Tallapoosa Publishers Inc. showed out at this year’s Alabama Press Association summer convention banquet.
Out of 53 newspapers submitted, TPI’s publications received top honors like Best Editorial Page, Best Lifestyle/Family Pages, Best Local Economic Coverage and more. However, three of TPI’s newspapers brought home awards in the most prestigious award — General Excellence. In Division B, The Alexander City Outlook brought home first place in General Excellence, and The Wetumpka Herald placed first in Division D. Following behind the Herald, The Dadeville Record brought home second in Division D.
The Outlook took home third place in Division B for Best Production and Printing, and the Tribune and Herald won second and third place in Division D.
The publications swept the Best Newspaper Website category as well; The Outlook took home second place in Division B, and in Division D, The Herald took home second and Tribune won third.
For the Best Public Service category, The Outlook took home first place for managing editor Lizi Gwin’s “Chamber Chat Podcast.”
The Outlook also took home first place in Division B of the Best Editorial Page or Section category, and in Division D, The Record won first place, The Tribune second and The Herald third. The publications received the same awards in their respective divisions in the Best Lifestyle/Family Pages as well.
For Best Sports Coverage, TPI swept Division D; The Tribune placed first, The Herald second and The Record third.
The Outlook and The Herald were both awarded first place in their respective categories for Best Local Economic Coverage. The Herald and The Record took home first and second places in Division D for Best Local Education coverage.
The Outlook was honored with first place in Division B for Best Layout and Design, and The Herald and The Record placed first and second in Division D.
The Herald took home second place in Division D for Best In-Depth News Coverage for news editor Cliff Williams’ story, “Teacher burnout? Some veterans feel their needs are ignored.”
The Wetumpka Herald
FIRST PLACE: General Excellence; Best Editorial Page or Section; Best Local Economic Coverage; Best Local Education Coverage; Best Layout and Design; Best Business Story or Column, “17 Springs to have generational impact” by Williams; Best Human Interest Column, “Time is our most valuable asset” by Williams; Best Feature Photo, “Stanhope Reach and Teach” by Williams; Advertising Sweepstakes Award; Best Classified Page or Section; Best Single Ad ½ page and under, Color, “First Community Bank”; Best Single Ad over ½ page, Color, “Marcia Weber Art Objects”; Best In-Paper Promotion of a Newspaper, “Read Local, Shop Local” by Spears and Hunter; Best Use of Humor, “Bell Family Chiropractic”; Best Innovative Online Advertising, “1220 Cafe” by Spears
SECOND PLACE: Best Newspaper Website; Best Sports Coverage; Best In-Depth News Coverage, “Teacher burnout” by Williams; Best Local Sports Column, “A snub of all snubs” by Middleton; Best Use of Video (Longer than 2 minutes), “Mano e mano: Sports editors vs. Softball Stars” by Middleton and Zimmer; Best Single Ad over ½ page, Color, “Coosa Cleaver” by Trice; Best Use of Humor, “Girl Winking” by Hunter and Spears; Best Presentation of Online Advertising; Best Innovative Online Advertising, “Parker Tire” by Spears
THIRD PLACE: Best Production and Printing by Champion; Best Lifestyle/Family Pages; Best Editorial, “Should Wetumpka have Indians as its mascot?” by Murphy; Best Humorous Column, “All is right in the world” by Williams; Best Sports Single Event Story, “Holtville, Headland clash again in playoffs” by Middleton; Best Headline, “What’s the Buzz?” by Middleton; Best Niche Publication, FYI; Best In-Paper Promotion of a Newspaper, “Subscribe It Matters” by Spears and Hunter; Best Signature Page, “Adopt A Shelter Pet”; Best Niche Publication, Gridiron Guide; Best Innovative Online Advertising, “SA Recycling”
The Tallassee Tribune
FIRST PLACE: Best Sports Coverage
