Saturday, May 18, 2024
The North and East Texas Press Association held its annual convention in Granbury April 25-27. An important part of the convention is the Better Newspaper Contest which bestows awards for excellence in various journalistic categories. More than 40 newspapers submitted entries for the competition, which is judged by independent out-of-state professional journalists.
Ashley Inge Terry, a reporter for the Hood County News, was named Journalist of the Year in a competition that encompassed all divisions. Ashley is a graduate of Jacksboro High School and Tarleton State University. She has been employed at the Hood County News for three years, having previously worked at the Glen Rose Reporter and Stephenville Empire-Tribune.
The Hood County News staff also won the following awards:
Layth Taylor won first place in Division 2 for Best Sports Photo.
Eden Duncan Gilbreath and Emily Nava won first place in Division 2 in the Best Feature Story category. Two stories — one written by Gilbreath and the other by Nava — combined in one entry to earn the win.
The Hood County News won first place in Division 2 for Headline Writing and for Advertising.
“It is thrilling to see our staff recognized for their outstanding work. Ashley winning Journalist of the Year is a strong testament to the quality of her work and the efforts she makes to be the best journalist possible. It is high praise to win such an award, especially when in competition with so many outstanding professionals,” HCN Publisher Sam Houston said. “Layth is a young photographer who has a very bright future before him. I always look forward to seeing the images which he captures. Eden and Emily should be very proud of this recognition and for their thoughtful and well written feature stories. We at the Hood County News are fortunate to have such a talented staff and it is one of the reasons we can produce such a quality community newspaper.”
