The Adair County Community Voice earned a dozen awards–including four first-place honors–during the 2011 Excellence in Newspapers Contest.
The awards were presented during the annual meeting of the Kentucky Press Association Friday.
The Voice and Editor Sharon Burton earned two first place awards for coverage of Westlake Regional Hospital, earning top honors in best general news story and best investigative story or series.
“What set this apart was the newspaper’s dogged pursuit of openness and a result that benefited the public,” wrote the contest judges.
Assistant Editor Allison Hollon earned the Voice a first place award for best ongoing/extended coverage story for her reporting of Lonnie Mann’s struggle to be allowed back into the public school system after he obtained a GED.
The other first place honor went to Burton for her column. In this category, three columns are submitted for the competition. Burton’s columns celebrated the life of Charles Sparks, shared her family’s experience when her daughter and granddaughter lost their home to a house fire, and criticized the hospital board for relying on bad advice to keep documents from the public.
“Sharon Burton wrote on a variety of subjects with feeling and with a knowledge of her community. She communicated her thoughts without being sappy and Adair County is fortunate to have her publish its newspaper,” judges commented.
The Voice staff earned a second place win for best spot news picture of a September 2011 fatal wreck on the parkway.
“Though the wreckage tells the story, the woman and her dog add the human element to the image and make it much stronger,” judges wrote.
For the first time, the Voice earned accolades for its sports coverage.
Scott Bennett took second place in best sports picture for a football photo and John Overby earned third place in bests sports feature story for his May 2011 article about senior baseball player Will Rich.
The Voice also received third place recognition for best editorial and best headline, both written by Hollon, and best picture essay showing the community’s farewall to Charles Sparks. Burton, Hollon and Mindy Yarberry took the photographs.
The Voice received a certificate of merit for best sports picture essay, featuring work from Bennett and Hollon.
The Voice competed in the Weekly Class 1 category and brought home a third place general excellence award. The contest covered editions published from October 2010 to September 2011.
