COLLEGE STATION — Granite Media Partners Inc.’s publications dominated the 2023 Texas Better Newspaper Contest, earning two coveted first-place sweepstakes awards for the Taylor Press and the Colorado County Citizen, 16 first-place writing citations and a total of 50 honors overall.
The sweepstakes award is the top honor in the statewide competition, bestowed on newspapers with the highest overall scores based on cumulative points for editorial, design, photography and advertising excellence.
This was the second year in a row the Taylor Press claimed the sweepstakes award in its division, a rare feat according to officials.
“I’m very proud of our team. Our entire staff has worked extremely hard, and I am glad to see they are getting recognized for their efforts,” said Jason Hennington, area editor.
The Taylor Press brought home first place in feature writing and news writing; second place in column writing, headline writing, adver- tising, page design, online live coverage and special section; third in sports coverage and sports photography; and fourth place in best magazine.
The awards — which are generally divided into divisions based on circulation or frequency — were announced during the Texas Press Association’s annual trade show and conference June 20-22 at the Hilton College Station & Conference Center.
The convention included seminars and discussions on better ad designs in print and for websites, newspaper sponsorships of nonjournalistic events such as music shows to generate extra revenue, the concept of Journalism 3.0, hiring young journalists at a living wage, improving the quality of a newspaper with a copy desk and a professional staff photographer, using artificial intelligence, strategies for reporters to “cover life, not just news” and much more.
Longtime Granite employees said the number of awards may be a new record for the company.
“I’m proud of our reporters and editors, and our Granite team as a whole, but there’s always room for improvement,” said Executive Editor Thomas Edwards. “We can’t rest on our laurels just because we’re the best at what we do when it comes to covering our communities.
In the days ahead, we’re going to be looking at more daily stories posted online and requiring digital or video offerings at all newspapers.”
In addition to the awards, outgoing TPA President Ken Esten Cooke took a brief moment during remarks on the survivability of print newspapers to praise the digital programs and shows now being produced by the Taylor Press.
In the contest, 100 TPA members submitted 965 entries, which were judged by an impartial panel from the Georgia Press Association.
In addition to Hennington and Edwards, Suzanne Stevens serves as the digital editor.
H. Daniel Philhower is president and CEO of Granite, Valeri Stair is vice president of finance, Shawn Burrell is vice president of sales, Patti Slavych heads up the creative/ design department and Ory Boney oversees the press.
The full winner’s circle can be downloaded at www.texaspress.com.
