Spectator reporter up for national award
Hamilton Spectator reporter Steve Buist has earned a National Newspaper Awards nomination in the sports category.
Buist, who has won three NNAs, is in the running for his series exploring the impact of concussions on retired Canadian football players.
“Once again this year, another nomination for Steve Buist and the entire team at The Spectator,” said editor-in-chief Paul Berton after the finalists were announced Monday. “It's a testament to the excellent journalism they do each day.”
Buist’s scientific research project, which included a team of experts from McMaster University and St. Joseph's Healthcare, used brain imaging technology to look at the long-term effects of concussions and reported hits to the head on retired CFL players. The project took more than two years to complete and is believed to be the first of its kind.
“I’m really grateful that The Spectator allowed this project to be done,” he said. “Without the support of top management at The Spec, this never would have happened.”
Buist said he’s also thankful to the retired players who agreed to take part in the project.
“It’s a pretty serious, dangerous situation right now these football players are facing and so I’m just so grateful that they decided to allow us the opportunity to study them and their brains.”
The Globe and Mail nabbed 18 NNA nominations, with The Toronto Star following with 12 nods and La Presse landing eight. The Spec’s sister paper, the St. Catharines Standard, scored a local reporting nomination for Grant LaFleche’s series on the impact of child abuse by a Roman Catholic priest.
Winners will be announced on May 4.