The Erie Times-News is the overall winner of the Newspaper of the Year award by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. Officials will be presented with the award at the Association’s annual convention in Hershey in November.

Here’s the full release by the PNA:

PNA announces 2009 G. Richard Dew, Public Service and Newspaper of the Year award winners

The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 G. Richard Dew Award, the 2009 Public Service Award and the 2009 Newspaper of the Year Award. These awards are presented at the Annual Convention, which this year will be held Nov. 11 to 13 at The Hotel Hershey.

The G. Richard Dew Award, the PNA’s most prestigious honor for outstanding journalism, was established in memory of G. Richard Dew, former general manager of PNA (then named PNPA) and former executive director of the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors (PSNE). This award is given to an individual or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the community or state through an article or series of articles. This year’s G. Richard Dew award winner is the York Daily Record/Sunday News.

Continuing the tradition of the news media as the “fourth estate,” the Public Service Award is presented to the newspaper that has helped improve the community through public service leadership. This non-journalistic award is presented to a newspaper that has made a significant contribution to the betterment of its community through public service leadership. The winner of this year’s Public Service Award is the York Daily Record/Sunday News.

The purpose of the Newspaper of the Year contest is to recognize outstanding newspaper work, with the emphasis on overall excellence. This contest gives newspapers the opportunity to showcase the efforts of their entire staff. The overall winners of Newspaper of the Year for daily newspapers are first place: Erie Times-News and second place: The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News. For non-daily newspapers, first place is awarded to The Almanac (McMurray) and second place to Philadelphia Business Journal.

Division winners include:
Division 1 – First place: The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News; Second place: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Division 2 – First place: Erie Times-News; Second place: York Daily Record/Sunday News
Division 3 – First place: Altoona Mirror; Second place: The Citizen’s Voice (Wilkes-Barre)
Division 4 – First place: Public Opinion (Chambersburg); Second place: The Reporter (Landsdale)
Division 5 – First place: The Almanac (McMurray); Second place: Philadelphia Business Journal
Division 6 – First place: The Ebensburg Mountaineer-Herald; Second place: Allied News (Grove City)

Here’s the link to coverage on GoErie.com of the award.