<b>By Pamela Brownstein</b>

At the 2013 South Carolina Press Association banquet, held Saturday, March 22, in Columbia, S.C., news contest award winners from across the state were recognized for the best in newspaper journalism.

The Island News won five awards, including Best of the Best for General News Photo.

[caption id="attachment_15650" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/DSCF7186-Edit.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-15650" alt="Pamela Brownstein, editor of The Island News, and photographer Eric Smith celebrate “Best of the Best” at the South Carolina Press Association awards banquet." src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/DSCF7186-Edit-300x244.jpg" width="300" height="244" /></a> Pamela Brownstein, editor of The Island News, and photographer Eric Smith celebrate “Best of the Best” at the South Carolina Press Association awards banquet.[/caption]

Photographer Eric Smith won first place for General News Photo among weekly newspapers with a circulation over 6,000. Then that photo was picked among all the first place winners in that category from all newspapers in the state as the Best of the Best.

Eric Smith also won first place in the Sports Feature Photo category in the weekly over 6,000 division.

Photographer Bob Sofaly also won two awards. He took second place for General News Photo in the weekly over 6,000 division, and another second place in the Humorous Photo contest for over 6,000 and two to three times weekly newspaper divisions combined.

Among all weekly newspapers in South Carolina, Editor Pamela Brownstein won second place for Feature Headline Writing.

The Island News’ publishers were extremely proud. Kim Harding said, “To be recognized as Best of the Best is a testament to the hard work and talents of our tiny staff.”

Elizabeth Newberry added, “We plan to continue to provide the community with award-winning coverage, and we thank all our readers for their support.”
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