Staff Report

The Greenville Advocate won 15 awards in the 2005 Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

The awards will be presented to the Advocate during APA’s 134rd annual summer convention held at the Perdido Beach Resort on July 30.

There were 72 newspapers from across the state that submitted 3,038 total entries for the contest.

The Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association judged the entries.

The Advocate won third place for General Excellence, the top honor a newspaper can be given by peers.

"I'm extremely proud of our staff in placing high in some key categories of this state-wide contest," said Greenville Newspapers' publisher Dennis Palmer. "There are many very fine newspapers in the state and it's very humbling for me and the staff to be chosen among the best. While our primary goal each week is to entertain and inform our readership in every issue, it's nice to be recognized by our peers for the work we produce. Our main objective has been, and always will be, to work in the best interests of the communities we serve, and this recognition is evidence that we're going in the right direction."

Other awards include:

n Second place for best Lifestyle Page.

n First place for best Sports Page.

n Third place for Best Layout and Design.

n Third place for Best Spot News story for "Ivan leaves many grateful for lives" by Jay Thomas.

n First place for Best In-Depth New Coverage for Hurricane Ivan coverage.

n Third place for Best Editorial for "Hurricane Ivan" by Jay Thomas.

n Third place for Best Humorous Column by Rich Couch.

n Third place for Best Editorial Column or Commentary for "Fanatic uses pulpit to preach hate" by Jay Thomas.

n First place for best Sports News In-Depth Story or Series for "Before they were coaches" by Adam Prestridge.

n Third place for Best Sports Single Event Story for "Catfight in the Camellia City" by Griffin Pritchard.

n First place for Best Feature Photo for "Monumental Sacrifices" by Dennis Palmer.

n First place for Best Spot News Photo for "Blown Away" by Dennis Palmer.

N Third place for Best Special Section for Horizons 2004.

The Advocate also took first place for the Freedom of Information Award.

"In my opinion the Freedom of Information award is the most significant single award a newspaper can receive," Palmer said. "Newspapers were founded on the principal of the public's right to know, and our community should feel honored that its newspaper was chosen to receive this award."