Mike Wetzel, a 1979 graduate of the Hall School of Journalism and Communication, won two national awards at the National Association of County Information Officers (NACIO) awards presentation in July 2025.
Wetzel, the current communications director for the Morgan County Commission, won a superior award for exceptional work among peers for the June 2024 issue of the quarterly newsletter, “The Voice of Morgan County,” and an excellence award for exceeding industry standards for the photo/photo series, “Photographer Favorites.”
The nation-wide contest for NACIO saw over 200 entries. As a one-man department, producing the newsletter, writing press releases, coordinating events for the courthouse, live streaming County Commission meetings and managing the Commission’s Facebook page, Wetzel views his awards as a big win against bigger counties like Broward and Palm Beach, Florida.
“A one-person department in Morgan County, Alabama can compete with big dogs like that,” he said. “Size doesn’t matter on some of these things.”
During his time at TROY, Wetzel was a part of Gamma Beta Phi honor society, the sports information department and became the assistant editor of the Tropolitan by his senior year. While working at the Trop, he photographed concerts and sporting events, opportunities that he believes he wouldn’t have been able to get elsewhere.
“I have no regrets about what I learned at Troy University,” he said. “It prepared me for the career I was going into, and what to expect every day on a job, especially early on.”
After he graduated from TROY, he worked for “The Dothan Eagle” and “The Birmingham News.” In 1995, he won the prestigious Alumni of the Year award for Print Journalism from TROY. After working for 35 years at “The Decatur Daily” as a reporter and editor, Wetzel joined the Morgan County Commission in 2023.
“It’s easily the best job, and there’s no stress,” he said. “It’s good news or no news, which is what I like about it. This is after doing years and years of being totally objective, looking for both sides of the story.”
Wetzel, his father and his son Logan are all TROY graduates, spanning three generations. His father earned a master’s degree in criminal justice and his son Logan earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice.
