From staff reports –
The Southside Sentinel received two first place awards and three second place awards in the 2021 Virginia Press Association (VPA) News and Advertising Contest. Newspapers across Virginia annually submit their best work in the VPA’s contest and are then judged by another state press association. This year the Pennsylvania News Media Association judged the contest. Due to COVID-19 concerns, VPA announced the winners last week online, rather than at its traditional April in-person annual meeting and awards banquet.
The Sentinel’s special “Urbanna Oyster Festival goers celebrate” photo pages captured first place in the Picture Story or Essay category. “The lead photo captures a strong moment and there is a good mix of photos of different activities,” wrote a contest judge about the Sentinel’s entry. “The second photo of the mini NASCAR cars is well composed and fun to view.” Sentinel Editor Don Richeson and reporters Tom Chillemi and Larry Chowning all contributed photos to the entry and Richeson designed the pages.
The Sentinel also collected a first place advertising award for an ad created for the Saluda business River Country Pet Loss. “Eye catching and excellent use of space,” wrote a judge about the Sentinel entry. Sentinel Production Manager Joe Gaskins and Advertising Sales Manager Hannah Abbott created the ad.
The Sentinel second place wins included, in the Headline Writing category, three headlines, “RT. 629 CLOSE: A DAM MESS,” “Battery facility reps work to energize officials on proposal,” and “ ‘Ultimate Beatles Party Band’ Abbey Road: You’ll likely love them — yeah, yeah, yeah!” Editor Richeson wrote the headlines. “Good words for the headlines entered,” a judge commented.
Another Sentinel second place win was in the Lifestyles Ad category for a Friday’s Marine ad. Sentinel Production Manager Joe Gaskins and Advertising Sales Manager Hannah Abbott created the ad.
Also delivering the Sentinel a second place win, in the Special Section category, was its Windows on the Bay 2021 section, which it produced in conjunction with its sister newspaper, the Rappahannock Record. “Clean design and good use of white space, and the subtle pops of color were nice,” a judge wrote. “I liked the variety of text style and size. Nice, large photos.” Sentinel reporters Larry Chowning and Tom Chillemi contributed to the section. Special Supplement Coordinator and Graphic Designer Susan Simmons oversaw the layout.
The Sentinel competed in the VPA’s non-daily group two category, which includes more than 27 other newspapers in the 1,600 to 3,999 circulation range.
