News

Standard Banner Wins Four First Place Awards in UT-TPA Contest

From Staff Reports
Standard Banner
Updated: July 25, 2017

FRANKLIN - The Standard Banner received four first place plaques, and 17 awards overall, Thursday night during the annual University of Tennessee-Tennessee Press Association newspaper contest awards dinner.

First place awards came in the categories of Best Breaking News Coverage, Best Special Issue or Section, Best Sports Coverage, and Best Sports Photograph.

The paper also received two second place awards, seven third place awards, three fourth place awards, and a fifth place awards during the awards banquet held at the Cool Springs Marriott hotel.

"We are pleased that the contest judges recognized the quality of our work, and the effort our staff makes to keep our readers informed and up-to-date about what is happening in their community," said Dale Gentry, Publisher of The Standard Banner. "The 17 awards we received, and the number of categories in which we placed, reflect that strength of our newspaper and our staff.

"Without our efforts, our readers would not know what is happening in local government, the schools, in sports, or the community," Gentry concluded.

The Standard Banner competes with other Tennessee newspapers with weekly combined circulations of 5,001 to 15,000. It finished second in the points race for the overall General Excellence award to the Wilson Post, which received eight first place plaques in this year's contest.

Award Winners
The first place award for Best Breaking News Coverage was a story by staff writer Steve Marion, about a couple being pulled from their burning home last March. Marion also won a fifth place in the same category for a story on the August fire that destroyed the Hearthstone Homes plant in Dandridge.

The award for Best Special Section was for Community 2016, the newspaper's annual section published in February that features articles on the interesting people and places that make Jefferson County unique.

The work of sports editor Dave Gentry led to the Best Sports Coverage plaque. The award is presented to the newspaper that is judged to have the best overall coverage of sports in its circulation area.

A photo by Melanie Fritz of Patriot Logan Flynn sliding around a catcher's tag in a spring baseball game with Seymour won the Best Sport Photo award. Dave Gentry's picture of South Jefferson softball player Bailee Reish of the Crush stretching for an errant throw at second base finished fourth in the same category.

Second place awards received by The Standard Banner came in the categories of:

• Public Services, for its coverage of work to construct a festival park in Jefferson City; the ongoing effort to complete renovations at White Pine School; and 2016 local elections, including printing detailed information about candidates in city elections; and

• Best Business Coverage, for an entry that included stories about the closing of 103-year-old Sanitary Drugs, the increase of food trucks in the county, and the redevelopment of downtown Jefferson City.

Third place awards were for Best Feature Photograph, for Dave Gentry's photo of a middle school homecoming queen bracing for a kiss from the football captain; Best News Photograph, for Steve Marion's photos of the fire which a couple was recued in March; Best Single Feature, for Marion's story about local Dr. Charles Leonard; Best Education Reporting; for coverage of public schools and college events; Headline Writing; Best Website; and Community Lifestyles.

Fourth place awards wer for Best Sports Writing, Best Sports Photograph, and Best Single Feature, while fifth place award was for Best Breaking News Coverage.

The South Carolina Press Association judged this year's contest.

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