TUNICA – The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal won 27 awards, including six for first place, in the Mississippi Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest.

The awards for work published in 2009 were presented Saturday at the conclusion of the MPA’s joint convention with the Arkansas and Tennessee press associations. The Daily Journal competed against the state’s large dailies.

Journal business writer Carlie Kollath, Food Editor Ginna Parsons and Business Editor Dennis Seid won first place in the planned series category for “Culinary Cruising,” a multi-week series on some of the best eating places in Northeast Mississippi.

Sports Editor John Pitts won firsts in sports columns and headline writing, while Religion Editor Galen Holley received the top award for general interest columns. First place for best game story went to Ole Miss beat writer Parrish Alford for his coverage of the Rebels’ victory over LSU.

Deste Lee won top honors for sports action photo of a Shannon High defender breaking up a pass, while Thomas Wells received a first in graphics for a photo bar chart illustration representing the minimum wage increase.

Second place awards went to the Daily Journal for its sports section and editorial pages, as well as for overall design, and third place was awarded for the Journal’s front page and Lifestyles section.

A series of stories by Dennis Seid and Carlie Kollath on how some Northeast Mississippians were adapting to the recession won second for planned series.

Other Daily Journal awards included:

- Leslie Criss, second place, general interest columns.

- Brad Locke and Parrish Alford, second place, sports news story, for a story on MSU and Ole Miss feeling the squeeze in athletic budgets, and Locke, third place in game stories for Mississippi State-LSU football coverage and honorable mention for a sports news story on coaches’ tweeting.

- Thomas Wells, second place, general news photo, and third place, sports feature photo.

- C. Todd Sherman, second place, sports feature photo, and third place, graphics.

- Carlie Kollath and Dennis Seid, third place in spot news, for reporting on the Stanford Financial scandal.

- Patsy Brumfield and Joe Rutherford, third place in in-depth reporting, for stories on highway funding, and Brumfield, third place for general interest column.

- Lloyd Gray, third place in editorials.

- Chris Kieffer, honorable mention in spot news for a report on a deadly apartment fire in Starkville.

- Josh Hanna, honorable mention in graphics, for a Newsmaker of the Year illustration.

The Daily Journal also won the second place award for general excellence.