Postmedia wins three national awards

Postmedia News newspapers won three National Newspaper Awards Friday, earning recognition for their sports coverage, columns and coverage of breaking news.

Vicki Hall, John Kryk and Scott Stinson of Postmedia’s newly combined national sports team won an NNA for best sports coverage for their series on concussions. Inspired by the death of Ottawa teenager Rowan Stringer, who suffered a concussion and second-impact syndrome while playing rugby, the series investigated the lack of concussion protocols in Canadian youth sports.

The Ottawa Citizen’ s newsroom was honoured in the Breaking News category for its coverage of the killing of three women in the Ottawa Valley. Basil Borutski, a man with a history of police involvement and alleged domestic violence, faces three first-degree murder charges in the killings, and the Citizen’s coverage explored not just the crimes, but whether the justice system failed his victims.

Michelle Hauser of the Kingston Whig-Standard won in the columns category for her work on sex education and the elderly.

“The work of our NNA winners and finalists represents the depth of talent at Postmedia and our commitment to producing important, compelling stories to serve our readers,” said Gerry Nott, Postmedia’s senior vice-president of content. “I’m very proud of all of our journalists, their professionalism and hunger for great reporting.”

The awards were handed out at a ceremony Friday evening in Edmonton, where Postmedia had 11 other finalists.

The Ottawa Citizen’s Don Butler was a finalist in the politics category for his coverage of the Harper government’s plans to build a memorial to the victims of communism; Kate Heartfield was a finalist for her editorials; and David Pugliese, a three-time NNA winner for beat reporting, was again nominated for his coverage of the Canadian military.

The National Post’ s Claudia Cattaneo was a finalist in the business category for her coverage of the Canadian energy sector’s struggles, and Mike Faille and Dean Tweed were presentation finalists for their infographics.

The Saskatoon StarPhoenix’s Kevin Mitchell was a sports finalist for his story on a football team dealing with tragedy, and Gord Waldner was a finalist for his photo of a bull rider being rammed by a bull.

The Montreal Gazette’s Rene Bruemmer was a finalist in the short feature category for a story on outdoor rinks and climate change, and Linda Gyulai in the politics category for her sevenyear effort to expose corruption in Montreal’s municipal government.

The Calgary Herald’s newsroom was nominated in the breaking news category for coverage of an Amber Alert, and the Stratford Beacon Herald was nominated for coverage of a teacher denied time off to accompany his 90-year-old father to the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands.