The Statesboro Herald and its bimonthly magazine Discovering Bulloch recently were recognized for exceptional work in 2024, receiving 16 awards in the Georgia Press Association’s 2025 Better Newspaper Contest, including five first-place wins, as well as a second-place in the General Excellence category.
Award winners were recognized last month at a banquet and awards ceremony held during the Association’s 138th annual convention at the Jekyll Island Club, attended by Discovering Bulloch editor Linsay Rudd on behalf of the Herald.
The competition, held each year to recognize “outstanding achievements in newspaper journalism,” received more than 2,200 total entries across numerous sports, news writing and photography categories. The Herald and its publications compete in Division C, which includes the largest of the state’s weekly papers, with a print circulation of less than 15,000.
Judging for the contest was done by members of the Illinois Press Association in February and March.
Awards won by the Herald and its staff include:
• 2nd place, General Excellence — Statesboro Herald staff
• 3rd place, Lifestyle Coverage — Statesboro Herald staff
• 1st place, Headline Writing — Statesboro Herald staff
• 1st place, News Photograph — Scott Bryant
• 2nd place, Sports Feature Photograph — Scott Bryant
• 1st place and 3rd place, Feature Photograph — Scott Bryant
• 3rd place, Photo Essay — Scott Bryant
• 3rd place, Feature Writing — Jim Healy
• 1st place and 2nd place, Magazine Human Interest Story — Linsay Cheney Rudd, “The Me I Was Born to Be” and “Rooted in Tradition”
• 1st place, Magazine Business Feature — Ashlee Hooks Corbin, “Citrus in the Peach State”
• 2nd place, Magazine Business Feature — Linsay Cheney Rudd, 2024 Readers Choice Winner profile on Blue Phoenix Tattoos & Piercings
• 3rd place, Magazine Story — Linsay Cheney Rudd, “Advocates for Ag”
• 3rd place, Magazine Commentary — Linsay Cheney Rudd, “Thank a Farmer”
• 3rd place, Magazine Themed Issue — Discovering Bulloch staff, Celebrate Agriculture issue (February/March 2024)