In-Depth News/Special Reporting category among non-weekly diocesan publications for its continuing coverage of the Diocese of Knoxville’s response to the devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in the months following the September 2024 storm.
The in-depth coverage highlighted the severely impacted parishes of St. Michael the Archangel in Erwin, St. Anthony of Padua in Mountain City, Good Shepherd in Newport, and Notre Dame in Greeneville and the heroic responses of those faith communities and Catholic Charities of East Tennessee.
The coverage was carried out by The East Tennessee Catholic team of editors Bill Brewer and Dan McWilliams, digital media producer Emily Booker, and multimedia journalist Gabrielle Nolan.
In their review of the package of stories in the April 2025 issue of The East Tennessee Catholic under the headline “Helene Flood: A Catholic Response,” the CMA judges said, “This package covered many facets of the impact of Hurricane Helene, from harrowing first-person stories of those who escaped the flood to the efforts of rescuers and supporters in the aftermath. The stories were riveting, and the breadth of coverage movingly demonstrated how people in the community rushed to help one another.”
The Diocese of Knoxville digital newsletter DioNotes and Ms. Booker, who compiles DioNotes, won third place nationally in the category of Best Diocesan Electronic Newsletter.
In their review of DioNotes, the CMA judges said, “A broad array of well-produced local content sets this newsletter apart. Video content, slide shows, and podcasts are techniques it employs in making a vigorous effort to reach out to all in the diocese. The Diocese of Knoxville truly keeps its members well-informed.”
DioNotes is e-mailed to Catholics throughout East Tennessee and serves as a weekly news update of happenings and announcements from parishes, schools, the Chancery, and the various Catholic ministries being carried out in East Tennessee.
And The East Tennessee Catholic was recognized as the third-best newspaper in the United States in the Diocesan Non-Weekly category. The newspaper was ranked behind The Catholic Spirit of the Diocese of Metuchen, N.J., and the Catholic News Herald.
According to the judges’ review of The East Tennessee Catholic and its team of Bill Brewer, Dan McWilliams, Emily Booker, John Mecklenborg, and Bee Goodman, “This is a beefy and interesting publication for readers. It offers deep and wide coverage, with a mix of genuine news (and) interesting features. The wire stories are relevant and integrated well into the local content.”
“We are grateful to the Catholic Media Association for its recognition of the teamwork, resilience, and sacrifice of the faithful in East Tennessee who joined together in response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene and who were illustrated in stories and photography on the pages of The East Tennessee Catholic newspaper, and on the Diocese of Knoxville digital sites,” said Bill Brewer, editor of The East Tennessee Catholic.
“And we appreciate the CMA judges’ assessment of the work done by the diocese’s newspaper and its communications staff in telling the impactful stories from around the diocese of the people who are spreading the Word of God, the teachings of Jesus Christ, whether they are the priests, religious, and ministry leaders, or the lay faithful,” Mr. Brewer added.
In September, The East Tennessee Catholic will mark the 35th anniversary of its first issue. The Diocese of Knoxville’s official publication, since its inception, has relied on the diocese’s priests, deacons, religious, parishes, the lay faithful, and the people of East Tennessee for stories, columns, photographs, news briefs, announcements, and advertising to further the newspaper’s mission to “inspire the people of the Diocese of Knoxville to deepen their understanding of the Catholic faith, to share that faith, and to enhance community.”