Photo courtesy of Alabama Press Association.
APA Awards
(L to R) Dan Starnes, Matthew Allen, Kristin Williams and Sydney Cromwell hold their first place plaques at the Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
The Homewood Star snagged more than a few awards last weekend at the annual Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
Chairman of the APA Better Newspaper Contest Committee Dee Ann Campbell honored the winners at the Alabama Press Convention in Destin, Florida, on June 18 with awards for outstanding reporting, photography, design, advertising and multimedia. A total of 110 newspapers across the state submitted 2,775 entries from their 2015 publications.
The Homewood Star won 17 different awards in Division E:
1st Place - General Excellence
Most Improved
1st Place - FOIA/First Amendment Award
1st Place - Best Local News Coverage
1st Place - Best Use of Photos/Editorial Content
1st Place - Best Photo Essay
1st Place - Best Headline
1st Place - Best Online Breaking News Coverage
2nd Place - Best Public Service
2nd Place - Best In-Depth News Coverage
2nd Place - Best Sports Feature Story
2nd Place - Best News Photo
3rd Place - Best Lifestyle/Family Pages
3rd Place - Best Sports News In-Depth Coverage
3rd Place - Best Headline
3rd Place - Best Niche Publication
3rd Place - Creative Use of Multimedia
In all, Starnes Publishing took home 39 awards across five of its papers — 280 Living, Hoover Sun, The Homewood Star, Vestavia Voice and Village Living.
Starnes Publishing distributes seven monthly papers in total — Hoover Sun, Village Living, 280 Living, The Homewood Star, Cahaba Sun, Vestavia Voice and Iron City Ink – as well as daily e-newsletters.
General Excellence awards are the highest awards the APA gives each year. They are based on a total number of points earned from five different areas: issues submitted to the General Excellence category, awards in one of the general categories, awards in public service and Freedom of Information, awards in single events and awards from the advertising contest.
Some of the other exceptional awards presented to Starnes Publishing this year focused primarily on serving the local Birmingham community. These included:
Village Living
2nd Place - Best Local Education Coverage
280 Living
3rd place - Best Local Economic Coverage
3rd place - Best Local News Coverage
Vestavia Voice
1st Place - Best Public Service
Hoover Sun
3rd place for Best Public Service
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Awards from previous years can be found on the Starnes Publishing’s website at http://starnespublishing.com. To view previous awards of The Homewood Star, visit the page here.