The Community Voice brought home excellence awards for advertising and news coverage during the Kentucky Press Association’s annual convention and awards banquet Friday night.
Weekly newspapers compete in three different divisions and the Voice competed against the largest circulated newspapers across the state, bringing home nine awards in the advertising contest and 10 awards in the news contest.
Both contests earned the newspaper the honor of receiving third place in the “General Excellence” recognition, which is determined by the most overall wins and placement.
In the news contest, five of the awards were first place wins. Sharon Burton’s coverage of the riot at the Adair Youth Detention Center earned a first place award in breaking news coverage and best investigative story or series, and second place in best enterprise or analytical story.
Burton’s article about William Giles being arrested at the Knifley crossroads during a traffic checkpoint won a best lede award. A piece on Cody Dorman and his relationship with winning horse Cody’s Wish was named first place feature story. A photo by Beth Cole won second place and a photo by Burton won third place in the breaking news picture category. Headlines written by Burton and Toni Humphress earned first place in the best headline writer category.
A video about the courthouse renovation posted on the Community Voice website, adairvoice.com, earned a third-place award for Burton and JaCinda Warner Blair for best video, and adairvoice.com won second for best website overall.
In the advertising contest, Toni Humphress was recognized for designing all the entries that were winners. She designed a first-place award in the real estate category for Walker Realty, with Beth Cole serving as the sales representative. Humphress’ advertisement for Ridge Runner Liquor, which was also sold by Cole, also earned a first place.
Humphress designed the front cover for a fall sports section using photos of local athletes, which drew praise from the judges and earned a first place in the best cover category.
Second place awards were given for a Central Financial Services ad in the financial category, and a design for Franklin Ford in the automotive category. A promotion for the Adair County Extension Office for floral hall earned a second place in the special events category while a reelection ad for Sammy Baker, sold by JaCinda Warner Blair, earned second in the political ad category. Humphress also earned a second place for a Saint Patrick’s Day promotion for Anthony’s Auto as best holiday ad. A promotion for Bennett’s Carpet received a third-place award in the category of best department, discount, or jewelry ad.
