ALEXANDRIA, La. — The Greenwood Commonwealth won seven reporting, writing, commentary and design awards Friday, including four first place awards, during the 2007 Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors meeting held in Alexandria, La.
"Our news staff should be commended for the great job they do every day, and for these awards in competition with some great newspapers in both Mississippi and Louisiana," Commonwealth Editor and Publisher Tim Kalich said. "This recognition shows the quality and hard work our readers and advertisers have come to expect."
Commonwealth staff writer Bob Darden and former staff members Leesha Faulkner, Kyle Martin and Amy Collins won first place in the continuing coverage category for their multi-story coverage of the twists and turns of the shooting death of attorney Richard Benze, who was shot in his home in Schlater on Jan. 23, 2006.
Kalich won first place for editorial writing, Commonwealth sports editor Bill Burrus won first place for sports column writing, and former staff writer and Living Section editor Jo Alice Darden won first place for general feature writing.
In addition, Burrus won a second place award for sports feature writing, staff writer Susan Montgomery won a third place award for spot news writing and The Commonwealth tied for a third place award for layout and design.
The competition was in news stories, editorials, photos, graphics and headlines published during 2006 in Louisiana and Mississippi AP member newspapers.
The contest was judged by AP member newspaper editors in North and South Dakota.
The winners were announced in four divisions based on newspaper size.
