The White County News picked up seven awards at the Georgia Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest on Friday, including first place for Local News Coverage in Division D.
“It is a huge honor to be recognized in this category because this is what we do — local news,” Editor Samantha Sinclair said. “This award is special because it highlights the work of all the news reporters we’ve had in 2023, including Linda Erbele, Noah Johnson and Jessica Wood, as well as our intern Torie Buck.”
Winners in the Georgia Press Association contest were honored for their outstanding achievements in newspaper journalism. Entries were judged in six divisions based on circulation. The daily divisions are Division A (circulation of 8,000 or more) and Division B (circulation less than 8,000). Weekly divisions are Division C (circulation of 3,800 to 15,000), Division D (weeklies with circulation of 2,000 to 3,799), Division E (circulation less than 2,000) and Division F (all weekly newspapers of more than 15,000 in circulation and all associate media members of GPA).
Including the White County News, 17 newspapers made entries in Division D. There were 125 awards given to newspapers in Division D.
For the White County News’ award for Local News Coverage, judges noted the paper had “excellent coverage of a broad range of topics while focusing on local importance.”
They also said stories were well written and concise, and the layout made it reader-friendly.
The News staff also won second place for Page One and third place for Photo Essay.
The Photo Essay entry was “Honoring our veterans,” with photos from various Veterans Day events in White County.
“The photo of the veterans in uniform walking the school halls with students holding flags is so moving, not to mention the depth of the photo ... always a favorite when you feel you are looking into the newspaper, not just a flat image,” judges wrote about the main photo on the page.
Sports Editor Mark Turner and Sinclair also won individual awards.
Turner took third place in both Sports Photograph and Sports Coverage.
“Mark has a great deal of sports and community knowledge, which shows in his coverage. It’s no surprise that he consistently is seen as one of the best in sports coverage in the state,” Sinclair said.
For Sports Coverage, judges wrote, “very thorough stories with terrific photos and quotes to support the storylines.” They also said the headline catch the readers’ attention.
His winning photo was of Ella Blair jumping over a hurdle at the region meet.
Sinclair won second place in News Photograph for a Fasching photo. She also won third place out of all weekly papers — not just those in Division D — in Best Use of Graphics and Illustration for the “Napa of the South” feature covering 40 years of wineries in White County.
Judging was done by members of the Texas Press Association in February and March. There were a total 509 awards presented in 42 categories to 78 newspapers in the editorial contest. There were 2,293 total entries in the contest.