COLUMBIA – Like many events during the Time of Corona, this year’s S.C. Press Association’s annual editorial awards dinner that was scheduled for March in Myrtle Beach, was first postponed, then held virtually on Sept. 18.
Overall, The Voice won first place in six categories in the statewide judging, second place in three categories and fourth place in three categories.
Reporter Michael Smith won a first place in the Reporting in Depth category, a second place in the Enterprise Reporting category and a third place in Government Beat reporting. He and publisher Barbara Ball shared third place for the Investigative Reporting category.
The Voice’s outdoor writer Pat Robertson won first place in the Sports Feature Story category with his story about deer-hunter James Sims’s relentless four-year tracking of a larger-than-life Fairfield County buck whose rack vied for a new state record.
“This story brings back the ‘man versus beast’ story angle,” the judge commented about the deer hunting saga. “Reminds me a little of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick,” he wrote.
Contributing writer to The Voice, Pamela Sleezer, won first place in the Profile Feature Writing category for her story about Blythewood’s Moses Kelly who served as a Secret Service Agent to five U.S. presidents.
Publisher Barbara Ball won first place in the Breaking News category and first and second place in the Life Style Feature Writing category. She took another second place in Reporting in Depth category and two third places in the Investigative Reporting category and the News Feature Writing category.
The Voice’s staff was awarded a third place for the newspaper’s 2020 Fall Sports Preview magazine.
