MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Moultrie Observer has won 14 awards from the Georgia Press Association.

In a series of releases this month, the GPA announced the newspaper’s advertising staff had won nine awards and the newsroom added five more.

Most years the awards would be presented at the association’s annual conference, but that conference was canceled months ago in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The advertising awards included two categories where The Observer won both first and second place. The Observer’s advertising awards were:

• Special Section: Back to School Calendar, first place.

• Special Section: Shop Local, second place.

• Signature Page: 12 Great Reasons to Shop Local, first place.

• Signature Page: Live Stock Show, second place.

• Real Estate, Black and White: Larry Franklin Properties, first place.

• Online Banner Ad or Tile Ad: White Weddings, first place.

• Full Color: Lazarus, first place.

• Newspaper Promotion: WOW!, second place.

• Motor Vehicle: Hutson Paint and Body, second place.

On the news side, three of the five awards went to individuals on The Observer’s staff, while the other two were in categories honoring the entire newsroom. The Observer’s news awards were:

• Layout and design, 2nd place.

• Sports Feature Story, Sports Editor Matthew Brown, 2nd place.

• Local News Coverage, 3rd place.

• Enterprise Story, Alan Mauldin, 3rd place.

• Editorial Writing, Managing Editor Kevin C. Hall, 3rd place.

The awards recognized work published in 2019. During that period, The Observer published three days a week and competed against weeklies, bi-weeklies and tri-weeklies of approximately the same circulation from across the state.