The Paper season 1 ending explained: Did the Toledo Truth Teller win the award?

All ten episodes of The Paper season 1 dropped on Peacock on Thursday, September 4, 2025, bringing plenty of laughter, office drama, plans of corporate takedown, and a pile of clickbait articles. That is, until a new editor-in-chief arrives to turn the local newspaper around.

The Paper season 1 ends with the culmination of the entire show's premise, which is to revive a dying Midwestern newspaper, and it's a happy ending. The Toledo Truth Teller wins all three of its nominations, including for Overall Excellence in Journalism.

But besides Ned getting the praise for leading the newspaper back to its glory after many decades, two of the staff members also get their due during the awards celebration. Career-wise, Ned wins, but he also wins in the romantic department, although office romance could make things complicated.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for The Paper season 1. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Does the Toledo Truth Teller win the award at the end of The Paper season 1?

Toledo Truth Teller wins (Image via Peacock)

It's the biggest night in journalism in Ohio in The Paper season 1 finale, with the revitalized Toledo Truth Teller nominated for three categories in the Ohio Journalism Awards. Mare (Chelsea Frei) is nominated for Best Short Investigative Piece for her Softees clog article, and Oscar (Oscar Nuñez) for Best New Game for his Mr. Digit Puzzle.

The Toledo Truth Teller and its editor-in-chief, Ned, are also up for the Overall Excellence in Journalism award. In the end, they bag all three trophies, with the award for the entire paper the biggest of all because it means that Ned and the team have turned things around for Toledo Truth Teller.

As the CEO of Enervate, the parent company of the paper, Marv (Allan Harvey), has said, it's been too long since the paper got recognition. A brief flashback shows Toledo Truth Teller winning its last award, and it's from 1971. But, as with the rest of The Paper season 1, the awards show is not complete without some competition from the newspaper's team members.

There's Esmeralda's (Sabrina Impacciatore) flair for dramatics, and her trying to take the spotlight for herself, and Ken (Tim Key) trying to take some of the credit for himself. They get a few minutes to one-up each other onstage because Ned is nowhere in sight to accept the award, although he arrives soon after to deliver a heartfelt speech, until Esmeralda takes the spotlight again after fainting onstage.

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The Paper season 1: What does Ned and Mare do about the intense chemistry and tension between them?

Ned and Mare in The Paper (Image via Peacock)

Ned and Mare's chemistry has been simmering throughout Peacock's The Paper season 1, but it's not until the last minute in the finale that they decide to do something about it. Oscar shares some relationship advice with Ned that makes him reconsider his feelings for Mare and run after her.

While Ned thinks Mare has Theo in her hotel room, he's only too happy to realize that it's Nicole crying inside following her breakup with Derrick. But while that should make him brave enough to tell Mare his feelings, there's another thing bugging his mind - he's Mare's boss, and he thinks engaging in a relationship will make things a disaster at the office, especially now that the paper is starting to pick up.

But, at the end of The Paper season 1, they choose to let their journalistic integrity kick in when it comes to their chemistry. They decide that they should kiss for research purposes and hope that they can get it out of their system. After a short peck on the lips, they kiss each other again, more passionately this time, leading to Ned reacting, "Oh, sh*t." They won't be getting it out of the way after all.

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The Paper season 1: Oscar wins in more ways than one

Oscar from the series (Image via Instagram/@peacock)

As mentioned, Oscar wins Best New Game at the end of The Paper, and during his speech, he thanks the documentary crew who have been following him for 20 years, the same crew who filmed the documentary when he was still working at Dunder Mifflin in Scranton in The Office.

Oscar also wins favors from Marv and his brother. In the season finale, Ken lays out a plan to provoke Marv to choke so he could save him, which he thinks would save his job if layoffs are happening in the future. Unfortunately for him, Oscar becomes the hero to give both Marv and his brother the Heimlich.

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Catch all ten episodes of The Paper season 1 now streaming on Peacock.