The Alabama Press Association released the winners of the 2015 Better Newspaper Contest last week in Montgomery, and the Franklin Free Press was richly awarded for its coverage of news and sports in Franklin County.
The Free Press placed in six different categories, with each of the newspaper’s three staff writers winning awards in this year’s contest.
“The hard work and dedication of our staff has been recognized locally by readers and now on a statewide level by the Association,” publisher John Pilati said. “We’re grateful to have such talented writers and editors at our newspaper.”
The Free Press was awarded first and third place for the Best Spot News Story in the division. Pilati’s story, “Scott indicted,” won a first-place award, while Megan Barber placed third for her coverage of a bomb threat at Russellville High School in a story entitled “Students face charges after threats against schools.”
In the Best In-Depth News Coverage category, Pilati placed third for his coverage of the Larry Stutts-Roger Bedford recount during last November’s election. Adding to the list, Pilati had stories come in second and third place for best editorial column or commentary.
Exectutive editor Mike Self also racked up for his sports coverage in 2014. Self won first and second place in the category for Best Sports News In-Depth Coverage. His story on Belgreen’s boys basketball team winning the 2014 county tournament (“Bulldogs reclaim county title”) was tops among submissions, while a 2014 baseball postseason preview entitled “Playoff time” came in second place.
Self also claimed another first-place award for best sports column with “This year’s failure is next year’s fuel,” an article on the Russellville High School baseball team, and a second-place award in the Sports Single Event category for “Faith and Family,” a story on the Russellville football team preparing for a game in the aftermath of last September’s ATV accident involving junior Austin Kitterman.
The contest was judged by the Tennessee Press Association. Awards for General Excellence, Best Public Service, Freedom of Information, Most Improved, Photo of the Year and Story of the Year will not be announced until the 2015 Alabama Press Association Convention held in June.
