The Eureka Springs Times-Echo won eight awards, including three firstplace honors, in the Arkansas Press Association’s 2025 Better Newspaper Editorial Contest.
Reporter Rick Harvey won first place for Beat Reporter and Education Story in the larger weeklies division. Scott Loftis, editor and publisher of the Times-Echo, won first place for Picture Page/Photo Essay.
“We are thrilled to be honored,” Loftis said. “It’s nice to be recognized, but more importantly it tells us that we’re doing good work and succeeding in our primary mission, which is to keep the people of Eureka Springs informed about what’s happening in their community.”
Harvey won second place for Arkansas Freedom of Information Reporting among larger weeklies, while Loftis took third place in Graphic Design Portfolio and Headline Writing and tied for third place in Front Page Design.
Cyd King earned honorable mention for Freelance Recognition.
“The larger weekly division might be the most competitive of all the divisions,” Loftis said. “There are some outstanding newspapers and some journalists I really respect in that division. It’s an honor to be recognized among a group like that.”
The Times-Echo’s sister newspaper, the Carroll County News, won 19 individual awards and took second place in the General Excellence category in the smaller weeklies division.
Loftis won first place for Beat Reporting, Sports News Story and Best Front Page Design for smaller weeklies.
While Harvey’s first-place honor in the Beat Reporting category for larger weeklies was based on his overall coverage of Eureka Springs city government, Loftis’ honor in the smaller weekly division was based on coverage of the Eureka Springs Hospital Commission.
In addition, Loftis and Harvey won second place for News Story in the smaller weekly division for a report on Mike Welch, who was elected to the Eureka Springs City Council in November 2024 but did not take office after being told by the Carroll County prosecuting attorney that he was ineligible to serve because of a felony conviction in California in the 1970s.
“Our commitment is to cover the news in Eureka Springs,” Loftis said. “Sometimes that’s not a popular thing to do, but the people deserve to know what’s going on around them. I’m especially proud of the two Beat Reporting awards because they demonstrate a consistent approach to covering the issues. We have a very small staff, but we work really hard and it’s nice to see that work recognized.”
Newspapers competed in divisions based on their circulation, publishing frequency and APA membership. There were a total of 1,517 entries among five divisions. The contest was judged by members of the Tennessee Press Association.