SECOND PLACE: Best Production and Printing by Lee Champion; Best Editorial Page or Section; Best Lifestyle/Family Pages; Best Business Story or Column, “Success breeds success” by Williams; Online Breaking News Coverage, “Tallassee-Elmore County game cancelled due to gun threat” by Williams and Dalton Middleton; Best Use of Video (Shorter than 2 minutes), “Melody Jackson” by Murphy
THIRD PLACE: Best Newspaper Website; Best Local Sports Column, “There’s a new spark in Tallassee athletics” by Middleton; Best News Photo, “Tallassee fire” by Williams; Best Classified Page or Section; Best Presentation of Online Advertising
The Alexander City Outlook
FIRST PLACE: General Excellence; Public Service, “Chamber Chat Podcast” by Lizi Arbogast Gwin; Best Editorial Page; Best Lifestyle/Family Pages; Best Local Economic Coverage; Best Layout and Design; Best News Photo, “Unity Picnic” by Abigail Murphy; Best Niche Publication, “South’s Best Kept Secret”; Creative Use of Multimedia, “Creature Chronicles” by Murphy and Henry Zimmer; Online Breaking News Coverage, “Quanisha Davis,” by Gwin and Melody Rathel; Best Use of Video (Longer than 2 minutes), “Look back on January 2023 tornado” by Murphy; Advertising Sweepstakes; Ad of the Year; Best Classified Page; Best Single Ad over 1/2 page, color, “Radney Funeral Home” by Audra Spears; Best In-Paper Promotion of Newspaper, “Small but Mighty” by Spears; Best Original/Creative Idea, “Action, Words, You Matter”; Best Signature Page, “Go Generals”; Best Niche Publication, “January Lake Magazine”; Best Use of Humor “Antisocial,” by Spears; Best Innovative Online Advertising, “Tallapoosa Tourism” by Renee Trice
SECOND PLACE: Best Newspaper Website; Best Sports Single Event Story, “The Queen’s Court” by Zimmer; Best Local Sports Column, “Let’s be more like Malcolm Simmons,” by Lizi Arbogast Gwin; Best Special Section, “Gridiron Guide”; Online Breaking News Coverage, “Alex City microburst” by Gwin and Rathel; Best Use of Video (Longer than 2 minutes), “Mano E Mano”; Best Original/Creative Idea, “Journalism 101”; Best Use of Humor “Girl Winking” by Spears and Tippy Hunter; Best Innovative Online Advertising, “Koon’s Korner” by Spears
THIRD PLACE: Best Printing and Production; Best Use of Protographs/Editorial Content; Best News Feature Story, “Alexander City family loses home in storm” by Gwin; Best Editorial, “City council appointment needs better process” by Gwin; Best Photo Essay, “Sun Festival”; Creative Use of Multimedia, “Firetruck Santa”; Best Niche Publication, “Community in Action”; Best Use of Humor, “Newspaper Joke” by Spears; Best Innovative Online Advertising, “Wayside Animal Hospital” by Spears
The Dadeville Record
FIRST PLACE: Best Lifestyle/Family Pages; Best Humorous Column, “Sometimes Christmas movies just need to be bad,” by Murphy; Best Sports Single Event Story, “Lewis walks off Reeltown over Tallassee,” by Zimmer; Best Local Sports Column, “Stop making finger guns” by Gwin; Best Regularly Scheduled Special Section, “Dadeville Magazine”; Best Signature Page, “Dadeville High School” by Spears and Sam Himes;
SECOND PLACE: General Excellence; Best Local Economic Coverage; Best Education Coverage; Best Use of Photographs/Editorial Content; Best Layout and Design; Best Podcast Series, “TPI Talk” by Zimmer and Murphy; Best Classified Section; Best Single Ad 1/2 page and under, “Tallapoosa Nutrition” by Himes;
THIRD PLACE: Best Editorial Page; Best Sports Coverage; Best Sports In-Depth Coverage, “Lewis walks off Reeltown over Tallassee” by Zimmer; Advertising Sweepstakes
LAKE Magazine
FIRST PLACE: Best Personality Profile, “Farewell to a Friend of Lake Martin” by Betsy Iler;
SECOND PLACE: Best Single Photograph, “Northern Lights” by Spears; Best Community Event, “Golden Picker Bag” by Shaylee Beck Moore and Spears
THIRD PLACE: Best Themed Issue, “The Outdoor Issue”; Best Column, “The Scramble” by Rob Witherington; Best Community Event, “Plug Day” by Iler and Spears
Lake Martin Living
FIRST PLACE: Best Travel Feature, “A Journey of 2,000 Miles” by Ben Smith; Best Column, “Culture Shock” by Lacey Howell
SECOND PLACE: Best Sports Feature, “Reeltown football superfan” by Smith and Gwin
THIRD PLACE: Best Travel Feature, “Hawaii Vacay” by Lacey Howell
