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News |
Michael D. Chason |
IMMEDIATE
FEBRUARY 12, 2009
ABAC NEWSPAPER NAMED BEST IN STATE OF
GEORGIA
TIFTON--The student newspaper at
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, “The
Stallion,” brought home 17 awards from
the recent Georgia College Press Association Better Newspaper Contest,
including first place in the General Excellence category, signifying the best
newspaper in the state in the two-year college division. Overall, “The Stallion”
placed in the top three in all eight of the general award categories.
Managing Editor Richie Knight said the
newspaper has even higher goals for the future.
“I am anticipating even
better results next year,” Knight, an Ag Economics/Ag Business major from
Oxford, said. “We are improving both the
layout and the content of our newspaper.
The staff and I are glad to have the opportunity to serve the ABAC
community, and we vow to keep up our good reputation.”
General awards for “The
Stallion” included a first place for General Advertising, second place for Best
News, Editorial Excellence, and Best Sports categories, and third place for Layout
and Design Excellence, Improvement, General Photography Excellence, and Best
Features.
The awards covered
editions published during the 2008 spring and fall semesters.
The campus paper, advised by Dr. Eric Cash,
Professor of English and Journalism at ABAC, also took home eight awards for
individual achievement of staff members.
Scotty Barron
of Woodstock won first place for Best Editorial, Rebecca Perry of
Nashville earned first place for Best Column, and Steven Stubbs of
Rochelle and Stephanie Dorough of Tifton shared a first place victory
for Best Entertainment Feature.
Second
place standings were awarded to Stubbs for Best Sports Photography and
to a staff effort for Best Photo Essay. Third place awards were presented to Perry
for Best Review and Stubbs for Best News Article and Best Sports Story.
“This
is one of the most heart-felt victories that the newspaper has achieved,” Cash,
now in his 10th year as faculty advisor, said. “During the past year the bulk of our staff
graduated. Our new editors, without any
experience at all, held things together through their dedication and hard
work. That they managed to prevail
against such fierce competition in the state simply astounds me.”
Dorough
and Knight were managing editors during the 2008 fall term. Stubbs and Amelia Gutierrez of Clewiston,
Fla., were news editors. Other staff members
included Parker Ferren of Tallahassee, Fla., sports editor; Dorough, opinion
editor; Antonio Gorham of Hinesville, lifestyles editor; Knight, on-line
editor; Joanna Ware of Soperton, business manager; and Zebb Luster of Fort
Myers, Fla., advertising representative.
During
the 2008 spring term, the staff included Kristina Story of Augusta, managing
editor; Crissie Elrick of Pembroke, Taylor Hand from Tifton, and Amy Kuczynski
from Valdosta, news editors; Stubbs and Geoffrey Brown from Tifton, sports editors;
Ansley Fender from Tifton, opinion editor; Adam Smith from Tifton and Dorough,
lifestyle editors; Shekanah Ficklin from Albany, on-line editor; and Cecil
Walls of Denton, business manager.
Georgia Highlands College
took second place in General Excellence in the two-year division and
Gainesville College finished third. “The Stallion” also placed first in last
year’s contest.
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