The Citizen has been named the top small daily newspaper in the state by the New York State Associated Press Association.

The newspaper earned the Newspaper of Distinction honor at the association's annual awards dinner held Wednesday night in Syracuse.

The Citizen competes in the under 25,000 circulation for this award, which the paper last won in 2002.

“We have a great group of talented individuals who work tirelessly to produce a new product every day,” said Rick Emanuel, the newspaper's publisher.

“It is nice to receive recognition like this from your peers,” he said. “Our main focus always has been and always will be to provide residents of Cayuga County with the local news that affects their everyday lives.”

The newspaper, owned by Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprise, also won seven awards in the association's 2006-2007 editorial content competition, including three first-place honors.

Former staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel earned a first-place award in the business/finance writing category for a piece on milk prices and their impact on the local agricultural industry. She also captured a first-place distinction in the beat reporting category for her coverage of police and courts.

Former staff writer Kristina Martino took first place in the features writing category for her package on the growth of the Mennonite population in Cayuga County.

In the arts/entertainment criticism category, staff writer David Wilcox received a second-place award for his Citizen Gamer column.

Photo editor Jason Rearick earned second place in the spot news photo category for his image of a firefighter carrying a child at an accident scene.

Staff photographer Jennifer Meyers' photo illustration for a snow softball game preview story placed third in the photo illustration category.

In the editorial writing category, managing editor Mike Dowd received an honorable mention nod for his editorials.