Detroit –The National Newspaper Publishers Association gathered in Detroit this week to mark the 75th Anniversary of the organization that works to perpetuate the voice of the African American community by way of the black press.
One of the culminating experiences each year is the Merit Awards celebration, which honors the work of the nearly 100 active member publications.
The American garnered awards in 14 categories at last night’s ceremony (Thursday, June 18), including the coveted General Excellence Award, which comes with the bragging rights of “The Best Black Newspaper in the Nation.” This marked the fourth NNPA General Excellence Award in a row for The American – and its eleventh time in 20 years.
“I’d like to congratulate The St. Louis American team, and acknowledge support from our community, in achieving this unprecedented recognition from our national association by bringing this prestigious national award home to St. Louis for the fourth consecutive year,” said Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor. “We will continue to work hard to bring our audience credible, relevant news content, as well as a voice for our community’s needs, grievances and aspirations.”
Named in honor of John B. Russwurm, senior editor and co-publisher of the nation’s first black newspaper, The Freedom’s Journal; and black press icon John Senstacke (who was also one of the founding members of the NNPA) the award is seen as the standard of excellence among the nearly 100 active member newspapers of the NNPA.
Along with the newly named John B. Russwurm & John Sengstacke Award for General Excellence, The American took home top honors for Best Special Section, Best Use of Photographs, Best Entertainment Section, Best News Story and Best Sports Section.
It received second place awards for Best Business Section and Best News Pictures.
This year’s Merit Awards also marked the fourth first place award in a row for Best Use of Photograph and the Entertainment Section.
The second half of 2014 at The American was unlike anything any of us has ever seen in terms of journalism, because of the uprising in Ferguson,” said managing editor Chris King. “For half of the year, we had sleep-deprived people covering protests and policy initiatives resulting from protests. Though I think our coverage of Ferguson was tremendous, I worried if overall we had enough range and balance to compete with other papers that weren’t covering the world’s biggest story in their back yard for half of the year. So I’m excited and relieved to hear this good news from our peers.”
Other multiple winners for the 2015 Merit Awards included The Houston Defender, The Houston Forward Times, The Final Call and The New Pittsburgh Courier.
“We are humbled and appreciative – and extremely grateful – for these awards,” said St. Louis American Publisher Donald M. Suggs. “But the real joy comes in knowing that we are being of service to our readers and the community as a whole.”