News-Times staff recognized with APME awards
The El Dorado NewsTimes staff was recognized with several awards in the 2017 Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors contest, taking three first place prizes.
The News-Times competes in a division for Arkansas newspapers with an assessed circulation of 25,000-109,999, putting the paper in competition with those in Hot Springs, Batesville, Benton and Harrison, among others.
News Editor Terrance Armstard took home the majority of awards for the newspaper, taking first place in spot news photo, feature photo and photographer’s portfolio. He also won third place in the spot sports photo and feature photo categories.
The News-Times series on internet sales tax issues was awarded third place in the special project-community service category. The three-part series looked at the issue of local and state sales tax collection on internet purchases and was published between Sept. 24 and Sept. 29.
Former News-Times education reporter Brittany Williams was awarded second place in the hard news column category for her column “Is Betsy DeVos Good for Business and Our Children?”
“The News-Times staff works hard every day to accurately cover the issues that matter most to El Dorado and Union County residents,” said Managing Editor Madeleine Leroux. “I am so pleased to see this incredible staff get the recognition they deserve, and look forward to continuing to serve the area with quality, local journalism.”
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock and The Sentinel-Record at Hot Springs both won general excellence awards from the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors group. Lisa Hammersly of the Democrat-Gazette and David Showers of The Sentinel-Record were honored for their work in service to the Freedom of Information Act.
Among the state’s larger papers, The Jonesboro Sun took second and the Texarkana Gazette third in the general excellence category. Among medium-sized papers, The Baxter Bulletin at Mountain Home took second and The Saline Courier at Benton was third.
The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative representing 1,400 newspapers and 5,000 broadcast stations in the United States.