2010 continues to be the most-acclaimed year in the 82-year history of The St. Louis American newspaper.
This past weekend, The American received a total of 15 awards in Missouri Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest, an industry contest among newspapers throughout the state of Missouri.
Four of The St. Louis American’s awards were first place among all weekly newspapers in the entire state:
• First Place, Investigative Reporting
• First Place, Best Coverage of Government
• First Place, Community Service;
• and First Place, Best Video Story.
The St. Louis American’s Sandra Jordan also won a first place award, among weeklies in its class, for Best Story About History.
In addition to its First Place for all Missouri weeklies in the challenging category of Investigative Reporting, The American also won Third Place. The judges noted, “This is what investigative reporting should be. Exhaustive, balanced and complete.”
The American’s First Place award for Best Coverage of Government recognized its reporting on mayoral politics in the City of St. Louis. The judges noted, “There seems nothing simple here; you had to dig and di it well for a story that evolved as you covered.”
Regarding video, 2010 is the inaugural year for the video category in the Missouri Press contest, and The American’s Rebecca Rivas received both first and second place awards among all weeklies.
Other awards include second place honors for: General Excellence, Best News Photo (Wiley Price) and Best Sports Page.
Other third place awards include: Best Newspaper Design, Best Front Page, Best News or Feature Series, and Best Local Business Coverage.
Earlier this year, The St. Louis American was named the nation’s #1 African-American Newspaper (for the seventh time) by the National Newspaper Publishers’ Association.
The American also shared first place recognition for Best Weekly Newspaper in North America, with a circulation of more than 37,500, by Suburban Newspapers of America, an industry association with more than 2,000 member newspapers throughout North America.