Bristol Herald Courier Wins 25 Virginia Press Association Awards

By: BRISTOL HERALD COURIER | TriCities.com
Published: March 16, 2008

ROANOKE, Va. – The Bristol Herald Courier won 25 awards, including eight first places, in the 2007 Virginia Press Association annual journalism contest.

Judges from New Jersey gave the Herald Courier the second-most awards among Virginia’s midsize daily newspapers, according to results announced late Saturday at the VPA’s News Conference & Annual Meeting at the Hotel Roanoke.

First-place Herald Courier honorees were:

Opinion page editor Andrea Hopkins, for editorial writing.

Hopkins, for column writing.

Reporter Amy Hunter, for government and public safety writing.

Copy desk chief Brian Reese, for headline writing.

Feature writer Joe Tennis, for critical writing.

Herald Courier staff, along with TriCities.com and WJHL-TV, for multimedia feature reporting, for the special section on "The Crooked Road."

Staff, special sections or special editions, for "The Crooked Road."

Tennis, photographer Earl Neikirk and copy editor Keith O’Dell for combination picture and story for a package on Tom Arrington, who is believed to be the world’s oldest person with Down Syndrome.

Second-place winners included:

Managing Editor J. Todd Foster, for column writing.

Foster, for critical writing.

Copy editor Mike Fox, for design of business pages.

Former reporter Khristopher Brooks, for education writing.

Chief photographer David Crigger, for photo illustration.

Reporter Debra McCown, for business and financial writing.

Reporter David McGee and McCown, for a series of news stories – a package on the retail explosion at Exit 7.

News staff, for general news reporting – ongoing coverage of the drought.

Third-place winners were:

Crigger, for sports news photo.

Foster, for editorial writing.

Former reporter Joe Geraghty, for business and financial writing.

O’Dell, for headline writing.

Features Editor Jan Patrick and features designer Jennifer Estep, for the design of lifestyle or entertainment pages.

Reese, multimedia intern Brent Carney and former TriCities.com intern John Stevens, for special sections or special editions – "Grass Routes," a profile of Abingdon, Va.