Four Standard journalists earn provincial honours for coverage
Corruption in municipal government, library book-wielding protesters … and a prime minister balancing a baby on his hand.
That’s some of the news coverage from 2019 the St. Catharines Standard news team has been singled out for by the Ontario Newspaper Awards.
Reporters Karena Walter and Grant LaFleche, and photographers Julie Jocsak and Bob Tymczyszyn, were named winners Friday among newspapers with circulation of 25,000 or less.
“This year’s awards demonstrate the wide range of talents the journalists at the Standard have at their disposal to better inform our readers,” said editor-in-chief Angus Scott. “Those talents include strong investigative work, the ability to provide insightful spot news coverage and spectacular photography.”
Jocsak’s photo of a man being arrested after a vehicle crashed through the wall of a St. Catharines business, killing the owner inside, won in the Spot News Photography category. Runners-up were Terry Bridge and Galen Simmons, both of the Stratford Beacon Herald.
Jocsak, who joined the Standard nearly 13 years ago, was also a runner-up in Feature
Photography, for her photos of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau balancing a seven-month-old baby on his hand during a visit to a Niagara Falls diner. The other runner-up was Ronald Zajac, of the Brockville Recorder and Times.
Tymczyszyn, a 30-year Standard veteran, won in Feature Photography. His photo captured the Red Arrows, a Royal Air Force aerobatic team, flying in formation over the Horseshoe Falls. Tymczyszyn was also honoured as a runner-up in Sports Photography for his shot of Jessie MacDonald, of the Brock Wrestling Club, winning at the Canadian Wrestling Trials in Niagara Falls.
Mark Malone, of the Chatham Daily News, was named winner while Brian Thompson of the Brantford Expositor was the other runner-up.
Walter, who has written for the Standard for the past 20 years, earned a Spot News Coverage prize for her article on Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff's staff calling police to report a group of 15 retirees and seniors staging a “read-in” at his constituency office.
Runners-up were Steph Crosier and Elliot Ferguson of the Kingston Whig-Standard and Luke Hendry of the Belleville Intelligencer.
LaFleche, who joined the
Standard team 22 years ago, was recognized in two categories.
He won in Beat Reporting for articles from his investigative series All The Chair’s Men, on funding tussles over the Canada Summer Games, and on a neo-Nazi leader working on a local election campaign. Runners-up were Sabrina Bedford of the Brockville Recorder and Times, and Alan Hale of the Cornwall Standard Freeholder.
In Special Projects, LaFleche and Hamilton Spectator reporter Joanna Frketich were runners-up for their work exploring changes to Ontario’s health-care system.
The winner was the London Free Press newsroom. Other runners-up were the team of Trevor Wilhelm of the Windsor Star and Jennifer Bieman and Randy Richmond, both from the London Free Press.
The awards gala, scheduled for April 25, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.