Tri County Leader earns press awards

The Tri County Leader won four awards in the Northeast Texas Press Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest, including a first place in overall general excellence.

Tri County Leader staff also earned first place in sports coverage, first place feature story and third place news photo.

"We are very excited and proud of our awards, especially the first place in general excellence, which reflects the overall quality of our newspaper," said Charlotte Smith, editor. "We had a completely new staff in 2007, and this was our first contest to enter, so that makes the awards extra special."

The awards were given out at the NETPA convention held this past weekend in Tyler.

The annual newspaper convention drew entries from across the northeast Texas region, including 30-35 newspapers in the weekly division.

Competition is broken down by publication (dailies, semiweeklies and weeklies) and also by circulation.

Members of the Tri County Leader staff are Smith, editor; Suzanne Loudamy, reporter; Jessica Matlock, account representative; and Kyla Weis, graphic design.

The Tri County Leader is a member of the Bluebonnet Publishing Co. Bill Woodall is the publisher.