Published: June 23, 2007 11:33 pm      

Merritt lands top award for sports photo

BILOXI — Veteran Meridian Star photographer Paula Merritt took home a first place award at Saturday’s Mississippi Press Association annual Better Newspaper Contest.

Merritt was recognized with a first place award in the sports action category for a photograph she took of a golfer hitting the ball out of the water. She beat out photographers from Mississippi’s largest newspapers — including the Clarion-Ledger and Sun Herald — in the Daily Division A competition.

This was the first time the Star competed in Daily Division A since 2001.

“We wanted to compete against the best,” said Meridian Star Executive Editor Fredie Carmichael. “We were on the borderline of divisions with our circulation and we opted to compete against the largest in the state.

“That makes this honor all the more special for Paula. She’s an outstanding photographer. We are extremely honored and proud of her.”

The Clarion-Ledger won the Mississippi Press Association’s general excellence award for the largest circulation daily newspapers in the state.

The Vicksburg Post and Greenwood Commonwealth won general excellence awards in their circulation categories.

The awards for the MPA’s annual Better Newspaper Contest were presented during the group’s convention in Biloxi.

Tim Kalich, editor of the Greenwood Commonwealth, won the J. Oliver Emmerich Editorial Excellence Award.

The Daniel M. Phillips Freedom of Information Award went to Waid Prather of The Carthaginian.

The Best Editorial Cartoon award was presented to Tim Lockley of The Sun Herald.

The Aimee Herschovici Photo of the Year award went to Bruce Newman of the Oxford Eagle.

The Bill Minor prize for Best Investigative Reporting went to Robin Fitzgerald of The Sun Herald.

The Bill Minor Prize for General News Reporting went to Rachel Leifer of the Hattiesburg American.