Alan Brown, president and publisher of “The Madison Record,” receives a plaque from Dee Ann Campbell, chairwoman of the Better Newspaper Contest committee, at the annual Alabama Press Association convention on June 18. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – “The Madison Record” earned 11 awards at the 2016 Alabama Press Association Convention.

Alan Brown, President and Publisher of “The Madison Record,” accepted the honors in the press association’s Better Newspaper Contest during the convention at Hilton Golf & Beach Resort in Destin, Fla. on June 18.

For the contest, 110 newspapers submitted 2,775 entries, judged by the Louisiana Press Association. Dee Ann Campbell, chairman of the APA Better Newspaper Contest Committee, presented the awards.

The contest categories were General Excellence, Best Public Service, Freedom of Information, Most Improved, Best Presswork, Best Newspaper Website, Categories 1- 8, Photo of the Year and Story of the Year.

In the “General Excellence” category, “The Madison Record” earned second place. General Excellence awards are based on total points earned from five areas: issues submitted for the General Excellence category, along with awards in eight general categories, Public Service and Freedom of Information categories, single-event categories and advertising.

The article, “Governance Committee Wraps Study,” by Gregg L. Parker and Nick Sellers won second place In the “Freedom of Information (FOI) – First Amendment” Award designation. “The Madison Record” published a series about Madison Governance Committee 2025’s analysis of Madison’s government structure, specifically to evaluate configurations for mayor-council; mayor/city administrator-council; and city manager-mayor-council.

“The Madison Record” received numerous other APA awards:

* “Best Production and Printing” — Third place.
* “Best Newspaper Website” — First place for www.themadisonrecord.com.
* “Category 1 — Best Editorial Page or Section” – Third place.
* “Category 2 — Best Lifestyle/Family Pages” – First place.
* “Category 5 – Best Local Education Coverage” — First place, Gregg Parker.
* “Category 14 – Best Editorial” — Third place, “Lifting up our law enforcement,” Alan Brown.
* “Category 19 – Best Sports Single Event Story” — Third place, “Mustangs take title,” Nick Sellers.
* “Category 30 – Best Niche Publication” — First place, “Madison Living” magazine, December 2015 issue by staff.
* “Category 33 – Best Use of Social Media” — Second place, staff.