Competing among the largest sports departments in the U.S., the staff of The Advocate and Times-Picayune landed six Associated Press Sports Editors nationwide Top 10 awards for its work in 2023, as judged by a national panel of sports editors and writers.
The haul included three Top 10s for writing, one for photography and two for its sports sections.
The Advocate and Times-Picayune sports department was recognized for one of the 10 best sections in the nation, alongside organizations such as the Washington Post, Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times and Minneapolis Star Tribune.
In addition, The Advocate and Times-Picayune earned Top 10 status in the “special section” category for its preview of LSU in the NCAA Women’s Final Four last spring.
This is the fifth consecutive year in which The Advocate and Times-Picayune was honored as one of the 10 best sections in the APSE’s “A Division,” the tier of largest organizations.
Before 2019, The Advocate and New Orleans Advocate had previously competed in the APSE’s B Division.
In writing categories, Saints beat reporter Luke Johnson led the way with a pair of Top 10s — one for beat writing and the other for short feature.
In the beat writing category, writers must submit a portfolio of five stories, including mandatory entries for breaking news, event coverage and enterprise reporting.
Johnson’s Top 10 In short feature writing was for his story on the Saints’ offensive linemen and their weekly, no-outsiders-allowed trips to local restaurants, described by one of the players as “every fat kid’s dream.”
Finally, staff photographer Michael Johnson gave The Advocate its first Top 10 in a photo category in the paper’s history.
Michael Johnson’s winning entry was a photo of LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson hoisting the NCAA championship trophy amid a storm of confetti after the Tigers’ victory over Iowa.
Also, Koki Riley won a pair of Top 10s in the D Division for his coverage of LSU while still with the Daily Advertiser in 2023. Riley joined The Advocate in January to cover LSU baseball.
This year’s haul continues a long string of success for The Advocate.
Over the past five years, The Advocate and Times-Picayune have won 21 overall Top 10 awards in APSE digital, writing and section categories in the A Division.
Since 2013, The Advocate has earned 51 overall Top 10 awards and 10 honorable mentions in the annual APSE contest.
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