 The paper won in a tie for best feature photo in 1997 from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. In 1998, the paper took first place for science reporting from the Pacific Northwest Society of Professional Journalists competition for Excellence in Journalism. The Register-Guard took first place in the same competition in 2001 for best arts coverage. In 1999, the newspaper was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Spot News Photography, for its coverage of the community's reaction to shootings at Springfield's Thurston High School by student Kip Kinkel.
