BILOXI — The E-T won nine first-place awards — far more than any year in the past decade — in the Mississippi Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest.
Staff Reporter Recardo Thomas led the way with five firsts, including in key writing categories like best investigative story and planned series.
Editor/Publisher Charlie Smith won four firsts, and Graphic Designer Feryn Atkinson and Columnist Emily Ellis won one apiece.
The E-T won 13 awards in all, including third place in general excellence among large weeklies, in the honors announced Saturday in Biloxi.
Winners were as follows:
nFirst place, planned series, Thomas and Smith, for stories on bridge repair needs
nFirst place, in-depth/investigative story, Thomas and Smith, for coverage of FBI pharmacy raid in Ruleville
nFirst place, spot news, Thomas, for coverage of teen murder case
nFirst place, general interest column, Ellis
nFirst place, general news photograph, Thomas, for MLK Day celebration picture
nFirst place, pictorial series, Smith, for Gentry High basketball package
nFirst place, photo/story combo, Thomas, for March 2016 flood coverage
nFirst place, graphic, Feryn Atkinson, for 2016 year in review graphic
nFirst place, editorial page, Smith
nSecond place, graphic, Smith
nSecond place, editorials, Smith
nSecond place, lede, Smith
nThird place, General Excellence, staff
“I’m very proud of our staff for showing a commitment to producing a newspaper that serves its community,” Smith said. “I hope these awards make everyone in Sunflower County proud for their paper.”
