Tjournal

The Tri-County Journal was founded in January 1996 by the husband and wife team of Richard and Michelle Harris of Buena Vista. The office is located at 71 Webb Lane in Buena Vista, Georgia.
   The newspaper originally served Marion, Schley and Webster counties. In January of 2002, the newspaper began to also cover Chattahoochee County. At that time the paper was technically renamed The Tri-County Journal & Chattahoochee Chronicle.
   In addition to providing news coverage of these four counties, the newspaper serves as the legal organ of Marion County and of Chattahoochee County.
   In 1997 the newspaper received the Professional Association of Georgia Educator’s annual Media Award for Excellence in Education Reporting. Also in 1997, the newspaper’s special tabloid publication People of the Tri-County Area received the “Award of Excellence” from the Printing Industry Association of Georgia. In 2004, the newspaper received the Third Place Award for “Local News Coverage” from the Georgia Press Association. In 2005, the newspaper received four awards from the Georgia Press Association: Investigative Reporting (2nd Place), Hard News Writing (2nd Place), Sports Reporting (2nd Place) and Religion Coverage (3rd Place). The newspaper has also received various awards and certificates of appreciation from area groups, including the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life committees in Marion and Schley counties, the Buena Vista/Marion County Chamber of Commerce, the Tri-County High School baseball program, the Marion Middle School baseball program, and the Air Force Recruiting Service.

Newspaper wins six awards in 2006
from Georgia Press Association

   The Georgia Press Association announced the winners of its annual newspaper awards at the association’s convention on June 16, 2006 in Savannah. The Tri-County Journal & Chattahoochee Chronicle received five awards for its reporting in 2005.
   The newspaper was included in “Division H,” which is the largest division and includes all Georgia weekly newspapers with a circulation of 3,000 or under.
   The newspaper’s awards were:
   * Investigative Reporting – First Place;
   * Religion Coverage – First Place;
   * Sports Writing – Second Place;
   * Hard News Writing – Third Place;
   * Education Reporting – Third Place.
   The Tri-County Journal & Chattahoochee Chronicle was the only weekly newspaper in the area to receive awards from the GPA. Most of the weekly newspaper awards went to papers in north Georgia and the Atlanta area.
   The weekly newspapers located nearest to the part of the state covered by The Tri-County Journal & Chattahoochee Chronicle that also won awards included: The Blackshear Times (G Division, 2nd Place – Page One); Manchester Star-Mercury (G Division, 3rd Place, Layout & Design, 2nd Place – Spot News Photo, and 3rd Place – Sports Photo); The Herald-Leader of Fitzgerald (F Division, 1st Place - Editorial Writing); The Blackshear Times (G Division, 1st Place – Editorial Writing, and 3rd Place – Feature Writing); and The West Georgia Beacon of Hogansville (H Division, 1st Place – Feature Writing, 2nd Place – Investigative Reporting; 2nd Place – Editorial Writing, and 2nd Place – Hard News Writing.)
   The five awards won this year by The Tri-County Journal & Chattahoochee Chronicle were the most won by the newspaper in a single year. Last year, the newspaper won four GPA awards (Investigative Reporting – 2nd Place; Hard News Writing – 2nd Place; Sports Writing – 2nd Place; and Religion Coverage – 3rd Place). In 2004, the newspaper received the Georgia Press Association’s 3rd place award for Local News Coverage.