It's hard to be humble when you're No. 1

Cover your ears. It's time for us to toot our own horn.

The staff of The Columbia County News-Times, for the third year in a row, is thrilled that the newspaper has been named one of the best in Georgia.

The Georgia Press Association, using impartial judges from other states' journalism associations, ranked The News-Times first in General Excellence in the annual Better Newspapers Contest.

The award carries plenty of reasons for pride, but it's also humbling: Such prizes are meaningless without readers. And it is to those readers that we pledge not to let the applause go to our heads: Praise is good, but it carries a demand for improvement.

Still, it sure sounds good!