[UPDATED] The Charleston City Paper won 35 awards Friday in the S.C. Press Association’s annual contest of news excellence. The awards included 15 first-place prizes as well as being named the state’s top large weekly newspaper. The newspaper’s editorial board also received the coveted weekly newspaper award for assertive journalism for its coverage of redevelopment of Union Pier in downtown Charleston.
“What’s remarkable is the number of people on our team — 15 different writers and freelancers — recognized for excellence in this year’s contest,” said editor and publisher Andy Brack. “This broad base of news professionals reflects our focus on providing outstanding community coverage on issues of public importance. We’re thankful to serve the Charleston area and proud to be recognized for how well we do our job.”
Also notable among the newspaper’s winning entries were its first place for its special section that welcomed the International African American Museum to Charleston and its first place in community service for detailed reporting on gun violence. The newspaper also won first places in election and political coverage, beat reporting and arts reporting. Art director Scott Suchy won two first place design awards. The newspaper also won top editorial honors for its support of open government, while cartoonist Robert Ariail took home the gold for his “Lowcountry” cartoons. Photographer Ruta Smith captured two first places, while Ashley Stanol won first for a Halloween photo series.
Top awards
- President’s Cup for Excellence for weeklies of 6,500+ circulation. This award reflects the City Paper as the most award-winning large weekly in South Carolina for its 2023 work.
- Jay Bender Award for Assertive Journalism, which was presented to the City Paper’s editorial board for 2023. Bender is the S.C. Press Association’s longtime attorney.
- Best of the Best to Art Director Scott Suchy for his 2023 feature page designs for all newspapers in the state.
First place
- Community Service: A month of shootings | Andy Brack
- News Section or Special Edition: Journeys: Welcoming the IAAM | City Paper Staff
- Election and Political Coverage | Skyler Baldwin and Andy Brack
- Beat reporting: Charter school’s downward spiral | Chelsea Grinstead
- Arts and Entertainment Writing: Charleston’s off-the-path museums | Chloe Hogan
- Obituary: Celebration of Reynolds’ life | Andy Brack
- Personality Photo: Adrian Lopez Rivera | Ruta Smith
- Photo Series: Fright life | Ashley Stanol
- Humorous Photo: Ma’am Saab | Ruta Smith
- Editorial Cartoon: Robert Ariail
- Editorial Supporting FOI/Open Government: Police still violating law | Editorial board
- Page One Design: Stink at recycling | Scott Suchy
- Feature Page Design: Queendom | Scott Suchy
- Website: Samantha Connors
- Use of Social Media: Samantha Connors, Hillary Reaves
Second place
- Enterprise Reporting | Lily Levin
- Lifestyle Feature Writing | Helen Mitternight
- Profile Feature Writing or Story | Alex Nettles
- Growth and Development Beat Reporting | Skyler Baldwin
- Column writing | Andy Brack
- Inside Page Design | Scott Suchy
- Informational Graphic | Christina Bailey
Third place
- Community Service | Andy Brack
- Reporting In Depth | Andy Brack
- Lifestyle Feature Writing | Chelsea Grinstead
- Short Story | Andy Brack
- Sports Section or Magazine | Staff
- Editorial Cartoon | Steve Stegelin
- Editorial Writing | Editorial board
- Informational graphic | Scott Suchy
- Mixed Media Illustration | Scott Suchy
- News Video | Staff
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