The Franklin Free Press has a reputation for outstanding writing in all categories, from news to editorials to sports.
Once again, the Alabama Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest results demonstrate that reputation to be statewide as the FFP took home 10 awards for exceptional writing in the recently announced results.
This year, 74 newspapers submitted 2,753 entries in the annual contest. The Georgia Press Association judged the entries.
This year's awards bring the total number of winning entries by the FFP to more than 70 in the last five years.
“I'm humbled to again have our newspaper judged as one of the top publications in the state of Alabama. The dedication of our staff, combined with their talent and passion for covering news and sports in northwest Alabama, is second to none,” said FFP Publisher John Pilati.
Sports Editor Mike Self received two first place awards in the 2017 contest. The first was in the category of Best Sports News In-Depth Coverage, where Self took home first for “2016 Baseball Playoff Preview.” Additionally, Self received first place in the category of Best Local Sports Column for “Fright Night.”
“Mike is a tremendous talent both through his writing and his play-by-play talents on the radio. Not a week goes by that I don't receive a compliment on Mike's writing or broadcasting talents and these honors are well deserved,” Pilati said.
Pilati received eight awards this year including two first place honors. The first was in the category of Best Editorial for “Taking a stand for our nation's flag.” Secondly, in the category of Best Editorial Column or Commentary, Pilati received both first and third place honors with “Special session all bark, no bite,” and “Political pandering wastes time, money.”
In the category of Best Spot News Story, Pilati took home two of the top three honors with a second place award for “Tharptown to get new cafeteria,” and third place for “PCRS Ambulance Service in peril.”
In the category of Best In-Depth News Coverage, Pilati's series of articles covering the ambulance dispute between Shoals Ambulance and the Franklin County Commission took home third-place. In the category of Best Business Story or Column, Pilati received third place for his in-depth article on MS Industries' expansion into Russellville, “Renaissance in Russellville.”
In the Best Humorous Column category, Pilati's “Super Bowl of dog shows a bucket list event,” in which he detailed his trip to the Westminster Dog Show, earned second-place honors.
“When people consider their newspaper options in Russellville, we've always maintained our level of professionalism and efforts to deliver the best product demonstrate the clear choice is the Franklin Free Press for advertisers and readers. These awards, which were earned after being compared to the best-of-the-best across Alabama, are another way to show our success in those efforts,” Pilati said.
