VDT places 3rd in state press association’s awards

Published 2:31 pm Sunday, June 22, 2025

VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Daily Times accumulated several awards at the Georgia Press Association annual banquet over the weekend.

The VDT tied with The Albany Herald for third place in the General Excellence category among similar-sized newspapers. The top award in the contest, General Excellence is determined by a point system based on the number of other awards the newspapers received in both the editorial and advertising contests. First place in the division went to the Rome News-Tribune and second place to the Athens Banner-Herald.

All awards are based on work that published in 2024. Newspaper writing categories required three samples to make an entry, but magazine writing and all photography categories were based on a single work.

All of the Daily Times’ awards were in the editorial contest:

— Feature writing, 1st place, Dean Poling.

— Education writing, 2nd place, Caison Kirkland.

— Sports column, 2nd place, Becky Taylor.

— Magazine Human Interest Story, 2nd place, Caison Kirkland, “The life of a coach’s wife.”

— Spot News Photograph, 3rd place, Terry Richards, a photo of damage from the Feb. 4 tornado, published Feb. 7, 2024.

— Enterprise Story, 3rd place, Terry Richards.

— Magazine Commentary, 3rd place, Caison Kirkland, “My must-do’s at Wild Adventures.”

— Magazine Cover Design, 3rd place. The cover of the October 2024 Valdosta Scene was designed by Derek Schaper with a photo by Lisa Watson.