The Smith Communications family of newspapers and magazines was presented with several awards at the 2023 Georgia Press Association convention June 9 at Jekyll Island Club.
Managing Editor Josh Lurie won a first-place award for Layout and Design for The Jones County News and also third-place in the category for Lake Oconee News.
Lifestyle coverage brought awards for three of the company’s four newspapers. Lake Oconee News placed second and The Eatonton Messenger third for coverage of Georgia’s growing Lake Country region.
Editor Debbie Lurie-Smith also earned a second-place award for The Jones County News.
Lurie-Smith also won a firstplace award for news photograph for The Jones County News.
Lance McCurley put two newspapers on top for sports coverage, placing first for Lake Oconee News and second for The Eatonton Messenger. McCurley also placed second for sports coverage in The Baldwin Bulletin.
Lurie and The Jones County News placed first in headline writing, while Lake Oconee News’ T. Michael Stone placed second.
Also for Lake Oconee News, Maureen Stratton placed third for business writing.
For special sections, The Baldwin Bulletin took both first and second places for its Lake Country Football Preview and Masters editions.
The Jones County News won third place for the 2022 JCHS football preview, which is coordinated by Brad Harrison.
Associate Editor Bailey Ballard won a thirdplace award for business writing in The Baldwin Bulletin.
Lakelife placed first in magazine commentary thanks to Stone, and the magazine earned a second-place finish for cover design by Katie Marie O’Neal. Lakelife also placed second in themed issue, which was awarded to its staff, led by Editor Lynn Hobbs.
“I am proud of our success in this year’s Georgia Press Association Better Newspaper Contest,” said A. Mark Smith, president and CEO of Smith Communications Inc.“To win while competing with some of the best newspapers in the country is something to be proud of by our staff and readers.”