Former Joplin Globe reporter wins national award

By Sherman Smith

Kansas Reflector

EMPORIA — Kansas Reflector columnist Max McCoy won a first-place National Society of Newspaper Columnists award for the second year in a row, claiming the top prize for humor writing.

(Note: Max McCoy is a former Joplin Globe reporter.)

The annual awards were announced Thursday evening, with winners in eight categories drawn from more than 80 publications. McCoy won first place for online humor writing and an honorable mention for crisis commentary. Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone placed third in crisis commentary.

This is the third time McCoy has won a National Society of Newspaper Columnists award since he began writing his Sunday column for Kansas Reflector after the publication launched in July 2020.

Last year, he won first place in the online general interest category. He also won first place for online humor writing in 2021, and second place for online general interest in 2023.

This year’s first-place award was based on two columns McCoy wrote last year:

• “When night comes, we might all be listening for Radio Free Kansas.” (March 30, 2025)
• “A theocrat’s prayer to end democracy.” (April 20, 2025)

“We live in absurd times so it is appropriate that two of my columns, dealing with the deadly serious business of authoritarianism and theocracy, should be chosen as winners in the humor category in a national contest,” McCoy said. “How else to get a serious message across except with some wit? I’m pleased to be recognized by the NSNC and am grateful for the opportunity to be published by the Reflector. I’m most thankful, however, to my first and best reader, my wife Kim, and to all of those who check in with me every Sunday.”

Wirestone previously won an honorable mention for crisis commentary in 2024.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.