Journal wins four feature awards
The Edmonton Journal’s feature sections and two of its writers have won awards from the Society for Features Journalism 25th annual Excellence in Feature Writing Contest that were announced Wednesday.
“These international awards reflect the high-quality work our newsroom creates every day,” said editor-in-chief Lucinda Chodan. “This is the third year in a row that the Journal has shared top honours in the best feature section category, which is something to be especially proud of.”
Writer Sandra Sperounes won second place in the arts and entertainment category for a mid-sized newspaper for an article about why fans pay big bucks for backstage access to stars.
Liz Nicholls received an honourable mention in the same category for a piece about Teatro La Quindicina’s 30th anniversary.
Writer Marty Klinkenberg won two awards. His article about students in Eaglesham spending a night in the trenches to honour the sacrifice of Canadian soldiers was handed a second-place prize in the general features category.
He received another secondplace award in the integrated storytelling category for his piece about a dedicated group of entrepreneurs who succeeded in keeping the Battle River Railway in eastern Alberta running. Multimedia producer Ryan Jackson created a slide show/videography feature to go along with the article.
The Journal’s feature sections, including examples from last year’s Arts and Life, Style and Insight sections, were named among the best for a mid-sized newspaper along with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Virginian Pilot.
“We’re impressed with the allocation of resources, time and space for some compelling local stories,” said Merrilee Cox, executive director of the SFJ. “The size of the photographs alone is something most newspapers gave up years ago in the heat of tight budgets, a declining news hole and the 50-inch web. Stories were well-written and wellreported and reflected the diversity of the population.”
The Journal won three awards from the SFJ last year.
The SFJ is a North American organization that promotes the craft of writing and innovation in lifestyle, arts and entertainment journalism. The awards will be presented at a conference at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., in October.