A local news publication has received several honors from the Missouri Press Association’s 2021 Better Newspaper Contest. The Ozark County Times’ 18 awards were handed out in September at a luncheon in Excelsior Springs.
One of the Times’ four first-place awards was in the Best Special Section category, after the staff produced a section titled “The Hootin an Hollarin Scrapbook” in 2020. The section replaced the normal Hootin an Hollarin guide after last year’s festival was canceled due to the coronavirus.
Ozark County Times Editor Sue Ann Jones came away with a total of eight honors. She picked up the Tilghman Cloud Memorial Weeklies Editorial Award for her piece titled “A different kind of grandma,” and she also won the Best Feature Obituary category for “Young widow mourns a dad and a husband who was ‘all about family.'” In addition, she was the runner-up in the Best News or Featured Obituary category for “Two lives lived close to the land – and to each other” and in the Best Story About History category for “From the ‘old black phone’ to enhanced 911.” Jones’ third-place honors were in Best News Story for “‘Perfect strangers came together’ in intrepid response to fiery crash” and in Best Military Story for “What gratitude we owe them.” Jones also received honorable mention in Best News or Featured Obituary for “Remembering Linnie” and in Best News or Feature Series for her series on local residents’ COVID-19 stories.
The Times’ other win came in the Best Sports Feature Photograph, after Karla Smith submitted her photo titled “Dora Falcons ‘Super Fan’ Damon Emery.” Times’ owner Norene Prososki finish second in the Best Health Story category for “Ozark County man gets unexpected life-saving results from heart screening.”
Jessi Dreckman was second in Best News Photograph for a photo accompanying an article titled “A Christmas Day tragedy.” She also ended up third in Best Story About Education for “Welding like a girl” and in Best News or Feature Obituary for “Remembering Harley Collins: A country boy with an ornery streak.”
The Times picked up three more third-place honors. The paper’s Community Service submission was a series titled “Giving Local,” and it ran throughout December and profiled Ozark County charities for local residents to donate to during the holiday season. Gainesville resident Wayne Sayles, a writer in the Ozark Journey column, was third in the Best Story About History for “Billy Buster and the Lick Creek Crossing.” Former Times employee Amelia LaMair was third in Best Story About the Outdoors for “Trans-Ozark Trail: Two existing trails will connect in Ozark County to form 700-mile trail.”
The Times also received honorable mention in Best COVID-19 Coverage. The paper’s coverage of how the virus affected Ozark County and its residents spanned several editions last year.
The awards covered stories from the entire calendar year of 2020.
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