Newspapers win 12 state press awards

Carolina Gateway and The Lancaster News won 12 S.C. Press Association awards this year, including a second place for General Excellence.
The awards were distributed at the annual SCPA meeting held last weekend at Folly Beach.
Susan Rowell, The Lancaster News publisher, was elected president of the SCPA during the meeting.
Rowell, who has worked with The Lancaster News for 27 years, will serve a one-year term as president. She has served on the SCPA board since 2004 and said she is honored to be a part of the organization.
“It is my privilege to work with such a prestigious board and dedicated, professional staff as we represent South Carolina newspapers by promoting our time-honored profession,” Rowell said.
The SCPA awards were presented during a luncheon meeting Saturday.
Here’s a rundown of the S.C. Press Association awards received by staff at Carolina Gateway and The Lancaster News:
Carolina Gateway
• Jane Alford, first place Page One Design Portfolio
• Reece Murphy, second place Online Column Writing, “How I stopped worrying and love Christmas”  
• Julie Graham (freelance writer), second place, Series of Articles, “Holiday Traditions"

• Reece Murphy, third place, Beat Reporting, Indian Land

The Lancaster News
• Second place, General Excellence
• The Lancaster News staff: Lifestyle Feature Special Edition or Section, second place for Today’s Woman; third place for Discover Lancaster County
• Jesef Williams, Robert Howey and Reece Murphy, first place for Series of Articles, “Black History Month”  
• Chris Sardelli, third place Series of Articles, “Transparency in landfill”
• Chris Sardlli, first place Profile Feature Writing, “All creatures great and small”
• Robert Howey, third place Sports Feature Story, “Tory Knight tackles middle school football”
• Aaron Morrison, third place Personality Photograph or Portrait, “Chase Gordon takes Terry Dearing for a spin”
• Barbara Rutledge, third place Page One Design Portfolio
Rowell said she’s proud of the papers' awards.
“I congratulate our entire editorial team and am very proud of the quality of community journalism they provide our readers,” Rowell said.
“It is such an honor to be recognized by the S.C. Press Association for their commitment and dedication to our community through award-winning stories and photos.”
Barbara Rutledge, editor of The Lancaster News, echoed Rowell’s sentiments.
“The newsroom staff takes pride in their work,” Rutledge said. “Most readers have no idea how much work and time it takes to produce a newspaper – be it in print or online. And they do it every day – because they care.
“While our staff doesn’t write stories, take pictures and design pages with the purpose of winning awards, it is always good to be recognized for that pride and care.”