The Post-Searchlight returned home with 18 awards from the Georgia Press Association Better Newspaper Contest last weekend, where it won second place in General Excellence.

The awards dinner, held at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel last Friday, June 8, featured a ceremony that awarded newspapers across Georgia for their work in journalism in 2017.

The Post-Searchlight won five first place awards, seven second place awards and six third place awards.

“The Post-Searchlight is fortunate to have a great group of people that work hard throughout the year to produce two issues a week along with many special editions,” said General Manager Mark Pope. “It’s always nice this time of the year to have a chance to be recognized by our peers on some of those efforts. I would like to say, thank you for what you do and congratulations.”

Among thousands of entries from newspapers across Georgia, a total of 583 awards were presented.

The General Excellence award considers the number of first place awards in the Better Newspaper Contest, along with first place awards won in the advertising contest.

“Our staff has put in countless hours of hard work to win these awards, and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Powell Cobb, managing editor of The Post-Searchlight. “Our mission is to provide the best news possible to Bainbridge and Decatur County, and we will work hard to continue to deliver the best product possible to this community.”