The Cullman Times has been recognized for excellence in journalism by the Alabama Press Association. The Times staff was awarded first place for General Excellence June 29, at the 2024 Better Media Awards banquet.
“It takes an entire team to produce a daily newspaper, but it takes an excellent team to produce a daily newspaper of excellence — and that’s what we have at The Cullman Times,” said Tom Mayer, GM and editor of the paper. “From the news that comes in the front door and is handled by our front-end staff of Debbie Miller and Amanda Tolbert, to the newsroom, printing, and out the back door to our readers directed by our circulation director Kim Keller, every step of the process is handled by our local experts, many of who grew up in Cullman County and have been serving readers by working for The Cullman Times for decades. I couldn’t be more proud of everyone on our team.”
The Cullman Times parent company, Carpenter Media Group — a newspaper business with its roots in Alabama — also expressed pride for the work and results of the paper.
”We understand how important local news is for readers and supporting local communities,” said Rebecca Alexander, CMG vice president and group publisher. “That The Cullman Times was recognized as serving readers better than any other newspaper in the state for its size speaks loudly to how that mission is being carried out in North Alabama.”
In the individual categories, Times investigative reporter Patrick Camp netted several awards including a first place nod in the FOI-First Amendment Award category for “Dodge City corrects action taken in executive sessions.” In the Best In-Depth News Coverage category, Camp claimed first place for “Librarian: Efforts to ban books from Cullman library on the rise” and third place for “Cullman County lawsuit could have national impact.” Camp was also recognized with a third place in the Best Public Service category for “Co-op seeing 2 month wait times for new connections.”
The Times swept the Best Business Story or Column and Best Feature photo categories with Camp earning first and third place for “Co-op seeing 2 month wait times for new connections” and “Flourish of Cullman pairs area businesses with individuals with ‘differing abilities,’” respectively, while reporter Benjamin Bullard took second place with “Why is the price of eggs so high?” and News Editor/Photographer Amanda Shavers earning first, second and third place in the photography category with “Hold on,” “The write stuff” and “Duck pond” respectively.
Sports Editor Jake Winfrey was recognized with first place wins for Best Sports Coverage, Best Sports News In-Depth Coverage for “Blast From The Past: Reliving the Cold Springs’ 1998-99 state championship run,” Best Sports Feature Story for “Seeing Double: Final stretch in focus for hoops-savvy Tetro twins,” Best Local Sports Column for “TALKIN’ PREP BASKETBALL: New rules spark debate among local coaches” Best Sports Photo for “Home plate collision.”
The Times advertising staff earned a second place in the Advertising Sweepstakes category and first place wins for Heather Casillas and staff for Best Use of Humor for the “C&E Fence” ad, Best Signature Page fro “12 Reasons to Shop Local” and Best Niche Publication for “Class of 2023.” The Times earned a second place for Best Classified Page or Section by Debbie Miller and Amanda Tolbert.
Other awards include:
First place
— Best Editorial Page or Section by Tom Mayer, Amanda Shavers.
— Best Local Education Coverage by Patrick Camp.
— Best Feature Story for “Future of Wallace State library in question” by Patrick Camp.
— Best News Photo for “Going where the weld’s at” by Amanda Shavers.
— Best Sports Photo for “Home plate collision” by Jake Winfrey.
— Best Headline for “Heaviest Tomato? You got that ripe.” by Amanda Shavers.
Second place
— Best Local Economic Coverage by Patrick Camp, Benjamin Bullard.
— Best Local News Coverage Patrick Camp, Benjamin Bullard.
— Best Spot News Story for “CCSO: Deputy, dispatcher dead in apparent murder-suicide” by Patrick Camp.
— Best Feature Story for “Cookie brothers” by Benjamin Bullard.
— Best News Feature Story for “Pastors discuss reasons behind leaving, remaining with UMC” by Patrick Camp.
— Best Editorial for “Additional tax fuels the pain on medication. That’s morally wrong.” by Amanda Shavers.
— Best Headline for “The Write Stuff” by Amanda Shavers.
— Best Original/Creative Idea for “Alabama/Auburn Football Schedule” by Heather Casillas, staff.
— Best One Time Special Section for “Bloomin’ Festival 2023” by Heather Casillas, staff.
Third place
— Best Newspaper Website: 3rd Place for cullmantimes.com.
— Best News Feature Story Coverage for “Early release inmates returning to Cullman” by Patrick Camp.
— Best Editorial for “Government transparency now under local attack” by Tom Mayer.
— Best Spot News Photo for “Severe weather downs tree” by Amanda Shavers.
— Best Sports Photo for “Hangtime” by Jake Winfrey.
— Best Presentation of Online Advertising.
— Best Classified Display Ad “Medical Directory” by Heather Casillas, staff.