The Daily News of Bogalusa wins awards!

Daily News (Bogalusa, La.) staffers were all smiles on Saturday, April 25 after the newspaper was named Louisiana Newspaper of the Year at the 129th annual meeting of the Louisiana Press Association. Pictured (from left) former editor and publisher John H. Walker, special projects editor Marcelle Hanemann, graphics designer Kim Gerald, advertising sales supervisor Carol Case, lifestyle editor Bob Ann (Barbara) Breland, sports editor Jan Gibson and managing editor Jacob Brooks.

The Daily News of Bogalusa swept the competition at the 129th annual meeting of the Louisiana Press Association on April 25, being named Newspaper of the Year for work done in 2008.

The Daily News was awarded 12 first places, 11 seconds, 11 thirds and one honorable mention en route to being named as the recipient of both the Editorial Excellence and Advertising Excellence awards, and then being named Newspaper of the Year. The Daily News also earned a second in LPA’s online competition for its website, www.gobogalusa.com.

It was the second year in a row for Kim Gerald to win the Advertising General Excellence Award for her work as a graphics designer.

“I think the awards were the result of a small group of people believing they could make a positive impact on the communities they serve,” said former editor and publisher John H. Walker, who was transferred to a sister paper in LaPlace, La. on March 1.

“For more than three years, we worked to get everyone to develop the mindset of doing the right thing for the right reason and, fortunately for us, the judges agreed. We followed the belief of former editor and publisher (and current Wick board member) Lou Major, Sr. in that we worked to be “the newspaper that cares about the people.”

Sister papers The St. Tammany News and LaPlace L’Observateur were also recognized at the awards luncheon, with STN earning seven first place awards and 24 total awards and L’Observateur earning one first place and five total awards.