Southeast Missourian wins big in annual awards contest

The Southeast Missourian took more than 40 awards in the Missouri Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest, including first place in the General Excellence category for class-2 dailies.

The newspaper's local coverage and photography garnered special praise. In selecting a first-place-winning photo by former photo editor Laura Simon, one judge wrote, "It is so good, it should be sold as art."

With editorial submissions on topics ranging from James Clay Waller III's sentencing to Jackson's drug-testing program to mental illness, the Southeast Missourian won first, second and third place, plus honorable mention in the category for best editorial.

The newspaper's other awards include second place for best overall design, second place for best front-page design and third place for best news story.

The newspaper's sports section also shone, scoring first place in the best sports pages.

Judges wrote in awarding the honor, "Great photos, typography and clean, consistent pages. Very inviting to read. Easily the best in the category."

Flourish, the Southeast Missourian's women's magazine, also won first place for magazines.

Other categories in which the newspaper garnered awards were multi-media reporting, obituary writing, infographic design, headline writing and best video.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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