The Walton Tribune wins a slew of awards at the Georgia Press Association

The Walton Tribune brought home a slew of awards last week at the Georgia Press Association’s 139th Annual Convention in the 2026 Better Newspaper Contest, including a second-place finish in General Excellence in its division.

In addition to the overall second place finish, the newspaper’s staff found success in three other categories, including second place finishes in editorial page, special issues and community service.

The newspaper was particularly singled out for its coverage of the property tax debate in Walton County and the ensuring recall saga that followed involving Walton County Chair David Thompson.

Individually, Tribune writers and photographers brought home nearly a dozen other awards on the editorial side of the contest.

Managing editor Stephen Milligan won second place in education writing, while publisher Patrick Graham won first place in spot news photograph, first place in magazine cover design, third place in serious column and third place in magazine business feature.

Composing manager Tabitha Graham won third place for best use of graphics and illustration and third place for magazine cover design.

David Johnson won third place for sports coverage, while Brett Fowler won first place for both sports photograph and sports feature photograph.

The newspaper and Tabitha Graham also took home several awards in the advertising side of the contest, placing in multiple categories for ads within The Tribune.

The newspaper won five first place prizes for real estate, home furnishings and appliances, newspaper promotion, small page ad and best magazine ad.

The Tribune also earned an additional seven second place finishes in motor vehicle, home furnishings and appliances, miscellaneous, full color, classified section/page, small page ad and advertising campaign.

“The staff at The Walton Tribune continues to set the standard for community journalism in the great state of Georgia,” Graham said. “For more than two decades now The Tribune has placed, many of those years placed first, in the General Excellence category, the highest recognition a newspaper can receive, which is an incredible testament to the constancy to purpose our folks come to work with every single day to serve our readers, advertisers and the community to the best of their ability. Job very well done by all.”