by Robin Kemp

Clayton and Henry County journalists scored several awards in the 2020 Georgia Press Association contest.

This year’s awards banquet, which usually is held on Jekyll Island, was cancelled due to COVID-19. The GPA released PowerPoint slides of the winners in each category July 2.

Clayton Crescent founder Robin Kemp, formerly of the Clayton News and the Henry Herald, won in the following categories:

  • Weekly Division Photo Portfolio: 2nd Place
  • Division F Enterprise Story: 2nd Place
  • Breaking News Writing: 3rd Place

Heather Middleton of the Clayton News won 3rd place for Best Photo Gallery on a Newspaper Website.

Joe Adgie of the Henry Herald took first place for Best Web Photo in the Weekly Division for his shot of a car flipping over at Road Atlanta.

“That was from the support race the day before the main event,” Adgie said. “The 33 car was turned into the wall on the driver’s left. He slid into the sand pit in front of me and nearly flipped over. I looked up to see the 33 car hammer the wall and I just started shooting because I wasn’t sure if I’d have to run away if that car kept coming my way.”

The Clayton News also won 3rd place in Division F Headline Writing.

The Valdosta Daily Times (editor Jim Zachary and publisher Jeff Masters) won the prestigious Freedom of Information Award.

To see the full list of winners from around the state in 2020 and previous years, visit http://gapress.org/contests-2/

Robin Kemp is executive editor and CEO of The Clayton Crescent, which she founded in 2020. She has worked for Gambit, CNN, The Weather Channel, Clayton News, Henry Herald, and numerous freelance outlets....