Associated Press Society of Ohio 2011 awards

Newspapers in Columbus, Canton, Sandusky, East Liverpool and Fremont were named the best in the state Sunday in the annual Associated Press Society of Ohio newspaper competition. General Excellence awards for 2011 went to The Columbus Dispatch, The (Canton) Repository, the Sandusky Register, The (East Liverpool) Review and The (Fremont) News-Messenger.

Best Photographer awards went to Chris Russell from The Columbus Dispatch, Craig J. Orosz from The Lima News, Nick Graham, Middletown Journal, James Miller from The Marion Star, and Julie Ames from the Coshocton Tribune.

Best Online Photojournalist awards went to Doral Chenoweth III from The Columbus Dispatch, William D. Lewis, The (Youngstown) Vindicator, Jason Werling from Sandusky Register, Sarah Gordon from the Ashland Times-Gazette and Jessica St. James, The Ironton Tribune.
Sixty-seven daily newspapers submitted 2928 entries in the contest, which featured news and sports stories, features, editorials, columns, graphics and photos from 2011.

Entries were judged by editors from The Washington (D.C.) Post, Division V The New York (N.Y.) Times Syndicate, Division IV the News-Enterprise, Elizabethtown, Ky., and the Kileen (Texas) Daily Herald, Division III The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va., and The Statesboro (Ga.) Herald Division II and The Daily Times, Marysville, Tenn., and The Lake Sun, Camdenton, Mo., Division I.

Complete winners list available on the ONPA website.