The Courier News brings home five TPA awards
The Courier News brought home five awards from the annual Tennessee Press Association Contest for the 2021 print year (Jan. 1-Dec. 21, 2021).
The awards ceremony was held Friday, Aug, 26, at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville.
The Courier News won one first-place award, a third-place award, and three fourth-place awards.
The contest was judged by Indiana Press Association members.
Ken Leinart took first place for “Best Sports Writing,” with a column he wrote about Anderson County High School’s Stone Cummins winning a state wrestling title, “Thank you.”
“Last year was a difficult year The Courier News. We were short a sports reporter all year long. Ken never complained about it; he just kept working and looking for ways to better serve our community,” Tony Cox, Publisher of The Courier News said.
The judge in Indiana wrote, “Just one sample to go off of, but Ken found an angle and worked it very, very well. Human interest stories should make a human interested to read it, and this column did just that. Well done.”
Leinart also won a third place award for a feature photo he took during the annual 4-H Pullet Show and Sale.
The Courier News won two fourth place awards for best personal column and best humorous column — both written by Leinart.
The Indiana judge commented, “Great column in a field full of good one,” about Leinart’s personal column, “Strange times indeed.”
The Courier News also brought home a fourth place award for its 2021 football preview, “The Program.”
The Indiana Judge commented, “A strong high school preview.”
Cox noted, Winning these award — especially considering that two of the awards were sports related — is a great testament to Ken’s dedication to Anderson County’s community newspaper. I am really proud of last year’s accomplishments and can’t wait to see how The Courier News’ editorial department fares with its 2022 entries.