Southeast Missourian wins 12 awards in 2008 editorial contest

The Southeast Missourian won a dozen first-, second- and third-place awards in the Suburban Newspapers of America's recent 2008 Editorial Contest among daily newspapers. This year's contest included 36 editorial categories.

"Congratulations to the newsroom," Southeast Missourian publisher Jon Rust said. "The competition in the SNA contest is fierce. And the Southeast Missourian was second only to one other paper in the country in the total number of awards won by a single daily. Kudos to all involved!"

Editor Bob Miller said, "I'm humbled and honored to work with such a talented staff every day. We have some great journalists in the newsroom, some great people who care deeply about bringing news and information to their readers. Winning these national awards confirms what I already know about the work ethic, talent and integrity of our staff."

First-place awards were best editorial page cartoon for "Searching For Records in the Common Pleas Courthouse," by Don Greenwood, best continuing coverage for "County Commission and the Sunshine Law" by Peg McNichol, best breaking news story for "Flood Claims One Life" by Rudi Keller and Peg McNichol, best in-depth reporting solved for "Krajcir Confesses to Five Murders" by Bridget DiCosmo, best local election coverage for "Focus on the 158th District Race" by Rudi Keller, best investigative reporting for "The Wrong Man?" by Bridget DiCosmo and best feature series for "Stories of Sprigg" by the Southeast Missourian staff.

Second-place awards were best special section for the staff collaboration Progress '08, best editorial page by R. Joe Sullivan and best sports section.

Third-place awards were best sports photo for "Mind Over Matter" by Aaron Eisenhauer and best coverage of local business and economic news by Rudi Keller and Brian Blackwell.

SNA, a not-for-profit, professional trade association specifically serving the suburban and community newspaper industry, is made up of nearly 2,400 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.

cpagano@semissourian.com

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