The Greensboro Watchman, Inc. is proud to announce that its two newspapers, The Greensboro Watchman and the Perry County Herald (now the Times-Standard-Herald), received several awards at the annual Alabama Media Awards on June 29 in Orange Beach.
“Unlike last year, sadly, this year we did not bring home any first place awards,” said publisher and editor John Allan Clark. “However, for the second year in a row we won second place awards in our division in two of the most important categories: the Freedom of Information/First Amendment Award and the Best Public Service Award,” he continued. “If there are around 100 newspapers in Alabama, Division D includes the majority of them—the small weekly papers. These local papers are often the most tenaciously committed to community journalism of all. To win second place, again, in these two categories, against that kind of competition, is a great honor.”
For the first time, the organization has also placed in a business journalism category with The Greensboro Watchman’s story on Ruan Thai’s grand opening, penned by Associate Editor Casey Roberts.
“When a small paper’s staff has to do triple- and even quadruple-duty like ours does, it means there is no dedicated business beat with its own reporter,” Clark said. “The Greensboro Watchman punched above its weight to place in a category with competitors who have dedicated business reporters, and even whole business sections”
The Greensboro Watchman, Inc. owns The Greensboro Watchman in Hale County, and the Times-Standard- Herald in Perry County, which was formed from the merger earlier this year of the Marion Times- Standard and the Perry County Herald. The organization plans to expand its reach in the coming year, underscoring a long-term commitment to print media and community journalism for West Alabama.
