Leader claims nine awards for 2020
The Ruston Daily Leader won nine awards in news and advertising at the Louisiana Press Association’s 2020 Better Newspaper Competition, including two first-place finishes, the LPA announced this week.
Managing Editor Nancy Bergeron won the Sam Hanna Award for first place in the Best Regular Column category. She showed command both in addressing serious issues and in bringing levity to the editorial page, as evidenced by her winning entries.
One on March 18, 2020, highlighted the fear and great unknowns during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the other on July 8, 2020 detailed Bergeron’s adventure with a rodent visitor in her home.
News Editor Caleb Daniel garnered first place in the Best Headline competition for a pair of phrases that roll off the tongue: “Roll Call to Recall” during a local petition-signing event to remove Gov. John Bel Edwards from office and “Biomass Backlog” during the Lincoln Parish landfill’s overload of wood waste from storm debris.
The Leader’s advertising staff earned a second-place finish in Best Multiple Advertiser Page for its Women’s Equality 2020 sponsor page.
“Each of our 2020 awards from the Louisiana Press Association is a testament to how hard our staff works to uphold the Ruston Daily Leader’s commitment to provide high-quality, relevant local content to our community,” Leader Publisher Crystal Richard said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our staff for these achievements in news, editorial, design and advertising.”
Bergeron was also awarded second place in Best Feature Story for her piece on the one-year anniversary of the deadly April 25, 2019 tornado.
Her photo with that story also took third place in Best Feature Photo, depicting Lincoln Parish Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Kip Franklin holding a piece of vinyl from the Evans Street home of Kendra and Remington Butler, the two Ruston residents who perished during the storm.
Daniel was awarded second place in the Best Breaking News Story category for his coverage of the passing of former Dubach mayor Mary Claire Smith.
Meanwhile, the Leader news staff won both second and third place in the Best Front Page category, a total of four front pages from 2020 depicting everything from the racial justice protest march at Louisiana Tech University to a drive-thru kindergarten Thanksgiving parade.
Lastly, Advertising Manager Celeste Holley and graphic designers Kailyn Dollar and Charlotte Rainwater took home third place for Best Ad Campaign for their Caples & Robinson Orthodontics ad series.
The Leader competed in Division 2 of the LPA competition against many newspapers like the Acadiana Advocate and the Daily Iberian.
