Dispatch wins top award at state contest
By Dispatch Staff Report 11 hours ago From left, Slim Smith, Stella Yu, Theo DeRosa, Tess Vrbin, Claire Hassler, Birney Imes and Matt Garner
BILOXI The Dispatch won the General Excellence category for medium-sized dailies at the annual Mississippi Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
It was one of 26 total awards, including 10 for first place, the newspaper received in a ceremony Saturday afternoon for work completed in 2020.
The General Excellence category considers the entire newspaper product, including editorial content and design.
“I’m extremely proud of our newsroom for the General Excellence Award,” publisher Peter Imes said. “Last year we had a wide range of major unprecedented stories, and our newsroom rose to the challenge. I also need to point out our advertising department won first place in General Excellence earlier this year. That we would win both of the top awards in the state speaks to our entir
Layton joins Dispatch as lifestyles editor
By Dispatch Staff Report 11 hours ago Nicole Layton
Nicole Layton has joined The Dispatch staff as its new lifestyles editor.
She replaces the late Jan Swoope, who led the section for 13 years. In her role, Layton will coordinate and produce content for Sunday’s lifestyles pages and Wednesday’s food pages. She will also design pages for the sports section.
Layton comes to Columbus from Edenton, North Carolina, where she was editor for the Chowan Herald. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from North Carolina State University and an associate’s in culinary arts from Hocking College in Ohio. She is attending N.C. State virtually seeking a professional certification in social media marketing and management.
Local Voices: Jan Swoope
By Stacy Clark 14 hours ago Former Lifestyles editor Jan Swoope and former Catfish Alley editor-in-chief Stacy Clark stand for a portrait in this 2015 file photo. Dispatch file photo
Stacy Clark
Jan Swoope gave me a gift. She showed me how to write.
I’d been a graphic designer for about 12 years when Birney offered me the position of editor-in-chief for The Dispatch’s startup community magazine, Catfish Alley. On the face of it, I know that seems like it was an illogical choice, but I assure you, the position called for project management, art direction, and design much more than it did for writing. Now if called upon, I knew I could string together a decent sentence, buoyed as I was by the Senior English award I received from my 12th-grade English teacher, Mary Thompson (you know, Wright’s mom). But, until I wrote my first editor’s letter for the magazine, my professional writing had been restricted to ad copy and marketing “blurbs”
Letter: Remembering Jan Swoope
By Frances Hairston 13 hours ago
Thank you Slim Smith and Peter Imes for the beautiful tributes you wrote in Thursday’s paper about a very special lady, Jan Swoope. Jan came to my house in 2015 to interview and take pictures of my art for an upcoming art exhibit. Jan was right there at the military museum in 2018 when I asked her to write an article about the museum and the task the Daughters of the American Revolution had undertaken. Always, Jan was very attentive and concerned. You could expect she would take the questions she asked and weave that information into a very interesting article. Her articles about recipes became more than just a recipe. A story relating to why she had the recipe made you want to continue reading and absolutely to try that recipe. I remember when I took my oldest grandson for horseback riding lessons. She was totally tuned into his learning to ride. Jan will certainly be missed in Columbus and Lowndes County. What
An icon of Columbus : Longtime Dispatch Lifestyles editor Jan Swoope passes away at age 67 cdispatch.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cdispatch.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.