Magazine honored as best in the nation

Ohio Cooperative Living has been  named the winner of the 2022 George W. Haggard Memorial Journalism Award by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

The NRECA each year recognizes the electric cooperative statewide consumer publication that best presents “lucid, forthright contributions to electric cooperative objectives.” The award is named for George W. Haggard, first editor of the Texas statewide publication, who was killed in a plane crash in 1951.

“The whole reason our magazine exists is to help Ohio’s electric distribution cooperatives get their messages out to their members,” says Jeff McCallister, the magazine’s managing editor. “We take a lot of pride in making something that co-op members are not only willing to pick up and look at, but that they look forward to reading each month.”

“People have information flying at them from everywhere these days about some complicated subjects like solar energy, electric vehicles, even the reliability of the electrical grid, and it’s so hard to know what to trust,” McCallister says. “It’s our responsibility to make sure they have honest answers to their questions. This magazine comes from the co-op, and I think most everyone understands that their co-op is the best, most trusted source for that kind of information.”

The award was to be presented to the magazine staff, including Associate Editor Amy Howat and Graphic Designer Crystal Pomeroy, at PowerXchange, the NRECA’s annual meeting, March 4 in Nashville, Tennessee.