DESTIN, Fla. — During the 2012 Southeastern Press Conference, held July 5-8, which welcomed the press associations from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi to Destin, Fla., the Alabama Press Association honored the winners of the 2012 Better Newspaper Competition.

The Selma Times-Journal, which competes in the small, daily newspaper division, was recognized and received 11 awards in the annual competition.

The Times-Journal won third place awards for best local news coverage, best presswork, best special section for the 2011 Horizons Edition, best photo essay, best use of graphics or illustrations and third place for best regularly scheduled special section for the 2011 Horizons Edition.

The Times-Journal won second place awards for best editorial page and best original/creative idea for the 2011 Pet Idol competition.

The Times-Journal received first place awards for best business story, won by Tim Reeves for a story on Henry Brick’s Ted Henry being inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame, best layout and design, and most improved.

Of the 11 awards, nine were won in the editorial portion of the contest, two more than the Times-Journal won in 2011 competition.

This also marks the second consecutive year the Times-Journal has won the Most Improved category, in which only one small, daily newspaper is honored.

Seventy newspapers submitted 2,477 entries in the annual contest. The Nebraska Press Association judged the entries.