Arkansas Advocate earns first-place honors at state Press Association awards

The Arkansas Advocate won first-place awards in three categories at the state Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Editorial Contest on Saturday, with reporter Ainsley Platt honored for her Freedom of Information reporting.

The awards were announced at the association’s annual convention in Eureka Springs. 

Platt won the Meredith Oakley Freedom of Information Reporting Award for her story looking at the delays in fixes to a Department of Corrections wastewater plant. 

The award is named after Oakley, a longtime reporter and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and champion of the state’s FOI law.

Deputy Editor Antoinette Grajeda won first place in beat reporting for online media and magazines for her immigration coverage and first place in online media and magazines for education coverage. Grajeda also won second place in the feature story category for her profile of former state Senate Secretary Ann Cornwell.

The Advocate was awarded third place in best digital presence and audience engagement for online media and magazines, and second place in general excellence for online media and magazines. 

A judge in the digital presence category cited the Advocate’s “fantastic nonpartisan coverage with effort to engage audiences with content that matters to real people.”

There were 1,280 entries in this year’s contest, which was judged by members of the Missouri Press Association.

The Arkansas Press Association is the oldest professional organization in the state and was founded in 1873 to serve the newspapers of Arkansas. The association’s membership includes 102 newspapers in the state as well as 113 associate members. 

The Advocate, which launched in 2022, is a nonpartisan, independent newsroom covering Arkansas government and politics. It’s an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Advocate stories are available for free online and available at no cost for other news outlets to republish. The Advocate’s work is supported by grants and donations.