The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette won first place for general excellence among the state's largest daily newspapers Saturday in the Arkansas Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest.
The contest, which was judged by members of the Wisconsin Press Association, recognizes newspaper editors, writers, photographers, and designers for work produced in 2021.
Second place in the general excellence category for large dailies was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Third place went to the Texarkana Gazette.
In addition to winning first place in the general excellence category, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette won first places awards for feature story, series reporting, sports news story, sports feature story, sports column, editorial writing, freelance writing, headline writing, sports action photography, sports feature photography, photo essay, and coverage of education.
Charlie Kaijo of the newspaper's photo staff was a triple winner, taking top honors for sports action and feature photos and for photo essay. He also won second place for news feature photo.
Stacy Ryburn and Doug Thompson won first place in news series reporting for articles about Northwest Arkansas' heated housing markets. Dave Perozek teamed with former staffer Mary Jordan to win first place for coverage of education. Perozek and Tracy Neal earned first place for news feature story for a remembrance of the deadly Joplin, Mo., tornado 10 years earlier.
Greg Harton, the newspaper's editorial page editor, won first and second place for editorial writing among the state's largest daily newspapers. He also took home a first-time award, the Freeman-Greenberg Prize for Editorial Writing, awarded to the top editorial writer from all of the state's daily and weekly newspapers. The prize is named for Edmond W. Freeman III, the longtime publisher of the Pine Bluff Commercial, and Paul Greenberg, the Pulitzer Prize winning editorialist and columnist for the Commercial and, later, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Rick Fires won first and second place for sports columns among large daily papers. Chip Souza took first and second place for sports news story. Paul Boyd won first place for sports feature story.
Laurinda Joenks won first place in headline writing. The winning title was for a story about a committee working on crowded streets and roads was: "Traffic panel takes drivers head on."
Andrew Joseph took first place among freelance writers for a feature story about a family who runs a local food truck. Joseph is now on staff at the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as a web producer and online sports writer for WholeHogSports.com.
Gerald Jordan, a professor at the University of Arkansas School of Journalism and Strategic Media for the last 27 years, was recognized by the APA as the Journalism Educator of the Year. Jordan is retiring this year.
Lisa Hammersly, a projects reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was recognized with the APA's Freedom of Information Award for her work on a series of articles last year on covid-19 deaths in the state.
The staff of the Madison County Record in Huntsville received the annual I.F. Stone Award for investigative reporting for its work covering the local school board's handling of student and parent complaints over alleged assaults among junior high basketball players.
Lori Freeze, editor of the Stone County Leader in Mountain View, was installed as the APA's new president, replacing Ellen Kreth, publisher of the Madison County Record.
A number of other Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette staff members were recognized for their work for 2021 in the contest. The other winners include:
Ron Wood, second place, news story
Tom Sissom and Janelle Jessen, third place, series reporting
Tracy Neal, third place, investigative reporting
Tracy Neal, third place, beat reporting
Stacy Ryburn, second place, covid beat reporting
Alex Golden, third place, covid beat reporting
Rickey Booker Jr., third place, general interest column
Gary Smith, third place, humor column
Robert Stewart, second place, freelance recognition
Andy Shupe, second place, news photo
Annette Beard, third place, news photo
Andy Shupe, second place, sports feature photo
Andy Shupe, second place, photo essay
Staff, second place, front page design
Chris Swindle, third place, graphic design portfolio
Staff, second place, digital presence and audience engagement
Doug Thompson and Dave Perozek, second place, coverage of business and agriculture