Postmedia nominated for 12 National Newspaper Awards
Recognizing excellence in daily newspapers
Postmedia’s journalists have been nominated for 12 National Newspaper Awards, recognizing excellence in daily newspaper work in Canada.
The Edmonton Journal’s three nominations were the most of any Postmedia newspaper. City columnist Paula Simons was nominated in the columns category for a series of pieces on the death in care of a young Indigenous girl named Serenity. The Journal’s Malcolm Mayes earned a nomination for editorial cartooning, and Larry Wong of the Journal and Edmonton Sun was nominated for best news photo for his shot of a congregation mourning three members of their church killed when a suspect f l eeing police crashed into their vehicle.
Nominated twice each were the London Free Press, National Post, Ottawa Citizen and Vancouver Sun/ Province. Randy Richmond of the Free Press was recognized in the local reporting category for his coverage of scandalous conditions and mismanagement at London’s troubled Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre. The Free Press’ Jane Sims and Morris Lamont and the National Post’s Brice Hall and Mike Faille were also nominated for project of the year for their series 27 Minutes, which explored how a woman incredibly survived after a car accident that resulted in her being submerged in ice-cold water for almost half an hour.
The Post was also nominated for work by David Akin with Chris Selley that revealed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s secret vacation on the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas, reporting that resulted in Trudeau becoming the first prime minster found to have broken the federal Conflict of Interest Act. In the long features category, Richard Warnica was nominated for his indepth profile of right- wing provocateur Ezra Levant and his Rebel Media empire.
The Ottawa Citizen’s Christina Spencer was nominated for editorial writing and Ashley Fraser’s photograph of a surfer on the Ottawa River earned her a nomination for best feature photo.
Dan Fumano and Matt Robinson of the Vancouver Sun/Province were nominated for project of the year for their examination of the case of Phillip Tallio. Larry Pynn, meanwhile, was nominated in explanatory work for his multi- faceted exploration of B.C.’s grizzly bear trophy hunt.
Bryan Passifiume of the Calgary Herald/Sun secured Postmedia’s other nomination, for his coverage of a raging wildfire in Waterton Lakes National Park.
“Our journalists continue to show they are among the very best in the country, with nominations across a broad spectrum of categories — editorial writing and cartooning, feature writing, spot news, politics, columns, photography and feature writing,” said Gerry Nott, Postmedia’s senior vicepresident for content.
The NNAs, now in their 69th year, will be handed out at a ceremony in Toronto on May 4. The awards are given to daily newspapers, news agencies and online news sites the NNA board of governors approve for entry.