The Statesboro Herald won 18 awards in the 2013 Georgia Associated Press Awards contest, including Photo of the Year. The awards were announced Saturday in Atlanta during the AP’s annual awards luncheon.
The Herald competed in Division 1 for newspapers with daily circulation under 10,000. There were 16 newspapers eligible in Division 1, and the Herald won more awards than any other paper in the division. Contest entries were judged in April by members of the Indiana Associated Press for work that was published in 2012.
“The recognition of our work by fellow journalists certainly is rewarding,” said Jim Healy, the operations manager for the Herald. “We look forward to continue giving our readers a product that provides insight, entertainment and information in print and online they can’t get anywhere else.”
The Herald earned nine first-place awards in the entry categories of Public Service, Deadline Reporting, Feature Writing, Sports Writing, Feature Photo, Sports Feature, Picture Story, Photo Portfolio and Best Website.
The paper also earned second place in Non-Deadline Reporting, Sports Action Photo and Picture Story and third place in Sports Writing, Beat Reporting, Spot News Photo, Feature Photo and Sports Action Photo.
Herald photographer Scott Bryant earned nine photo awards. His four first-place awards included a boy and his jumping frog in the Feature Photo category; a Georgia Southern baseball player expressing the “agony of defeat” in Sports Feature Photo; a series of photos looking back at the Kiwanis Rodeo in the Picture Story category; and a selection of 10 of his photos in the Portfolio category.
Also, Bryant’s feature photo of the boy following right behind his frog at Mill Creek Park was selected as “Photo of the Year” in Division 1 among all photo entries submitted in the 2013 contest. It was the fourth year in a row that one of Bryant’s photos was picked as Photo of the Year and the fourth year in a row Bryant won at least eight awards in the AP contest.
Herald reporters Holli Deal Bragg and Jeff Harrison shared first-place awards in the Deadline Reporting category for a story about the shooting death of a woman outside the Platinum Lounge and in the Public Service category for a story about a rash of local robberies.
Bragg also earned second place in Non-Deadline Reporting for her story on the one-year anniversary of the Ogeechee River spill. Harrison won third place in the Beat Reporting category for his coverage of education.
Herald writer Al Hackle’s story about Snooky’s last day open for business won first place in the Feature Writing category.
For Sports Writing, Herald sports editor Matt Yogus earned first place for his story about Georgia Southern students getting ready to vote on fees to support expansion of the football stadium and program.
The Herald’s website – statesboroherald.com – earned first place in the Best Website category for the second consecutive year.