The Commercial Dispatch won 18 Mississippi Press Association Better Newspaper Contest awards, including second place for General Excellence in the medium daily circulation division.
MPA held its annual awards ceremony Friday via video conference due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The awards recognized work published in 2019.
Sports reporter Ben Portnoy earned both first and second place in the Sports Feature category and placed first for Game Story, while he and Sports Editor Garrick Hodge placed first for Sports News Story.
Reporter and Columnist Slim Smith placed first in the General Interest and Commentary column categories in the combined large and medium daily division. It marks the eighth straight year his General Interest columns have placed first and the fifth time in eight years he’s won at least the medium daily division for Commentary Column.
Former reporter Mary Pollitz shared in two first place finishes. She and Managing Editor Zack Plair won the General News Story category for medium dailies, and she and Publisher Peter Imes placed first for News Package. Pollitz also placed second for General News Story.
Lifestyles Editor Jan Swoope and page designer Matt Garner shared a first-place win for Lifestyles Section.
Jennifer Mosbrucker, who worked as a Dispatch photographer last year, placed first for General News Photograph, and The Dispatch staff placed first for Special Section for its fall edition of Progress.
Other award winners from The Dispatch include:
■ Zack Plair, Garrick Hodge and Theo DeRosa, second place, Sports News Story;
■ Garrick Hodge, second place, Sports Column;
■ Matt Garner and Anne Murphy, third place, Front Page and Design categories (among large and medium dailies); and
■ Birney Imes, third place, General Interest Column.
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