St. Louis American wins top General Excellence awards from both state and national press orgs | Awards.bac

For the first time in its 94- year history, The St. Louis American received first place honors for General Excellence from the National Newspaper Association, an industry association comprised of more than 1,600 member newspapers nationwide. At the same time, The American won the first place General Excellence award for large weekly newspapers in the state of Missouri, by the Missouri Press Association.

Both awards were part of recent Better Newspaper Contests, where The American won more than two dozen total awards.

State-wide awards:

The St. Louis American won 15 industry awards which were handed out last weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks at the Missouri Press Association annual convention. Five of the awards were first place awards, including: General Excellence, Best Online Newspaper, Community Service, Multi-Media Reporting and Best Video.

Referencing the General Excellence category, one of the judges stated “This is the best-looking weekly newspaper I’ve seen in a long time. The coverage is interesting and there’s a good variety of content, ranging from national entertainment news to super-local stories. Great job, great paper!” This marks the 9th time The American has won first place in General Excellence from the Missouri Press Association, including the last two years in a row.

Judges had a lot to say about stlamerican.com, which won for Best Online Newspaper. They stated “Very impressed with the extensive depth and breadth of this website, which is an outstanding example of Black/African-American journalism that shines through important hyper-local coverage of issues critical to this community. The local news drop down menu with the Black History feature was very cool; and the jam-packed opinion section featured a range of diverse opinions and Black voices expressing their views. The four-story carousel had a nice mix of news, with people piece, sports and important diversity and equity articles. Then you slide down a tad bit to get a dedicated COVID-19 section – critical to the Black community across the nation which has been ravaged by the pandemic at higher rates than other racial populations.”

The first place Community Service award was for The St. Louis American’s annual Salute to Excellence in Education Gala and program. In the Multi-Media Reporting category, The American won first place for its extensive print and digital coverage (including video) of Mayor Tishaura Jones becoming the first African-American female mayor in the history of St. Louis. The first place Best Video award was for The American’s coverage of Dr. Jerome Williams, Jr. being named recipient of the Lifetime Achiever in Health Care Award from the St. Louis American Foundation.

Other Missouri Press Association awards garnered by The St. Louis American include: Best Overall Design, Best Newspaper in Education Project, Best Coverage of Government, Best Military Story, Best Story About History, Best Feature Photograph and Best Sports Photograph.

National awards:

The St. Louis American was the recent recipient of nine awards from the National Newspaper Association, including five first place awards.  Again, this marks the first time The American received NNA’s first place award for General Excellence. The St. Louis American’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion special edition again won first place for Best Multiple Advertiser Section. The American also won first place awards for Best Breaking News Story; Best Education/Literacy Story; and Best Sports Feature Story or Series.

Other awards include: Best Investigative or In-Depth Story or Series; Best Newspaper In Education Program – Partnerships; Best Reporting on Local Government; and Community Service Award.

“We are thrilled about and appreciative of these accolades, judged by objective industry professionals, and we certainly don’t take them for granted,” said Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American. “We are mission driven. It is a team effort at The American, where every one of our associates deserves recognition, as we seek to serve our community,” in a meaningful way.