St. Louis American, Houston Defender and Miami Times Named Best Black Newspapers

NASHVILLE, TENN – The St. Louis American won the top award for general excellence for the second consecutive year Thursday night at the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNPA) Annual Merit Awards ceremony. For the first time, the NNPA also presented excellence awards for two smaller categories. Winning in Category B was the Houston Defender. The Miami Times won in Category C.

“There were many exceptional entries this year,” said Karl B. Rodney, Merit Awards Chairman and publisher of the Carib News. “We congratulate not only the winners, but other papers that exemplify excellence every week.”

Mary Alice Thatch, publisher of the Wilmington Journal, was selected “Publisher of the Year” by her colleagues. Thatch was the driving force behind the NNPA’s successful national campaign win pardons of innocence for the Wilmington Ten. Her paper provided the lead coverage of the issue. The stories were then distributed to member newspapers by the NNPA News Service.

NNPA Legacy Awards were presented to Jesse Jackson, Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and James Farmer, former vice president of General Motors Acceptance Corp. (GMAC). The NNPA’s Front Page Award was presented to Roland Martin, host of “Washington Watch with Roland Martin” on TV One cable network, and Larry Waters, Senior Director of Community Commerce and Partnerships for MillerCoors.

Merit Award winners were:

BEST EDITORIAL

1. Skanner
2. Philadelphia Tribune
3. Afro

BEST COLUMN

1. St. Louis American
2. Los Angeles Sentinel
3. Philadelphia Tribune

BEST NEWS STORY

1. St. Louis American
2. Florida Courier
3. New York Amsterdam News

BEST FEATURE STORY

1. Philadelphia Tribune
2. Houston Forward Times
3. Call & Post

BEST LAYOUT & DESIGN (Broadsheet)

1. St. Louis American
2. Miami Times
3. Insight News

BEST LAYOUT & DESIGN (Tabloid)

1. Houston Defender
2. Washington Informer
3. Los Angeles Watts Times

BEST LIFESTYLE

1. Philadelphia Tribune
2. Houston Forward Times
3. Call & Post

BEST YOUTH WRITER (16-23)

1. Philadelphia Tribune
2. New York Amsterdam News
3. Houston Forward Times

BEST USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS (Broadsheet)

1. St. Louis American
2. Houston Defender
3. Los Angeles Sentinel

BEST USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS (Tabloid)

1. Chicago Defender
2. Washington Informer
3. Los Angeles Watts Times

BEST CHURCH PAGE

1. Miami Times
2. Indianapolis Recorder
3. South Florida Times

BEST SPORTS SECTION

1. Houston Defender
2. Daily Challenge
3. Los Angeles Sentinel

BEST BUSINESS SECTION

1. St. Louis American
2. Miami Times
3. Pittsburgh Courier

BEST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

1. St. Louis American
2. Los Angeles Sentinel
3. Miami Times

DIGITAL EXCELLENCE

1. Pittsburgh Courier
2. St. Louis American
3. Miami Times

GENERAL EXCELLENCE

1. St. Louis American
2. Houston Defender
3. Miami Times

##