Advocate wins three first-place journalism awards

The Advocate has been honored with three first-place awards for journalistic excellence from the South Carolina Press Association.

At the SCPA’s annual meeting March 15 in Columbia, the 188-year-old newspaper was awarded first place in its associate/individual member division for overall newspaper publications.

As well, Advocate Editor Jessica Brodie won first place in faith reporting for an article titled “A Move from God” (September 2023 Advocate) and first place for in-depth reporting for her series of articles on the 2023 discernment and disaffiliation process.

About the Advocate overall, judges called it a good mix of news, feature stories and opinion, lifting up “exhaustive coverage of the state’s Methodist churches and the matters important to them” and “inclusive coverage with a range of perspectives.”

They also noted they enjoyed the Advocate’s features on local philanthropic efforts and were “especially impressed by reporting on disaffiliation.”

This brings the total to 124 awards the Advocate has won since 2010 from the SCPA, the United Methodist Association of Communicators and the Religion Communicators Council.

Advocate Board Chair Enid McClam applauded what she calls these outstanding accomplishments in journalism.

“The Advocate continues to be a voice in our spiritual community, and these award-winning accomplishments are confirmation we are living up to our standard of excellence in journalism,” McClam said.