Wonderful readers

We’ll make a deal with you. Please allow us to boast for a minute. As a trade off, we’ll gush about how good you are. Thanks for the cooperation.
As published in this edition of The Tribune, we recently won 10 awards in the Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest. The contest is based on entries from 2007.
We’re humbled and thankful that our friends from the Arkansas Press Association thought well of our newspaper. Our most significant honor is the third place award in General Excellence we received. The award is based on the total points received in a variety of areas, from advertising to sports.
We also received first place for Best Public Service, second place for Freedom of Information and seven other awards in variety of categories. Our editorial, sports and lifestyle pages were all award winners, and we placed second for Local News Coverage.
Forgive the corny cliché, but it takes a team effort to produce 104 newspapers every year. Every member of our staff works hard to produce a newspaper our communities can be proud to call their own. We’re not perfect, but the contest results prove we’re at least doing a few things correctly.
We have a talented staff in our little building on East Barbour Street. But we’re also cognizant that one of our greatest strengths is our readership.
We’re thankful for the several thousand readers who pick up a copy of The Tribune every midweek and weekend to learn more about Eufaula, Clayton, Georgetown and other area cities.
We have readers in elementary school and readers who are 100 or older. We have readers on North Randolph Avenue, Forest Hills, College Street in Clayton, Main Street in Louisville and even in the Middle East. Doctors, lawyers, housewives and students read us. And we have readers in cities we’ve never heard of thanks to www.eufaulatribune.com.
We’re thankful for the homemade cards from kids, the goodie baskets from a person who was just interviewed and the terse criticism from an unhappy subscriber. You help keep us grounded.
We’re thankful for the story ideas – every one of them. That’s because this paper is a reflection of you, your neighbors and your friends who live in Barbour and Quitman counties.
Sometimes, the truth hurts. But we’ll still tell it. And we’ll celebrate when we have good news to report. That’s good community journalism.
While we’re proud of our 10 awards, we also know there is room for improvement. That’s why we want your criticism and compliments, or your ideas and interests. Please never hesitate to call us at 687-3506, or shoot us an e-mail at news@eufaulatribune.com.
This newspaper isn’t about us. It’s about you, the reader. And we want you to play a part as we work toward a bright future.