Herald-Leader wins first place in Kentucky Press Association awards contest

The Lexington Herald-Leader won First Place, General Excellence in the large-newspaper division of the Kentucky Press Association's annual Excellence in Kentucky Newspapers contest.

The awards were announced Friday night.

Several Herald-Leader journalists won individual awards during the competition, including first-place awards for Best Editorial, Best Breaking News Coverage, Best General News Story, Best Column, Best Enterprise or Analytical Story, Best Use of Multi/Social Media, Best Breaking News Picture, Best Feature Picture, Best Picture Essay (Breaking, General or Feature), Best Sports Picture, Best Sports Picture Essay, Best Sports Page/Section, Best Sports Special Section and Best Lifestyle Page.

First Place General Excellence winners in other newspaper size classes were the Todd County Standard, The Springfield Sun, The Jessamine Journal, The Kentucky Standard, Glasgow Daily Times, Bowling Green Daily News, Fort Campbell Courier and the College Heights Herald.

Rick Welch, publisher of the Madisonville Messenger, was elected 2015 president of the Kentucky Press Association during the group's annual convention in Louisville. Welch took over as president on Friday, succeeding Scott Schurz Jr. of Schurz Communications.

KPA is the nation's 10th-oldest state press association and celebrates its 146th year in 2015. KPA represents nearly 175 newspapers throughout the commonwealth.

This story was originally published January 23, 2015 at 10:47 PM with the headline "Herald-Leader wins first place in Kentucky Press Association awards contest."