Spec writer wins National Newspaper Award for concussion investigation
TORONTO — Spectator investigative reporter Steve Buist has won a National Newspaper Award for sports writing.
Buist’s four-part series about concussions in the Canadian Football League took two-and-ahalf years of research before it was published in The Spectator last year.
This is Buist’s third win and eighth nomination in the national competition, which celebrated its 69th year during a gala in Toronto Friday night.
Grant LaFleche, a writer at the St. Catharines Standard, took home the award for local reporting.
LaFleche won for a series of stories on the impact of child abuse by a Roman Catholic priest.
The Spectator and the Standard are both owned by Metroland Media Group (Torstar Corp.)
“It’s a reflection of the commitment and hard work these reporters and the entire newsrooms do each day,” Paul Berton, The Spectator’s editor-in-chief, said of the wins.
This year, there were 63 nominations in 21 categories, selected from 881 entries for work published in 2017.
The Globe and Mail led all entrants with 18 nominations. The Toronto Star had 12 nominations and La Presse of Montreal had eight nods.
All of the results weren’t available by press time on Friday night.
The annual competition is open to daily newspapers, news agencies and online news sites approved for entry by the NNA Board of Governors.