Log Cabin wins APA top honors

NORTH LITTLE ROCK The Log Cabin Democrat won six first-place awards, including General Excellence among medium-sized dailies, in the Arkansas Press Association's 2008 News-Editorial contest.

The winners were announced Saturday at a luncheon during the APA's summer convention here.

The Log Cabin has earned the General Excellence Award among medium dailies seven times in the last eight years. Other dailies winning General Excellence in their size categories were the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Searcy Daily Citizen.

In addition to General Excellence, the LCD staff won top honors in its division in Community Coverage and Best Sports Page.

The newspaper won four individual first-place awards: sports columnist David McCollum in Sports News for a story on the University of Central Arkansas-Kentucky basketball game and in General Interest Column for his tribute to Steve Platt, the late Vilonia band director. Rachel Parker Dickerson earned first-place honors for Coverage of Business/Agriculture and Dickerson teamed with Jessica Bauer for a first-place award in Coverage of Education.

A second-place award was earned in the Picture Page/Photo Essay category by photographer Liberty Parks for a picture page on Toad Suck Daze. The newspaper's staff also won second-place honors for Best Front Page and designer Tammie McClure won a second-place award for Features Page.

Winning third-place awards were: McCollum, Sports News, for his story on the Arkansas Activities Association hearing involving Conway basketball player Sydney Stewart; Parks, Single Sports Action Photograph, for a photo of a triple jump at a Conway track meet, and the newspaper's staff for Coverage of Tourism.

Earning honorable mention citations were: McCollum, Sports Column, for a column on the death of Arkansas Travelers player Mike Coolbaugh and how it related to a childhood memory and in Sports News for a story on the UCA-Southeastern Louisiana football game; Dickerson, Headline Writing, for a "Special Addition" headline about the delivery of a baby by a newspaper carrier; Michael Allen, Sports Feature, for a story on a multiple taekwondo award winner; and to Parks, Single News Photo, for a photograph of a Mayflower accident.

The General Excellence award is based on a formula involving the number of awards won and their placement and three consecutive editions of the newspaper from a randomly selected week.

Judging was conducted by journalists with the Alabama Press Association.