Newspaper wins 26 S.C. Press Association awards: Alexandra Whitbeck named S.C. Weekly Journalist of the Year

The People-Sentinel brought home 26 awards from the S.C. Press Association, including General Excellence and Journalist of the Year.

The newspaper earned first place General Excellence in its circulation division.

“The People-Sentinel does a fantastic job of keeping its readers informed of news events, sports and upcoming activities. The ads you have are well-designed and attractive. The People-Sentinel reminds readers why newspapers continue to play an important part of their daily lives. Keep it up,” stated the judge.

The judge highlighted the newspaper’s “clean presentation.” This included a “well-designed and attractive” front cover, “well-written” stories, attention-grabbing headlines, “good artwork”, variety of viewpoints on the Opinion page, “robust” sports pages, and the Community Calendar page.

“This award means a lot because it looks at the paper as a whole! This is a very competitive award! It’s all due to our great team,” said Publisher Jonathan Vickery.

“This is the second consecutive year The People-Sentinel has been awarded the General Excellence award out of all weekly newspapers in the state, which I truly think speaks to how much energy and love is put into each week’s edition by every member of our staff. We take pride in making sure our community has the trusted news source they deserve,” said reporter Alexandra Whitbeck.

Journalist of the Year

For the first time ever, a reporter from The People-Sentinel won Journalist of the Year.

Whitbeck, who joined the team in May 2022, won the 2023 Weekly Journalist of the Year award out of all weekly newspapers in South Carolina.

“This year’s honoree exemplifies local, local, local. She covers her community from top to bottom with human interest and coverage of important local issues that matter to her community,” said Taylor Smith, SCPA attorney.

Though Whitbeck knew she was receiving awards, this award was kept a surprise. She said she is “grateful” to receive the prestigious Journalist of the Year award, which is one of the most “memorable and meaningful moments” in her career so far.

“Receiving this award was a total shock, and I am eternally thankful our publisher/owner Jonathan Vickery thought highly enough of my reporting to nominate me and secretly coordinate to make sure my parents were here from New York! I am excited to continue working to ensure Barnwell County is informed with hyperlocal, unbiased reporting,” said Whitbeck.

Vickery nominated Whitbeck for the award due to her strong work ethic, quality journalism, and for the many hats she wears, including reporter, photographer, video editor, and managing website advertising.

“Alexandra covers a variety of topics for our newspaper. Whether covering a 100-year-old’s birthday, talking to loved ones of someone who died, or writing about local government, she handles each assignment with professionalism, respect, and tenacity. Her stories are factual and unbiased. I have to make very few edits,” said Vickery in his nomination letter.

Originally from rural upstate New York, Whitbeck didn’t know anyone in Barnwell County when she moved here. However, she has quickly worked to build relationships and contacts that are vital to a journalist.

“She is friendly with everyone, but she doesn’t let relationships get in the way of her reporting. She has also gotten plugged into the community by volunteering on animal advocacy boards since animals are important to her,” said Vickery.

Whitbeck said “this award has further cemented that I landed in the place I am meant to be, working with and for this community.”

Writing Awards

Members of The People-Sentinel’s team took home awards for writing and reporting.

Whitbeck won third place for Investigative Reporting for ongoing issues with the Red Oak Volunteer Fire Department. She also won first and third places in the Beat Reporting category for cops and court related stories.

“This read like a beat report; concise, succinct, and informative. It referenced laws/orders and then also broke down the info into laymen’s terms and explained what they were and why they applied. Very well done!” said the judge of Whitbeck’s first-place Beat Reporting entry.

“This is the second time I have had the honor of attending the S.C. Press Association Annual Awards Banquet, and I truly thought nothing could top the awards we received last year,” said Whitbeck.

For Breaking News Reporting, Whitbeck and Vickery jointly won a first-place award for their coverage of the August 2023 fire at Hagood Avenue Baptist Church.

“Incredible reporting and updating community with posts and photos. Highlights the voices of the pastor and firefighters as well as the community members who have been affected,” said the judge.

“We are here for our community in the good times and bad times. The tragic fire at Hagood was both in that we saw our community come together, as they often do, to help a hurting congregation and staff after the loss of their church home. It’s our job to provide information but it’s also our job to provide comfort,” said Vickery.

