The Greenwood Commonwealth was named Mississippi’s best small daily newspaper for the third year in a row by the Mississippi Press Association, collecting a total of 27 awards.
The win in the “General Excellence” category for newspapers with circulations under 9,000 is the Commonwealth’s 10th in the last 12 years. It was one of 12 first-place prizes for the paper.
The contest was for work published in 2013 and was judged by the Louisiana Press Association. Awards were announced Saturday during the joint convention of the two associations in Biloxi.
The Commonwealth also won 10 awards from the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Media Editors Saturday. AP editors from the two states honored the best work of 2013 at the group’s annual meeting, also held in Biloxi.
“I am again very proud of our news staff,” said Tim Kalich, the Commonwealth’s editor and publisher. “We work very hard trying to put out a community newspaper that well serves Greenwood and the surrounding area. It’s gratifying that panels of impartial judges from several states have said for many years now that we do it better than any other small daily in Mississippi.”
Kalich won seven awards in the MPA contests, including three first-place honors: one for editorials, one for commentary columns and one for coverage of an election-related dispute between Greenwood mayoral candidate Sheriel Perkins and attorney Lee Abraham. Kalich won second place in the investigative category for a story about former Leflore County Superintendent of Education Viola Williams McCaskill and the number of relatives of hers working in the district. That story also brought Kalich a third-place award for best lede: “Dr. Viola Williams McCaskill has more relatives working for the Leflore County School District than she can keep up with.”
He also won the J. Oliver Emmerich Award for Editorial Excellence for the third straight year and fifth time overall, the most that anyone has ever won the award. The award is given, in a competition of all newspapers, to the best single editorial of the year. It is named for the late editor and publisher of the Enterprise-Journal of McComb, Oliver Emmerich, who was the grandfather of Commonwealth owner Wyatt Emmerich.
Kalich won the award for an editorial criticizing Gov. Phil Bryant for opposing the expansion of Medicaid in Mississippi.
“All awards are nice,” Kalich aid, “but this one is particularly special because of my long and gratifying relationship with the Emmerich family. Wyatt’s dad, John Emmerich, taught me how to write editorials, and I have just tried to continue in the tradition of a very good mentor.”
Kalich also collaborated with freelance photographer Andy Lo to win second place in the picture/story category for a feature on the American Barnstormers Tour.
Sports Editor Bill Burrus won six awards, including three first-place prizes: one for an examination of the impact of the state takeover of the Leflore County schools on their athletic programs, one for a feature on a visit home by former Amanda Elzy High School football star Jermaine Whitehead, now playing for Auburn University; and one for coverage of the Elzy basketball team’s win in the state tournament semifinals.
Burrus also placed second in sports columns and won two third-place awards: one for best sports section and one for coverage of the Pillow Academy football team’s win over Heritage Academy.
Other winners:
• City Editor David Monroe won first place for best feature for a profile of Bill Crump, the winner of the Commonwealth’s annual Community Service Award.
• Monroe and Managing Editor Charles Corder placed second for best design, and Corder placed second for best front page.
• Lifestyles Editor Ruthie Robison won top honors for best lifestyles section.
• Former Staff Writer Jeanie Riess placed first with a photo illustration that accompanied “Bucking the Trend,” a story about the college application process for high school seniors.
• Riess and Staff Writer Bob Darden finished third in spot news for their coverage of the confusion at the polls during the June mayoral election.
• Staff Writer Bryn Stole placed second in investigative reporting with a story about the compensation of Selim Bassoul, CEO of The Middleby Corp.
• Lo took two third-place prizes for individual photos: one from a Greenwood High School football game and one feature photo.
• The Commonwealth won two of the top three honors in the pictorial series category. Lo, Darden and Kalich placed first for their photos from Bikes, Blues and Bayous, and Lo and Darden came in third for their photos from the 300 Oaks Road Race.
• The Commonwealth’s quarterly magazine, Leflore Illustrated, won second place among magazines.
• The annual Profile edition was named third-best special section.
Robison also received an honor for her work with the Webster Progress-Times before joining the Commonwealth. She and Russell Hood placed third in their circulation class among weekly papers for their story and photos about a fire at the Webster County Courthouse.
In the AP contest, for papers with circulations from 5,001 to 10,000, Kalich collected four awards, including first place for editorial writing.
He placed second for business writing for a story about the management shakeup at Viking Range Corp. and a sidebar about the retirement of the company’s former president and CEO, Fred Carl Jr.
Kalich also placed second for investigative reporting for a series of stories about McCaskill and her relatives in the Leflore County School District. He finished third for a selection of personal columns.
Other AP awards:
• Riess placed third in the business category for a feature on Turnrow Book Co. that appeared in the Profile section.
• Corder finished second for personal columns.
• Burrus placed second for sports spot news with his story about the penalties resulting from the state takeover of the Leflore County schools.
• Robison won two second-place awards: one for layout and design and one in the sports features category for her profile of some Greenwood High School football players who also played in the band.
• Riess’ photo illustration with her story about college applications was named second-best photo illustration.
