The Northeast Georgian was recognized Saturday at the Georgia Press Association’s annual conference with five state awards for excellence in journalism in 2023.
All five awards were for third place, but two of them were for all divisions of weeklies, including Lang Storey’s award for sports columns and Matthew Osborne’s award for investigative reporting.
Three awards were given in the weekly Division C category – Osborne for editorial writing along with photographers Zach Taylor (feature photo) and Tom Askew (sports photo).
Judges for the editorial writing category remarked that the work contained a “solid voice and reasonable, measured stances.”
Taylor’s photo was taken at the annual rodeo that is part of the Chattahoochee Mountain Fair, while Askew captured a three-man fight for a long pass during Habersham Central’s game against Gainesville last season.
“We are blessed to have two outstanding photographers working with us in Zach and Tom,” The Northeast Georgian executive editor Matthew Osborne said. “Tom loves Raider sports and has done a tremendous job for us, especially during football season. Zach is one of the best young photographers in this industry and he has made a major impact on the newspaper and the community since working with us.”
Storey, who has been The Northeast Georgian’s sportswriter since February 2023, has written commentaries both in and outside of the sports world.
“Lang is immersed in our sports community and has a tremendous understanding of what makes the sports world go around,” Osborne said. “He has an emerging column voice that is relatable to our readers, and his insights are a great value to our newspaper.”
Judges in Storey’s category described his work as a “nice friendly style, overall good writing.”