Bee Group newspapers win eight awards

Bee Group Newspapers won eight awards in the 2007 Better Newspaper Contest sponsored by the New York Press Association. Results were announced last weekend in Albany.

The classified advertising section won first place in the state for the seventh time in the last 12 years. Judges commented on the good use of color throughout the section, which is included in all nine Bee Group Newspapers.

Classified's grouping of advertising testimonials won second place in the Best Newspaper Promotion category. Holly Smith is the Bee's classified advertising manager.

The Amherst Bee placed second in the General Excellence category, which rates all elements of the publication. Jessica Finch is the Amherst associate editor.

"It delivers a wide variety of news and certainly a lot of it," wrote the judges. "Coverage of high school sports is great. This paper is in touch with its community."

An advertisement for the Sea Bar restaurant won second place in the Small Space Advertising category. Karl Scheitheir is the production manager.

Managing Editor David Sherman's photograph of a house fire in Snyder won third place for The Amherst Bee in the Spot News Photo category.

The Lancaster Bee and Depew Bee won first place in the Best Editorials category. Editor Lisa Johnson's submissions addressed the topics of zero tolerance on threats made at schools, SAT preparation classes and dealing with rats in the community.

Johnson also won second place for her Spindle Items column.

"She does an excellent job incorporating the community into her articles. She displays a great storytelling ability in her column," the judges wrote.

Joe Eberle's photo of a high school soccer game won second place for The Clarence Bee in the Sports Action Photo category.

This year's contest had 3,455 entries from 170 community newspapers.