Postmedia journalists earn national awards

Postmedia journalists won four National Newspaper Awards Friday, in categories recognizing their achievements in covering breaking news, local reporting and photography.

The newsrooms of the Edmonton Journal, the Edmonton Sun and Fort McMurray Today were honoured in the breaking news category for their combined coverage of last May’s Alberta wildfire and the unprecedented evacuation of nearly 90,000 people from Fort McMurray and the surrounding area. Fort McMurray Today’s staff were among those ordered to leave, continuing to report on the disaster even as they fled to safety.

Leah Hennel of the Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun won in the Feature Photo category for her shot of a horseback rider on the range. It was Hennel’s second win in the category, having also been recognized in 2013.

The Toronto Sun’s Stan Behal won his third NNA, this time in the News Photo category for his shot of a grieving father after his daughter was killed in an automobile accident. Behal had twice won the NNA for best sports photo, in 1988 and 2014.

Paul Schliesmann of the Kingston Whig-Standard won in the local reporting category.

Schliesmann was recognized for his work reporting on the living standards of marginalized people in his community.

The NNAs are open to daily newspapers, news agencies, as well as online news sites approved for entry by the NNA board of governors. There were 70 nominees in 21 categories, selected from nearly 1,000 entries published in 2016.

Winning journalists received a prize of $1,000.

The Globe and Mail, which hosted this year’s gala in their Toronto event space, led all outlets with 11 wins.