By David Hedges, Publisher
www.thetimesrecord.net
After a one-year absence, The Times Record and Roane County Reporter are back in a familiar spot, finishing in first place among large weekly newspapers in an annual competition sponsored by the W.Va. Press Association.
The newspapers finished on top when the awards were announced Saturday in Shepherdstown at the annual press convention.
This is the 11th time in the past 13 years the local newspapers have placed first in the Better Newspapers Contest, which recognizes excellence in news and sports reporting, editorial and column writing, photography and design.
The Hampshire Review of Romney, which won the top prize a year ago, finished second, while Jackson Newspapers in Ripley placed third in the General Excellence category, which recognizes papers with the most individual awards in circulation categories.
The Record Delta of Buckhannon won for mid-size weeklies and the Princeton Times for small weeklies.
The Charleston Daily Mail won among large dailies, the Journal of Martinsburg for mid-size dailies and The Inter-Mountain in Elkins for small dailies.
The contest was for material published in 2006. Judging was done by the South Carolina Press Association.
In individual categories, the local newspapers won ten first place awards, including four by Editor Jim Cooper for feature writing, news feature writing, lifestyle feature and sports reporting.
Photographer Sidney Boggs won top honors in two of the four photography categories, including sports photo and news photo. Graphics Editor Neil Grahame won the top prize for editorial cartoons and feature photography while Publisher David Hedges took first for his weekly column, Between the Lines. The staff also won first for best lifestyle pages.
⢠1st place
Editorial Cartoon, Grahame, for a cartoon about the Sago mine tragedy; Best Feature, Cooper for a story about neighborhood kids starting a newspaper; Sports Feature, Cooper for a story titled "Karate Kid"; Sports News, Cooper for a football season preview story; Column, Hedges for Between the Lines; News Photo, Boggs, for a workshop fire on Clover Ridge; Sports Photo, Boggs for wresting action; Feature Photo, Grahame, for a photo from the Molasses Festival carnival; News Feature, Cooper for a story titled "Life Goes On" about a family suffering from multiple tragedies; Best Lifestyle Pages.
⢠2nd place
Best Single Issue, Best Front Page; Best Editorial Page; Best Progress Edition; Business/Labor coverage, Hedges, for a story titled "End of an Era"; Community Service, Hedges, for a year-long series about unsolved crimes and wanted persons; Editorial, Hedges; Editorial Cartoon, Grahame, for a cartoon about the passing of Don Knotts; Indepth/Investigative Reporting, Cooper for a story comparing water rates in the state; Legal Issues,/Court reporting, Cooper for a story about the murder of a young couple; News Feature, Hedges for a story titled "Confessions of a Meth Addict"; News Photo, Hedges, for a photo of dogs removed from a Gandeeville home; Headline writing, Cooper.
⢠3rd place
Best Written News Story, Hedges, for a story about a bear sighted on Spencer's Main Street; Feature, Cooper for "Road Warrior"; Government Reporting, Hedges, for a story about a mother's suggestion to reduce the dropout rate that became a legislative bill; Photo Essay, Boggs, for a series on the Tour De Lake mountain bike race; News Photo, Hedges for a photo of cemetery vandalism; Sports Photo, Hedges for a boys basketball shot.
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