By Mark Shaffer
The Ironton Tribune

For the fourth year in a row, The Ironton Tribune has won a General Excellence award from the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors.
For 2023, The Tribune received a first-place award in Division 1 category as it did in 2020 and 2022. In 2021, The Tribune got second place.
All told, Ironton staff and freelancers took in 16 awards.
Tribune community editor Heath Harrison won second place in the Best Photographer category while freelancer Larry Rees took third place. Freelancer Kayla Niece took second place in the Best Feature Photo category.
Long-time sports editor Jim Walker took home three awards, first place for Best Headline Writer, second place for Best Sports Feature Writer and third place for Best Daily Sports Section for his coverage of sporting events throughout Lawrence County.
The Tribune swept the Best Illustration or Informational Graphic category with Harrison taking first place and graphic designer Kandi Thompson taking second and third place.
Thompson also took first place in Best Graphic Artist category and third place in the Best Full Page Design category.
In the Best Columnist category, Jim Crawford took first place and Harrison took second place. Harrison also took first place in the both the Best Editorial Writer category and the Best Business Writer category.
The Ironton Tribune also won third place in the Best Digital Presence category.
General excellence is tabulated from the number of awards and placement earned by a publication.