Winners of the 2009 Alabama Press Association Advertising Contest were announced recently and The Selma Times-Journal earned four awards, including a first-place award in the “Best Original/ Creative Idea” category.

The first place award was for a KFC ad created by advertising manager Erica Slone and creative director Karen Lawler.

“The awards are an acknowledgment to our staff’s hard work, ideas, inventiveness, and dedication to good customer service,” said Slone. “These awards not only represent excellent achievement but also a lot of hard work and commitment to the standard of excellence we can provide our advertisers.”

Other awards were:

N Best One-Time Special Section: “Gallery of Homes” by Slone and Lawler [2nd place]

N Best In-Paper Promotion of Newspaper: “You have to see it to sell it” by Slone and Lawler [3rd place]

N Best Use of Humor: “Carpet Plus” by Slone and Lawler

“It’s great to be honored for our work by our peers,” said Times-Journal Publisher Dennis Palmer. “Erica, Karen and the rest of our advertising staff work really hard to meet the needs of our advertising partners and help them drive foot traffic to their businesses. It’s good to see them recognized for their work.”

Forty-four newspapers submitted more than 900 entries in this year’s contest with entries being judged by the North Carolina Press Association. The awards will be presented July 18 during the association’s summer convention in Orange Beach.