The Clanton Advertiser won editorial and advertising awards in the 2013 Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

The top awards were announced during the summer convention June 22 at the 2013 Alabama Press Association Summer Convention in Destin, Fla.

Seventy-two newspapers submitted 2,668 entries in the annual APA Better Newspaper Contest, and 35 newspapers submitted 1,036 entries in the APA Advertising Contest.

Kentucky Press Association judged the editorial and advertising entries.

The Advertiser competes in Division B, against other community daily newspapers.

The Advertiser won the following advertising awards:

•First place, Presentation of Online Advertising.

•Second place, Single Ad Over 1/2 Page – Color for “The City of Jemison Congratulates the Class of 2012” ad by Zack Bates.

•Second place, Niche Publication for Peach Living magazine.

“We’re excited for the recognition,” said Sales Manager Alan Brown. “We continue to strive to improve the quality of our products and services in the community. We strive for excellence for our customers, and this recognition is an honor.”

The Advertiser won the following editorial awards:

•First place, Online Breaking News Coverage for coverage of the April 27, 2011 tornadoes’ aftermath and subsequent cleanup efforts.

•First place, Best Photo Essay for “Future flyer” by Justin Averette.

•First place, Best Presswork.

•Second place, Continuing Web Coverage for the staff’s ongoing tornado coverage.

•Second place, Best Feature Story Coverage for “Hope after hurt” by Emily Beckett.

•Third place, Best Feature Story Coverage for “Night of terror” by Justin Averette.

•Third place, Best Use of Photographs/Editorial Content.

•Third place, Best In-Depth News Coverage for ongoing coverage of Chilton Medical Center’s closure by Stephen Dawkins, Emily Etheredge and Mike Kelley.

•Third place, Best Feature Photo for “Sing out” by Stephen Dawkins.

•Third place, Best Special Section for “A Story to Tell” (Progress 2013).

•Third place, General Web Excellence.

•Third place, Continuing Web Coverage for the staff’s ongoing coverage of the hospital’s closure.

“We’re certainly honored to receive this recognition, but we’re not satisfied,” said Managing Editor Stephen Dawkins. “We feel like we owe it to our readers to continue to improve our products. We want to do the best job possible of telling the stories that matter to Chilton County.”

Also, the Shelby County Reporter (Division C), Madison County Record (Division D) and The Greenville Advocate (Division D) won third place, first place and second place in their respective categories for Best Presswork.

Those newspapers are printed on the press operated by Clanton Newspapers Inc.