Drew Kerekes

The Meridian Star’s newsroom was honored with 11 first place journalism awards during the Mississippi Press Association’s annual conference in Biloxi Saturday. The awards covered material published in 2016.

Veteran photographer Paula Merritt garnered three first place awards, as well as the photo of the year award from the Mississippi Associated Press.

Merritt’s first place win in general news photography was for “Remembered,” which showed a man placing his hand on the memorial wall at the Lauderdale County Courthouse on Memorial Day 2016. “Great depth of field,” the judges wrote. “Emotionally evocative. Excellent.”

Merritt received a third place nod in the same category for a photo of a swimmer at the State Games of Mississippi.

In the sports feature photograph category, Merritt received a first place award for “Big House, Big Win” and a second place award for “Raider victory.” She also won second place for feature photograph for “Broken Promises.”

Merritt joined The Star in 1986 as stringer in the sports department, and has photographed everything from natural disasters to presidential visits.

“I get my biggest rewards from the public,” she said. “People are so kind, thoughtful and complimentary – it just makes you want to work harder and do better.”

Merritt shared a first place award for photo / story combination with News Editor Bill Graham for their coverage of the tornado that hit Collinsville in February 2016.

“Good human-interest reporting on a tragic event that affected a lot of people,” the judges wrote. “Photos compliment the story well and illustrate the damage.”

In other awards, Cheryl Owens won first place in the spot news photograph category for her photograph of the outline of a woman’s body after the woman was found dead behind a church in Meridian. “The picture tells so much of the story,” the judges wrote. “Its impact is immense.”

Graham also won second place in that category for his photo of Meridian math teacher Rhonda Burrage’s reaction to receiving the national Milken Award in January 2016.

Reporter Whitney Downard garnered a first place award for best spot news story for a report about a house explosion in Duffee that killed an elderly couple. “Good story,” the judges wrote. “It kept me interested and personalizes the story for the reader. Capturing the reader and keeping them is more than half the battle.”

Downard also won first place in the lede category for a story about a young girl’s fight against Cystic Fibrosis, and placed second in investigative/in-depth reporting for “Jailed for Mental Illness.”

In the magazine category, Special Sections / Lifestyles Editor Ida Brown won first place for Meridian Home And Style (formerly 393) magazine. Brown, who joined The Star in 1983 as a staff writer, also shared a first place award in investigative/ in-depth reporting with former reporter Randy Hammons for the two-part series “Downtown Disorder.”

The series also won third place in the community service category.

In the sports department, Sports Editor Drew Kerekes won first place for three sports columns: “A role reversal,” “Skelton a class act,” and “Father helped begin a passion.” Sports Reporter Elton Hayes placed first, second and third in the game story category for three stories: “Kemper wins state,” Lamar Beats Oak Forest,” and “Quitman girls capture first state title in program history.” Hayes also placed third in the sports feature category for a profile called “Vicks beats the odds.”

In the planned series category, the paper received another first place award for a series highlighting volunteers in the community. The profiles were written by Owens, Hayes, Kerekes, Downard, Graham and Hammons, with Merritt providing photography.

The paper also received a second place award for general excellence, third place for best website and third place for best front page.

“We are thankful to the judges’ acknowledgement of our work,” said Alexander Gould, the publisher of The Meridian Star. “It’s a testament to our team’s daily dedication to bringing the best information to our readers.”

James E. Prince, III, publisher and editor of The Neshoba Democrat in Philadelphia, received the J. Oliver Emmerich Award for Editorial Excellence, the highest prize presented annually by the Association. Prince’s winning entry was an editorial deeply critical of a change of venue for three former Neshoba County employees who were accused in a $1.3 million dollar overtime scandal.

Winner of the Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Journalism for Daily Newspapers was Jerry Mitchell of The Clarion-Ledger. Mitchell’s project focused on the search for and prosecution of Felix Vail, 76, who was eventually convicted in the decades-old death of his wife.

Ray Mosby and Natalie Perkins of The Deer Creek Pilot in Rolling Fork earned the investigative prize for weekly newspapers for articles dealing with desperately needed renovations to the Sharkey-Issaquena Community Hospital.

Tim Kalich, editor of The Greenwood Commonwealth, won the Bill Minor Prize for General News Reporting for a jailhouse interview with Edgar Ray Killen, the convicted murderer of three civil rights workers in 1964.

Jamie Patterson of The Yazoo Herald took the prize for weekly newspapers for her story on Yazoo City residents who purchased property only to be hit with unpaid assessments against previous owners that totaled thousands of dollars.

Zach Jones, a former photographer and reporter for The Lamar Times in Hattiesburg, won the Photo of the Year Award for a photo entitled “Underground Art”, part of a photo essay on metal working artist Jeremy Thomley.

Waid Prather, editor and publisher of The Carthaginian, took First Place for the Daniel M. Phillips Freedom of Information Award. Prather’s commentary and reporting on corruption with the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the closing of a private prison in Walnut Grove was singled out for distinction.

The contest was judged by volunteers from the Kentucky Press Association. Fifty-one newspapers submitted a total of 2,089 entries into this year’s editorial contest. Awards for advertising excellence will be handed out in January during MPA’s Mid-Winter Conference.

Founded in 1866, MPA is trade association representing Mississippi newspaper media.