South Carolina wins 10 more awards from UMAC

PORTLAND, Ore.—The United Methodist Association of Communicators has honored South Carolina with 10 more awards for excellence in writing, newspaper publication and photography, all but one of these awards first-place.

Advocate Editor Jessica Brodie achieved the notable honor of the Best in Class Donn Doten Award of Excellence for a collection of her feature writing.

Also, the Advocate won first place in the overall newspapers category, while Jessica Brodie won seven additional awards for her Advocate writing: first place for her feature article “Jesus Christ 101,” first place for her feature article “Journey of Faith,” first place for her feature article “Showing Up and Being Real,” first place for her article “Imagine No Malaria: South Carolina to Raise $1M to Save Lives through Global UMC Health Initiative,” first place for her news article with the Rev. Ken Nelson “Graying of the UMCSC,” first place in photography for her photo series “Showing Up and Being Real,” and third place for her news article “Churches Gather for Prayer, Unity after Charleston Man Shot by Police Officer.”

“Jessica Brodie’s work is consistently top-notch—an excellent reporter and writer,” reads the judges’ comments. “It’s a pleasure to read her articles. The (South Carolina) Conference appears to be well-served by the Advocate.”

Matt Brodie, communications director, also won first place for his news article with United Methodist News Service reporter Heather Hahn, “United Methodists Stand with AME after Church Shooting.”

The awards were given when UMAC gathered Jan. 19-20 in Portland to honor communicators across the country for their work to tell the denomination’s story.

The recent honors bring the total to 76 awards the Advocate has earned in the last five years from UMAC, the South Carolina Press Association and the Religion Communicators Council.

Advocate Board of Trustees Chair Bill Click praised the excellence and high standards of the newspaper, which are confirmed by these awards.

“These awards cap another outstanding year as the Advocate begins 2016,” Click said.

For more on UMAC and the awards, visit www.umcommunicators.org.