Vickery also won first place for News Feature Writing for a story on an Aiken man who pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the death of a Barnwell teen following a traffic collision.

“The writer did a great job of objectively sharing the stories of both families in this tragic case,” said the judge.

He also won first place in the Obituary category for a story on Alma Battle.

“Beautifully written. Quotes are well chosen and paint a picture of the woman Battle was,” said the judge.

Another first place award was in the Reporting-In-Depth category for a story on how a discussion over redistricting got “heated” at Barnwell City County.

“Gives a voice to all. Does not sugar coat the information. This article does a great job of informing the public on the actions and words of those in charge,” said the judge.

Other awards include third place for Lifestyle Feature Writing, third place for Short Story, third place for Breaking News Reporting, third place for Business Beat Reporting, and third place for News Headline Writing. He and Whitbeck won third place for Feature Headline Writing.

Reporter Elijah de Castro, who is a Report for America corps member, joined the newspaper in July 2023. He won three awards, including first place for Series of Articles on how wild deer and pigs are affecting rural farmers.

“I feel this is an important article which deals with serious problems to those who produce the food that feeds us and the crops that provide us with necessities. It was very well written and explained. A top-notch entry done well,” wrote the judge.

Other awards de Castro won were third place Enterprise Reporting for a story on the public housing crisis affecting rural Allendale and second place Reporting-In-Depth for a story on the decline of the number of Allendale grocery stores.

“It feels great to win these awards, but reporting on some of the most painful issues that Allendale and other rural communities face would not be possible without the dozens of community members who trusted me with their stories. These awards are just as much Allendale's to celebrate as they are mine. In 2024, I want to see our team continue deepening its trust with the community so we can elevate everybody and create a shared reality for the community; something we proved ourselves capable of in 2023,” said de Castro.

Faith correspondent Donna-Maria Conzalina won third place for Faith Reporting for three stories – one on a new pastor, one on a YMCA prayer group, and the other being a spiritual column about her personal testimony.

“Faith has always been the center of my life and being given the opportunity to help bring a bit of good news to our readers through The People-Sentinel is one of my greatest blessings. The fact that publisher Jonathan Vickery supported me with prayers, patience and encouragement this past year as I struggled to write again after unexpectedly losing my sweetheart; and then he nominated that comeback column in dedication to Glenn, which won an award along with two other special stories about people in this township, well, I'm simply beyond honored to be part of this winning team. There's no doubt God's smiling on Jonathan as he works so dedicatedly hard leading us. And with a team like that, all of our community wins!” said Conzalina.

Photo, Video & Design Awards

The People-Sentinel team also won awards for photos and videos.

Vickery won second place in the Spot News Photo category for a photo of the Hagood Avenue Baptist Church congregation praying as their church building burned in the background.

Whitbeck won three individual photography awards, including first place Humorous Photo for a photo of a Blackville-Hilda graduate dancing,

“The expression, the action/pose, the context – it’s highly satisfying. The cutline says he’s dancing across stage, but he looks like he’s just seen a mouse, which makes it more amusing. I would absolutely read whatever came with that photograph,” said the judge.

Whitbeck’s other awards were second place in Personality Photograph for a graduation photo at Williston-Elko High and third place Feature Photo for a photo of veteran Natasha Sept being hugged by students at a Veterans Day celebration.

Donna Miley, a contributing sports photographer, won first place for Sports Feature Photo for a photo of a Barnwell player helping a fallen opponent up.

“Good kids and good sportsmanship caught on camera is so precious,” said the judge.

Miley said she “felt so blessed to be a part of this group. Sitting in the awards ceremony today, with so much talent all around me, I felt so very honored to have one of my sports images chosen for an award.”

In the News Video category, Whitbeck won second place for a video she produced on the Hagood church fire.

Vickery also won a third-place award for Page One Design.

“I am very proud of our dedicated team. Though we don’t do what we do in order to win awards, it’s certainly nice to be recognized because it validates our work,” said Vickery.

He thanks everyone who supports the newspaper, including those who read, subscribe, and advertise.

If you want to subscribe or advertise, or just have news tips or ideas, please call (803) 259-3501 or email jvickery@thepeoplesentinel.com.