Rome News-tribune nets 14 Georgia Newspaper Association honors
Rome News-tribune staff won 14 recognitions in the Georgia Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, ranging from editorial page content to breaking news writing and our coverage of a push to combat homelessness in Floyd County.
For local columns we had two awards — in the serious and not-so-serious categories.
Severo Avila won first place statewide in the humorous column category. A judge’s notes stated the columns were “clever takes and funny reflections on local life and the modern world.”
Local columnist Willie Mae Samuel won second place in the serious column category for her writing on issues such as abortion, memories of May Day celebrations and remembering Michael Patterson — a Rockmart man who lost his life after diving into Euharlee Creek to save a drowning girl.
”An appealing blend of the personal and topical, delivered with clarity and humanity,” a judge wrote.
The Rome News-tribune won several second place awards for editorial page content and the layout of those pages, which included content by local columnists Monica Sheppard, Willie Mae Samuel, Tina Bartleson, Lonnie Adcock, Ross Rogers and RN-T Associate Editor Doug Walker.
We also brought in a second place award in the community service category for our coverage of the issue of homelessness in Floyd County by managing editor John Bailey and staff writer K.T. Mckee.
”Well-done project on a chronic problem that is all too easy to overlook. Love the photography!” a judge commented.
That project began with the count to determine the homeless population in Floyd County in February 2019, which turned into a community working to address the issue.
Three writers at the newspaper contributed to a third place award for breaking news writing.
John Bailey, Kevin Myrick and Diane Wagner contributed breaking stories concerning a quadruple killing in Rockmart, a shootout with police that led to the death of a Floyd County fugitive and a sting involving multiple men being arrested on sex crimes involving children.
The Rome News-tribune’s Severo Avila also won third place for lifestyles coverage. A judge commented that the coverage was a “varied mixture of stories in lifestyle categories; nice photographs; predictable for readers.”
Our sports writer Jonathan Blaylock won a second place prize in the sports feature category for stories covering Darlington student Lindsey Cordell taking a shot at a spot in the U.S. Open as well as covering former Coosa standout Tim Broome’s recollections of Georgia Tech’s 1969 victory over Georgia and a group of Coosa Eagles reuniting to celebrate the school’s state championship 50 years ago.
”The leads are extremely well done and pull the reader right in to see where this story is going,” a judge wrote.
Our advertising staff also won four awards and a first place award in the motor vehicle class for a Prater Ford advertisement.
”Excellent color choices and saturation. The symmetry of the ad makes it very easy for the eyes to follow,” the judge’s remarks read.
We also took in a second place award for a City Creamery ad in the food category and two third place awards statewide in the service and apparel/jewelry/accessories categories for Lavender Mountain Hardware and Knight’s Jewelers.