The Hamilton Post won four awards in the Association of Free Community Papers’ 2015 Best of the Best competition, including three first prizes.
The AFCP announced the results April 10 at its annual conference in Savannah, Georgia. There were more than 1,250 entries from publishing companies across North America.
The Post took first place in the feature category for “One in a million,” which followed the Waller family as they responded to the death of their 4-year-old son, Eli, from Enterovirus D68. The Post won second place in the feature category for “I don’t want him to die in vain,” the story of Paul Ressler, who became an advocate for the opioid antagonist Narcan after his son died from a drug overdose. A companion story to the Ressler piece detailing the introduction of Narcan to Mercer County won first place in the news category. The Post also earned first-place honors in the entertainment column category for “What to do if a Dutch man wants your ‘Breaking Bad’ shirt.”
Hamilton Post editor Rob Anthes wrote all four stories.
The Post has won awards in six of the last seven years, gaining recognition for its editorial content, advertising design and excellence as a publication as a whole. Last year, the AFCP honored the Hamilton Post as one of five winners in the general excellence category, its highest honor; the Post earned an honorable mention. The Hamilton Post took second place in the general excellence category in 2011, and won second place in the outstanding publication category in 2009.
This was the third time the AFCP has recognized Anthes. In 2010, he won first prize in the column writing category and second place in the opinion writing category, both awards for commentaries Anthes wrote for the Hamilton Post. In 2011, Anthes won both first and second place in the sportswriting category, for pieces in the Robbinsville Advance and Hamilton Post, respectively.
For more information about the AFCP, go online to afcp.org.
