On the strength of six first-place awards, the Southern Standard received the General Excellence Award for the newspaper exhibiting the highest overall quality at the Tennessee Press Association banquet Friday in Nashville.The Standard placed in nearly every category and won first-place honors for editorials, news reporting, spot news coverage, humor column, feature story, and promotion of newspapers.The newspaper earned second place for make-up and appearance, education reporting, news photograph, and public service. “It’s impressive to see the Standard compete against the best newspapers in the state and excel in such a way,” said publisher Patricia Zechman. “We are extremely happy with six first-place awards.