The News Observer has been named the Best of Community Newspapers, Inc. (CNI) and also honored for having the Best Overall Design.
The awards were announced recently when CNI’s owners and other company leaders met with publishers from all the company’s 27 newspapers for their annual conference.
The local newspaper, serving Fannin County and the Copper Basin for 48 years, received the Best of CNI honor in competition with the company’s largest newspapers, including two daily newspapers, several that publish more than once a week, and the largest weekly newspapers among the 27.
This award takes into account the entire newspaper operation including finances, circulation, and overall performance as well as other CNI awards and press association honors.
“This is a tremendous honor for the entire staff,” The News Observer Publisher Glenn Harbison said. “CNI is filled with some of the best newspapers across Georgia, North Carolina and Florida. The honor says everyone here has worked diligently to become the best of the best.”
The News Observer was also named the winner in the Best Overall Design competition. This award was based on graphics, layout, organization and the overall appearance of the newspaper.
Judges for the category were a group of publishers from Moser Community Media, a newspaper management company with 32 newspapers spread across Texas.
Of The News Observer, they wrote, “Clean design throughout, even the house ads and classified sections. You do a good job of getting people in the paper with photos. Love how you seem to have interaction on your opinion pages.”
“These awards are both extremely important and humbling for everyone at The News Observer. They reflect our success as we strive to produce the best newspaper anywhere for our readers, advertisers and the entire community. And it’s support and encouragement from each of you that drives out success,” Harbison said.
Two awards are presented in each of four categories in CNI’s annual competition and the President’s Award is given to a single newspaper.
Runner up Best of CNI competition among the largest newspapers, which were classified in Division A, went to the Franklin Press in Franklin, North Carolina.
Runner Up in Best Overall Design went to the Crossroads Chronicle in Cashiers, North Carolina.
Other winners in the various categories were the Cherokee Scout in Murpghy, North Carolina; The News-Leader in Fernandina Beach, Florida; The Hartwell Sun in Hartwell, Georgia; the Dahlonega Nugget in Dahlonega, Georgia; The Tribune & Georgian in Camden County, Georgia; and the Palatka Daily News in Palatka, Florida.