Palestine Herald-Press wins Scripps-Howard award

The Palestine Herald-Press won a Scripps-Howard award in the opinion category for editorials written by Editor Jeffery Gerritt. 
The “What Are They Hiding?” series included editorials that examined two issues with local impact: how an athletic commission treated a football player and the state’s seeming rush to execute death-row prisoners. 
The judges commented: “In their clarity and detail, the editorials would be worthy of the best efforts of the largest metro newspapers in America. The fact that they were all published by a small Texas paper with less than 10,000 circulation is an example of journalism that speaks truth to power when doing so could invite truly unpleasant consequences.” 
“Scripps Howard is one of the top two journalism awards in the country,” Herald-Press publisher Jake Mienk said. 
“This is another indication our paper can compare with some of the nation’s best. I’m very proud of Jeff and his achievements. His love for journalism shows in his work and throughout our products.”
Donna Barrett, chief executive officer of CNHI, LLC, the parent company of the Herald-Press, called the award “an incredible and well-deserved honor.”
Gerritt was named editor of the Palestine Herald­-Press in 2017, after spending 17 years at the Detroit Free Press. Gerritt also has worked at USA Today and he was the deputy editor of The Blade in Toledo for four years.