One for the thumb

Once a year, usually, I get to use this space to brag just a little about our newspaper. And now it’s that time again.

Last weekend, for the third year in a row and the fifth time in the past six years, the Carroll County News was awarded first place for general excellence among medium-circulation weekly newspapers competing in the Arkansas Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper editorial contest.

For the first time since 2019, the awards were presented in person, at a luncheon at the conclusion of the Tri-State press convention at the Sheraton hotel in downtown Memphis.

I look forward to the awards every year, because I’m hyper-competitive and because the awards are one way we can measure ourselves against our peers and against our own ultimate goal — to be the best weekly newspaper in the state. I think we’re holding our own.

Most of the time, we absolutely love what we do. But there are difficult days, too. Sometimes this labor of love feels like a thankless task. We hear the critics, saying things like “there’s never anything in the paper anyone wants to read,” or “that little blue ribbon on the front page really doesn’t mean anything.”

I can tell you, from a professional perspective, that little blue ribbon means an awful lot to me. It means we’ve done our jobs and done them well. It’s a tribute to those times when I spend nearly a week on the road covering state basketball tournaments, those times when I’m the office until almost midnight reporting election results, those times when associate editor Robert Cox leaves home at 9 p.m. to go take photos of a fire, those times when former associate editor Samantha Jones covered a commission meeting on a Saturday morning. It’s a little bit of a reward for putting up with the Facebook trolls and the nasty phone calls and the angry politicians. It’s something we’re enormously proud of, because we’ve worked really hard to earn it.

Now, I need to talk about some folks individually.

First, Robert Cox. Rob, as I call him, has been a friend and colleague for more than 20 years. He’s one of the most versatile journalists I’ve ever worked with: He can write hard news, features, sports, columns. He’s also a heck of a photographer. But the thing he does best is page design. Since he came on board in December 2020, he has made some subtle changes and some not-so-subtle ones to our design and the result is that the paper looks better now than it ever has. As the Wisconsin Press Association member who judged the front-page category in this year’s contest said: “You can tell this is a good newspaper by the front page layout alone.” That’s exactly right, and Rob deserves all the credit.

He brought home three first-place awards this year, plus one that I’m honored to share with him, and more than a dozen second, third and honorable mention awards. I’m not one bit surprised, but I am grateful that Rob finally gave in and came to Berryville after I pestered him for years.

Next, Samantha Jones, our former associate editor. Sam left the paper several months ago to become the marketing director for Eureka Springs Hospital. She’s thrived in that role and I feel almost like a proud dad watching her succeed. Before she left, she did some amazing work for us in 2021 as well, winning first place for news photo and COVID beat reporting. I miss Sam every day but I’m so grateful for the time she spent here and everything she did for this newspaper and for our readers. Thank you, Sam, and congratulations! Lunch is on me, ASAP!

One of the speakers I heard at the convention talked about the importance of having good photos in the newspaper and I couldn’t agree more. We’re fortunate to have two outstanding photographers shooting regularly for us in David Bell and Charles Chappell.

David is one of my best friends and one of my favorite people in the world. When I first came to Berryville in 2014, he went out of his way to make me feel welcome. I’ve never forgotten that, and I never will. I also won’t forget the great photos he’s taken over the years, like the one that won first place for news feature photo in this year’s contest.

Charlie is “the man in the hat” that can always be found at local sporting events. He never fails to get just the right shot. This year’s photo of a fumble recovery during the Carroll County Super Bowl was so spot-on that I predicted it would take first place for sports action photo. And it did!

I’m humbled and grateful to be a part of such an outstanding team. I was so proud, too, to have my bride, Lisa, join us at the awards presentation. It was a wonderful day to celebrate the staff’s hard work and success.

And now, it’s back to work. Because what’s better than five? Six!

Scott Loftis is managing editor for Carroll County Newspapers. His email address is SLoftis@cherryroad.com.