Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
North Shelby Library
The North Shelby Library on Cahaba Valley Road. Photo by Erin Nelson.
ORANGE BEACH — Coverage of leadership and policy changes at the North Shelby Library by Taylor Bright captured first place for Freedom of Information-First Amendment reporting in the Alabama Press Association’s 2025 Alabama Media Awards contest.
Bright’s use of public records and balanced reporting about the North Shelby Library “firestorm” was lauded by judges in awarding first place in Division E to 280 Living. The award was presented at the APA’s annual summer convention at Perdido Beach Resort on Saturday. The headline for that story, “A year of storms after rainbow controversy; newly installed board takes over; director resigns,” by Bright won third place in the Best Headline category.
Melanie Viering captured first place for 280 Living in headline writing for her entry on a story by Emily Reed, “Fresh off the vine: Old Baker Farm prepares for fall season with family-run pumpkin patch.”
Bright captured first place for Best Business Story with “Reimagining the Landscape” about the city of Hoover’s efforts to propel a “tech corridor” along U.S. 280 at a Meadow Brook office park. He also played a key role in a first-place award for Best Public Service for his lead article in a multi-story package titled “The power to save: Why talking about mental health matters.” Versions of the article appeared in all six Starnes Media Publications, including 280 Living, The Homewood Star, Village Living, Cahaba Sun, Vestavia Voice and Hoover Sun. The entry was credited to Hoover Sun and shared with collaborators Jon Anderson and Sarah Owens.
280 Living’s contest success added to the overall tally for Starnes Media, led by the Hoover Sun, which won 30 total awards across editorial and advertising. Those included the high-school sports coverage by sports editor Kyle Parmley for Under the Lights, the magazine and podcast shared across all Starnes markets. The preseason magazine was named Best Niche Publication for both its editorial and advertising content, a sweep, and the podcast earned first place for Best Podcast. Parmley also won first place for Best Local Sports Column, which was entered under the Hoover Sun but also appeared in 280 Living.
Hoover Sun was the overall winner for General Excellence in Division E. The Sun won first place for Best Newspaper Website and the Advertising Sweepstakes Award for overall advertising quality as well.
The Hoover Sun captured first-place awards for Best Local Education Coverage (Jon Anderson), Best Lifestyle/Family Pages (Jon Anderson), Best Sports Coverage (Parmley). Among its writing awards were two by Starnes Media general manager Tim Stephens: A profile of the First Family of Comedy about the Ayers family and their ownership of the StarDome comedy club that was named Best Feature, and a look at Hoover youth football coach Greg Blackman’s 300 victories, which won Best Sports Feature.
Other notable wins for Starnes Media included Sarah Owens’ Best News Feature first-place award for her look at Mountain Brook shark attack victim Lulu Gribbin’s road to recovery and Savannah Schmidt’s recognition profile of former Chelsea softball star Brooke Burback as she sought to become the first female firefighter in Mountain Brook in a decade. The story appeared in both 280 Living and Village Living, but was entered under Village Living in the contest. It finished second in the Best Feature Story category and the lead photo for it finished second in the Best News Photo category. Those were two of Schmidt’s eight APA awards in writing, photography and videography categories.
In all, Starnes Media publications won 46 APA awards.
This year, 53 publications submitted 1,725 entries in the annual contest. The Michigan Press Association membership judged the entries.
