The Oglethorpe Echo is second in General Excellence, wins 14 GPA awards

Staff from The Oglethorpe Echo hold their awards from the Georgia Press Association Awards.

Members of The Oglethorpe Echo staff show several of the awards the paper won at the Georgia Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. Eric NeSmith (ABJ '02), president of the Georgia Press Association (from left) is pictured with Trisha Bearden, The Echo business manager; Andy Johnston, editor; Lourdes Boyd, marketing manager; and Dink NeSmith (ABJ '70), chairman of The Oglethorpe Echo Legacy Inc. (Photo/The Oglethorpe Echo)

The Oglethorpe Echo is second in General Excellence, wins 14 GPA awards

June 25, 2025

The Oglethorpe Echo was second in General Excellence, the top category in the Georgia Press Association’s (GPA) annual Better Newspaper Contest.

General Excellence was one of a record 14 section and individual awards won by The Echo in its circulation class at the GPA’s annual convention on June 20 on Jekyll Island.

This was the first year The Echo was a finalist for General Excellence during its partnership with the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, which started in October of 2021.

“This is a tremendous honor and a testament to the drive, hard work and incredible teamwork of the students and staff of The Oglethorpe Echo,” Andy Johnston editor of The Oglethrope Echo, and editor-in-residence at Grady College, said. “The paper owes a huge thanks to the people of Oglethorpe County, who have embraced The Echo and have supported it during this journey.”

Andy Johnston holds up the general excellence plaque from the Georgia Press Association. — Andy Johnston, editor of The Oglethorpe Echo, shows the plaque the paper received for placing second in the Georgia Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest’s General Excellence category for 2024. (Photo/Trisha Bearden, The Oglethorpe Echo)

The Dahlonega Nugget was first in General Excellence and The Oconee Enterprise was third. Those papers and The Echo compete in Division D, which includes weeklies with circulation between 2,000-3,799.

In total, The Echo was first in four categories (Enterprise Story, Breaking News Writing, Feature Writing and Headline Writing), second in five categories (Business Writing, Lifestyle Coverage, Headline Writing, Special Sections for the 2024 OCHS Football Preview and Newspaper Website) and third in four categories (Feature Photograph, Feature Writing, Sports Feature Story and Enterprise Story).

The awards were for stories and photos published in 2024.

“Since the launch of the new era of The Oglethorpe Echo in 2021, more than 170 UGA student journalists have gained newspaper experience,” said Dink NeSmith (ABJ ’70), chairman of The Oglethorpe Echo Legacy Inc. “I am proud of them, but these awards also belong to the community. Without Oglethorpe County’s support, none of this would be possible.”

The Echo won nine GPA awards in each of the previous two years (2022 and ’23), giving it a total of 32 GPA awards in three full years of its partnership with Grady College.

“This shows that Grady College is educating, training and producing amazing journalists,” Johnston said. “These Grady College students are competing against professional journalists from all over the state, many who have years of experience covering their counties and communities. I’m thankful to be a part of this unique and incredible partnership.”

Following is a list of awards and reporters involved.