The editor of the Pine Bluff Commercial earned second place for commentary in a contest organized by America's Newspapers for his coverage of the failings of a city tax initiative that promised civic and economic restoration.

Bryon Tate's 2024 editorials on the city's yearslong Go Forward Pine Bluff campaign were recognized among newspapers with circulation less than 35,000 in the Carmage Walls Commentary Award, named after the late newspaper owner Benjamin Carmage Walls, America's Newspapers announced Tuesday.

The group was formed by the merger of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and Inland Press Association in 2019.

The city sold residents on promises of civic revitalization, from much-needed repairs to crumbling downtown businesses to showpieces like a Ferris wheel at La

See Full Page