The Statesboro Herald earned 19 awards Friday during the Georgia Press Association’s annual awards banquet in Savannah.

            The Herald earned a second place in the General Excellence category of the 2007 Better Newspaper Contest in Division D for daily papers with 8,000 and under circulation. The annual contest is run by the Georgia Press Association, which represents 34 daily and 120 weekly newspapers in the state.

            The Herald earned 19 awards in the contest, including eight first place, seven second place and four third place honors for work that was published in 2006. The paper, which is owned by Savannah-based Morris Multimedia, has finished in the top three papers in General Excellence for the fourth consecutive year.

            “To be recognized among the best four years in a row is a testament to the hard work of the entire staff,” said Randy Morton, publisher of the Herald. “I congratulate our staff for putting together such a quality product for our readers.”

            Photographer Michelle Boaen won five awards, including three first places. Her photo of Statesboro’s Susan Babot hugging her son upon his return from Iraq won first place in the News Photograph category, a shot of another Statesboro woman cheering the  return of the 648th Engineer Battalion from Iraq earned first in the Feature Photograph category and her series of photos depicting the reactions of family members returning from Iraq won first in the Photo Essay category. She also earned  second and third place nods for Sports Feature photos.

Former sports editor David Kilmer won two first place awards. He earned first in Sports Writing for a selection of articles that included a piece on an aging Bulloch County man obsessed with the knuckleball pitch. Kilmer also was recognized with first place in Sports Column for an entry that included a column about the Georgia Southern football team’s poor academic performance.

Reporter Holli Deal Bragg won two awards. Her writing was recognized with a second place in both Serious Column and Feature Writing.  Her feature entry included a story on the rustic retreat of County Commissioner Roy Thompson

Current sports editor Chad Bishop earned a second place in Sports Column for a selection of columns about Georgia Southern football.

Reporter Luke Martin earned a second place in the Humorous Column category for an entry that included his volunteering to be the keynote speaker at GSU’s graduation.

Katherine Kennedy, the Herald’s assistant editor, won a third place in the Spot News Photo category for a picture she shot of a helicopter dumping water on the Cypress Lake fire last October.

In awards given to the newspaper as a whole, the Herald earned the following:

First place

Lifestyles Section

Sports Section

Editorial Writing – For a collection of editorials that included opinions on the Statesboro alcohol ordinance and school policies.

Second place

Layout and Design

Third place

Editorial Page

Local News Coverage