02-07-2025
Daily Herald wins Best News Coverage for 4th year in a row
The Daily Herald won First Place in two categories at the 2024 Tennessee Press Association Awards June 28, including Best News Reporting and Best Breaking News Coverage.
This year marks the fourth year in a row the Herald has won Best News Reporting in the annual TPA Awards, judged by different journalism organizations each year.
Winning material in the two categories included the Herald's coverage of the May 8, 2024 tornado that ripped through eastern Columbia. The Herald also grabbed first place for Best Breaking News Coverage of the tornado.
The almost 180 year old publication is proud to carry its news reporting legacy, striving to provide the best news stories possible on top issues facing the community. Our small staff greatly values our readers and appreciates your dedication in supporting us. We couldn't do the work without your support. Columbia/Maury County is a gem of a community, and we take seriously the legacy we create in maintaining a standard of excellence.
Winning story Breaking News Coverage: Columbia woman says tornado that destroyed home was 'scariest moment of my life'
Winning series Best News Coverage: Family loses everything in tornado: 'We have hope, and thank God we are alive'
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Here's a breakdown of what we've been able to accomplish and the foundation we plan to build upon.
Over the past four years, The Daily Herald has collected almost a dozen first place wins over six categories across the state in the TPA Awards, which recognizes hundreds of papers across the state.
In 2023, The Daily Herald won first place in the following two categories: Best News Coverage and Best Single Feature. Winning coverage included stories about the community striving to preserve the Duck River and the owners of 1822 Farms quest to preserve their family's beef farming legacy.
The Daily Herald also took second place in 2023 for Best News Reporting (its second placement in the same category), second place in Best Breaking News for its coverage of the General Motors UAW strike and third place in Best Education Reporting.
In 2022, The Daily Herald won first place in two categories including Best Single Feature and Best News Reporting. Stories focused on rural farming and land loss in Tennessee, featuring Kettle Mills farm, as well character preservation on the Campbell farm in Spring Hill.
More: Daily Herald wins big in Tennessee Press Association awards contest
More: The Daily Herald wins 1st place in five categories in Tennessee Press Association awards
Another big year for the Daily Herald was in 2021 when the publication took home first place awards in five categories in the TPA awards for the following: Best News Reporting, Best Education Reporting, Best Single Feature, Best Feature Photograph and Best Digital Presentation.
In April 2022, The Daily Herald also won two first place awards in the Best of Gannett contest for its coverage of East 8th Street and the Columbia uprising of 1946. In 2023, the Herald placed in Best of Gannett for its coverage of farmland preservation in Maury County.
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Kerri Bartlett is Middle Tennessee Region Group Editor for the Gannett/USA Today Network. Papers include The Daily Herald, The Jackson Sun, The Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro and The Leaf-Chronicle in Clarksville. She can be reached at kbartlett@ Subscribe to The Daily Herald by visiting
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