Hoover Sun Community Editor Jon Anderson, left, Starnes Media General Manager Tim Stephens and Village Living Community Editor Sarah Owens show off some of of the media awards earned by their publications at the Alabama Press Association convention in Orange Beach on June 28, 2025.
ORANGE BEACH — Village Living was recognized Saturday as the state’s most improved newspaper in its division Saturday night at the Alabama Press Association’s annual convention at the Perdido Beach Resort.
Village Living Community Editor Sarah Owens, who earlier this year was named as the state’s Emerging Journalist of the Year by the APA, accepted the award and was also recognized for her first-place finish in the Best News Feature category, a story about Mountain Brook teen Lulu Gribbin’s road to recovery after surviving a shark attack while vacationing in Florida.
Owens, who also serves as community editor for the Homewood Star, earned multiple victories with that publication as well. Her coverage of Homewood’s referendum to change its form of government won second place in Online Breaking News and third in In-Depth News Coverage.
Owens also played a key role in a first-place award for Best Public Service for her lead article in a multi-story package titled “The power to save: Why talking about mental health matters.” Versions of the article appeared in all six Starnes Media Publications, including Village Living, the Homewood Star, 280 Living, Cahaba Sun, Vestavia Voice and Hoover Sun. The entry was credited to Hoover Sun and shared with collaborators Jon Anderson and Taylor Bright.
Village Living also scored in the visual categories. A sideline shot of tiny dancing queen Mae Schofield at a Mountain Brook High School football game won second place for Best Feature Photo. A photo of Mountain Brook firefighter Brooke Burback won second place for Best News Photo. Both were taken by multimedia journalist Savannah Schmidt, who also won second place for Best Feature Story for her front-page profile of Burback’s successful attempt to become the city’s first female firefighter in a decade.
Schmidt won eight APA awards for her work across Starnes Media’s publications, including a first-place award for Best Spot News for a story she wrote for The Homewood Star titled “I survived the Lakeshore Owl.” The accompanying video with that story earned first place in the Creative Use of Multimedia category, ahead of another piece about a 76-year-old martial artist by Schmidt that appeared in Vestavia Voice.
Village Living’s contest success added to the overall tally for Starnes Media, led by the Hoover Sun, which posted 30 total awards across editorial and advertising. Those included the high-school sports coverage by sports editor Kyle Parmley for Under the Lights, the magazine and podcast shared across all Starnes markets. The preseason magazine was named Best Niche Publication for both its editorial and advertising content, a sweep, and the podcast earned first place for Best Podcast. Parmley also won first place for Best Local Sports Column, which was entered under the Hoover Sun but also appeared in Village Living.
Hoover Sun was the overall winner for General Excellence in Division E. The Sun won first place for Best Newspaper Website and the Advertising Sweepstakes Award for overall advertising quality as well.
Another Starnes Media publication, 280 Living, won first place in the FOI-First Amendment category for its coverage of leadership and policy changes at the North Shelby Library. Starnes Media publications won 46 total APA awards.
This year, 53 publications submitted 1,725 entries in the annual contest. The Michigan Press Association membership judged the entries.
