CULLMAN, Ala. – The Alabama Press Association on Friday revealed the winners of the 2020 Alabama Press Association Media Awards. The APA said this year, 98 publications submitted 2,921 entries in the annual contest. The Mississippi Press Association membership judged the entries.
In all, The Cullman Tribune came away with 24 awards, including Photo of the Year (Martha Needham), second place in General Excellence and first place in Most Improved.
Editorial awards
Best Local Economic Coverage
1st Place: The Cullman Tribune
2nd Place: Daily Mountain Eagle (Jasper)
3rd Place: The Outlook (Alexander City)
Best Spot News Story
- 1st Place: The Opelika-Auburn News for “Auburn Officers Shot” by Troy Turner
- 2nd Place: The Opelika-Auburn News for “Killer Tornadoes Strike” by Troy Turner
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Hundreds of animals die in fire near West Point” by Christy Perry
Best In-Depth News Coverage
- 1st Place: The Cullman Tribune for “The Saga of Nosey the Elephant” by W.C. Mann
- 2nd Place: The Selma Times-Journal for “28 murders in Selma, Dallas County have remained unsolved over the last decade” by James Jones
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Tyson/River Valley Ingredients/American Proteins spill (multiple stories)” by W.C. Mann, Wendy Sack
Best Feature Story Coverage
- 1st Place: The Cullman Tribune for “50 years later: To the moon and beyond; Apollo 11 and Cullman’s role in the space program” by W.C. Mann
- 2nd Place: The Selma Times-Journal for “The history and future of Craig Field” by Adam Powell
- 3rd Place: The Valley Times-News (Lanett) for “Meet the Robinsons” by Dustin Duncan
Best Human Interest Column
- 1st Place: The Cullman Tribune for “67-County Alabama Garden Party series” by Ben South
- 2nd Place: The Clanton Advertiser for “Atomic City Girl” by Billy Singleton
- 3rd Place: The Outlook (Alexander City) for “A little kindness can pay off” by Santana Wood
Best Editorial Column or Commentary
- 1st Place: Jackson County Sentinel (Scottsboro) for “Students aren’t the ones who deserve shame” by Anita McGill
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “To audit or not? A chamber of misdirection” by Noah Galilee
- 3rd Place: The Outlook (Alexander City) for “Broken justice system ignores victims of crime” by Santana Wood
Best Sports News In-Depth Coverage
- 1st Place: Jackson County Sentinel (Scottsboro) for “Clock Change” by Jason Bowen
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Cold Springs’ Kudzu Hills dedicated in honor of Claborn Campbell” by Nick Griffin
- 3rd Place: The Clanton Advertiser for “Isabella flips script against MHS” by Anthony Richards, JR Tidwell, Brandon Sumrall
Best Sports Single Event Story
- 1st Place: The Outlook (Alexander City) for “BRHS raises money for Hornet player affected by tornado” by Lizi Arbogast
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Cullman native Kane Ward wins WWA National Championship” by Nick Griffin
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Times for “No. 5 Cold Springs outlasts No. 6 Fyffe 57-53 in OT to win 2A title” by Jake Winfrey
Best Sports Feature Story
- 1st Place: The Selma Times-Journal for “Auburn athlete, Morgan graduate drafted by professional softball league” by James Jones
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Holly Pond football player’s act of kindness draws cheers from opposing fans” by W.C. Mann, Nick Griffin
- 3rd Place: The Opelika-Auburn News for “Central-Phenix City’s E.J. Williams keeps father’s memory close to heart” by Jordan D. Hill
Best Feature Photo
- 1st Place: The Clanton Advertiser for “Girl scared of snake during reptile show” by Keith McCoy
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Reporter’s Point of View” by Maggie Darnell
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Times for “Raider faithful” by Amanda Shavers
Best Sports Photo
- 1st Place: The Cullman Tribune for “When you mess with the bull…” by Martha Needham
- 2nd Place: The Clanton Advertiser for “Pumped” by Anthony Richards
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Times for “Simply the best” by Amanda Shavers
Best Photo Essay
- 1st Place: The Outlook (Alexander City) for “Students get hands dirty with interactive lessons” by Cliff Williams
- 2nd Place: Daily Mountain Eagle (Jasper) for “We are all winners” by Ron Harris
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Sights from Saturday: LSU vs Alabama” by Martha Needham
Online Breaking News Coverage
- 1st Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Shooting Death of Tommy Piper” by W.C. Mann, Wendy Sack
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Double murder/inmate suicide” by Wendy Sack
- 3rd Place: The Opelika-Auburn News for “Auburn police officer shot” by Emily Enfinger, Sara Palczewski, Troy Turner
Best Use of Social Media
- 1st Place: The Outlook (Alexander City) for “Social Snippets & Social Snapshots”
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “2019 Cullman County Fair Pageants live-streams” by Maggie Darnell, W.C. Mann, Christy Perry
- 3rd Place: Jackson County Sentinel (Scottsboro) for “Halloween Costumes”
FOI-First Amendment Award
- 1st Place: The Selma Times-Journal “Exposing city’s unwillingness to provide information” by Adam Powell
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Did ADEM withhold information on river contamination levels?” by W.C. Mann
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Make me look good, now: a guide to positive media relations” by W.C. Mann
General Excellence
- 1st Place: The Outlook (Alexander City)
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Times
Most Improved
- 1st Place: The Cullman Tribune
- 2nd Place: Jackson County Sentinel (Scottsboro)
Best Public Service
- 1st Place: The Opelika-Auburn News for “Killer Tornadoes Strike” by staff
- 2nd Place: The Outlook (Alexander City) for “Transparency, accountability in 1-cent sales tax” by staff
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “End of year reports: Doggone good news!” by W.C. Mann
Photo of Year
- The Cullman Tribune for “When you mess with the bull…” by Martha Needham
Advertising awards
Best Original/Creative Idea
- 1st Place: The Selma Times-Journal for ‘Shark Attack Cash Giveaway’ by staff
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Tribune for “Christmas Subscription Drive” by Dustin Isom, Noah Galilee
- 3rd Place: The Cullman Times for “NCAA Basketball Tournament” by Katherine Miller, staff
Best Presentation of Online Advertising
- 1st Place: The Cullman Tribune for cullmantribune.com by Dustin Isom, Noah Galilee
- 2nd Place: The Cullman Times for cullmantimes.com by Katherine Miller, staff
- 3rd Place: The Clanton Advertiser for clantonadvertiser.com by staff
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