Jackson Free Press

The Jackson Free Press has won seven southeast regional Society of Professional Journalists, including five first-place prizes.

The paper finished in first-place for public-service journalism for JFP's coverage of the Michelle Byrom death-penalty case.

Other first-place awards were for campaign-finance transparency and accountability reporting in the 2014 U.S. Senate race and special election for Jackson mayor, along with commentary and editorial writing by editors Donna Ladd and R.L. Nave.

JFP was also recognized for coverage of LGBT issues, criminal justice and the protests in Ferguson, Mo.

Public Service in Non-Daily Journalism

First Place: Jackson Free Press; Ronni Mott, Donna Ladd, R.L. Nave; Michelle Byrom: An Innocent Woman on Death Row?

Second Place: Contemporary Media Inc., Louis Goggans, "Gateway to Disaster"

Politics Reporting / Non-Dailies

First Place: Jackson Free Press; R.L. Nave, Anna Wolfe, Donna Ladd; Elections and PAC Transparency in Mississippi

Second Place: The Daily News Publishing Co, Bill Dries, Bill Dries 2014 politics portfolio

Third Place: Contemporary Media Inc., Jackson Baker, "The Prince of Nashville"

General News Reporting / Non-Dailies

First Place: Jackson Free Press; R.L. Nave, Haley Ferretti, Anna Wolfe; The Fight for LGBT Rights in Mississippi

Second Place: INDY Week, Billy Ball “Mentally ill inmate dead on arrival at Central Prison”

Third Place: Miami New Times, Trevor Bach, "Blood on the Water

Serious Commentary / Non-Dailies

First Place: Jackson Free Press; Donna Ladd Editor's Notes: Race, LGBT Rights, Family Violence and An Innocent Woman

Second Place: Miami New Times, Chuck Strouse, El Jefe Column

Editorial Writing / Non-Dailies

First Place: Jackson Free Press; Donna Ladd, R.L. Nave, "Editorials on Corruption, Transparency, School Choice"

Second Place: Contemporary Media Inc., Bruce VanWyngarden "Bravo!" "Local Knowledge" and "The Ebola 'Crisis' Isn't"

Third Place: Sarasota News Leader, Robert S. Hackney Robert Hackney Collection

Courts & the Law Reporting / Non-Dailies

First Place: Miami New Times Michael E. Miller, "Who's Watching the Guardians"

Second Place: Jackson Free Press; R.L. Nave, Prisons, Jails and Juvenile Justice in Mississippi

Third Place: Tampa Bay Business Journal Pam Huff, From darling to dog: The implosion of Tampa's Creative Recycling

Feature Writing / Non-Dailies

First Place: Contemporary Media Inc. Louis Goggans "The Silent Epidemic"

Second Place: Miami New Times Michael E. Miller "Chavez, Matisse, and the Heist That Shook the Americas"

Third Place: Jackson Free Press; R.L. Nave, Ferguson: An American Moment