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A History of Excellence

The Laclede County Record wins General Excellence two years in a row

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The Laclede County Record won First Place General Excellence in its class for the second year in a row at the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.

In the Lebanon Publishing Company’s long history, this is the first time that the company has won the award twice in a row and only the second time it has placed first in the top category for its class.

“While the General Excellence award is primarily a news department honor, it cannot be won without every department contributing. If page design, ad design, classified pages are not outstanding you will not win,” said Laclede County Record Publisher Beth Chism. “ I told our team three years ago when I returned to the Record that I wanted to win General Excellence just once before I retired.  Winning General Excellence two years in a row seems unreal and I am confident our young team is making excellence a habit.”

Previously, the Lebanon Daily Record, the predecessor of the Laclede County Record, was awarded Second Place General Excellence in 2001 and Honorable Mention General Excellence in 2000.

Each year newspapers around the state who are members of the Missouri Press Association compete against each other at the Better Newspaper Contest. Newspapers are pitted against others based on circulation. The Laclede County Record competes in the Class 2 Weeklies category against newspapers like The Maryville Forum, Christian County Headliner and Houston Herald.

The entires are judged by fellow journalists in other states. The judge of the General Excellence category called the Laclede County Record “the clear-cut winner” in the category.

“I was just blown away by the depth and variety of coverage in this newspaper,” the anonymous judge wrote.

The Record took home 14 more awards from the contest, including first place wins for Best Overall Design (Fines Massey and Shawna Bradley), Best Front Page (Fines Massey and Shawna Bradley) and Best Headline Writing (Fines Massey). In the design category, the judge said the paper’s design was “really unique.”

“If I was a subscriber, I’d definitely look forward to seeing this paper every week,” the judge wrote.

LCR also won second place in Best News Photograph (Chris Roden), Best Military Story (Chris Roden), Best Page Design (Shawna Bradley) and Best Video (Chris Roden). It also won third place in Community Service (Breast Cancer Awareness Month), Best News or Feature Special Section (Remembering Old Town), Best Story About Education (Chris Roden) and Best Magazine (Trout Talk). Honorable mentions were awarded for Best Investigative Reporting (Chris Roden), Best Page Design (Shawna Bradley) and Best Video (Fines Massey).

The Laclede County Record also won 20 awards from the Missouri Press Advertising and Marketing Executives 2020 Best Ad Contest in the weeklies category.

“I’m so proud of our team and what all we have accomplished the past three years,” said Lebanon Publishing Company Advertising Director Jennifer Early.

The Record placed first in Best Ad Designer, Best Idea to Grow Revenue, Best Ad Smaller Than 1/4 Page, Best Special Section and Best Sponsored Content.

The LCR placed second in Best Ad Smaller Than 1/4 Page, Best Shared/Signature Page and Best Idea to Grow Revenue.

The newspaper placed third in Best Ad Series, Best Ad Smaller Than 1/4 Page, Best Single Classified Display Ad, Best Shared/Signature Page and Best Advertising Sales Tool.

The Record received honorable mention for Best Ad Smaller Than a Full Page, Best Ad Series, Best Single House Ad, Best Ad Smaller Than 1/4 Page, Best Special Section, Best Single Classified Display Ad and  Best Shared/Signature Page. 

Early added that the awards that she is most proud of in the MAMA contest are Best Ad Designer and the four Best Ad Smaller Than a 1/4 Page awards.

“If you look through the ads we won for Best Ad Smaller Than 1/4 Page, they are all small businesses, and  in Lebanon and Laclede County small business is our biggest business,” she said. “They are the ones who make things in our community work. I’m proud that we are part of that and are helping them by creating award winning ads for their goods and services.”

For the complete story, including a history of the newspaper, see the Weekend edition of the LCR.