SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN REAPS 14 STATE AWARDS

ST. LOUIS -- The Southeast Missourian won 14 awards, including general excellence among daily newspapers, in the 1997 Better Newspaper Contest sponsored by the Missouri Press Association.

The honors were handed out Friday at an awards luncheon in St. Louis. In all, the newspaper received one first-place award, three second-place awards, one third-place award and seven honorable mentions.

The Missourian beat out nine other major dailies in the state, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Kansas City Star, in winning the general excellence award.

Judges said "good local stories written by good writers are your meat and potatoes -- you do a great job. Good balance of news and advertising. Simply a good newspaper."

In September the Missourian received another general excellence award in a national newspaper competition.

Judges praised the newspaper for having a total effort from all departments. Pages were clean and attractive, they said, and had very inviting graphics. There was also strong writing with a good balance of state and local news.

The Missourian took top honors in the best special section category for its 1996 YELL literacy tab. Judges applauded its "slice of life approach" to the problems of literacy. "Congratulations on telling the stories of everyday people helping one another and the stories of people whose lives improved after helping others learn to read," they wrote.

Second-place honors were received in the categories of best newspaper design and best family living coverage. Former staff writers Scott Moyers and Dr. Roy Keller also received second-place awards in the category of best news story.

A third place award was also received for best editorial page. Judges said the paper was well designed, with many good columnists, viewpoints and ideas -- "a very good read."

Editor R. Joe Sullivan said the recognition was well-earned because of a strong team effort. "We're proud of the whole news staff because everyone contributed to these awards," he said. "It's nice to know that a top quality staff was recognized for its efforts on a state and national level."

Other Southeast Missourian awards:

-- best spot news photo

-- best use of local photographs

-- best front page

-- best coverage of rural life and agriculture

-- best advertising idea or promotion

-- best news content

-- community service award (Random Acts of Kindness)

Tamara Zellars Buck contributed to this article.