PEA RIDGE — For the third time in the past six years, The Times of Northeast Benton County was awarded first place in general excellence in the small weekly division this past week at the Arkansas Press Association convention held in Little Rock this year.
“I’m honored and grateful,” said Annette Beard, managing editor of The Times. “We have a great staff and I’m incredibly grateful to our columnists, news clerk and pagebuilder.
But, most of all, we have a great community and very interactive and cooperative readers and civic leaders. Without them, we couldn’t do what we do.”
Former news clerk Cassi Lapp, now a full-time reporter at The Vista in Bella Vista, won several awards for her work at The Times last year and was recognized as Young Journalist of the Year for weeklies.
“Our staff - pagebuilder Teresa Hufford and news clerk StaceyMooneyhan - is devoted to excellence and do their work with great attention to detail,” Beard said. “The columnists, including area pastors, Leo Lynch, John McGee, Peggy Maddox and Edyth Lammey, faithfully write regularly to provide a service to the community.”
“Annette Beard takes her role in the community seriously,” said Times publisher Kent Marts. “The fact that she wins so many awards each year shows what other journalists see in her work.
“I’ve known Annette long enough to know that she doesn’t work as hard as she does - often doing thankless tasks like asking hard questions, and researching court records in other counties, and going to an event at the last minute instead of sitting down to a family supper - because she wants to win awards; Annette does what she does for one reason: She strongly believes in the newspaper’s role in the community - as mirror and window, as bulletin board and bully pulpit, as a soft shoulder to cry on and a strong back that often stands alone against tyranny.”
Beard began work at The Times in January 2006. Since then, The TIMES has won first place in general excellence in 2008, 2010 and 2011; second place in 2006 and 2007; and third place in 2009.
Writers John McGee, Jerry Nichols, Cassi Lapp and Jeff Billington each won first-place awards, as did Beard.
Individual awards will be listed in the July 11 edition of The Times.
News, Pages 1 on 07/04/2012