Spectator journalists honoured at National Newspaper Awards

Journalists with The Hamilton Spectator and the Waterloo Region Record were honoured at the 2021 National Newspaper Awards Friday evening.

Waterloo Region Record editorial writer John Roe was a finalist for the Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing for three pieces on A Better Tent City, the need for an Indigenous governor general, and a sexual assault victim fined for violating a publication ban protecting her own identity. This was the eighth nomination for Roe, whose work also appears regularly in the Spectator; he won in 2006, 2012 and 2013.

At the Spectator, photojournalist Barry Gray was a finalist in the breaking news photo category for an image of protesters toppling a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald.

Spectator editorial cartoonist Graeme MacKay was a finalist for a second year in a row.

The Spectator’s Steve Buist, a reporter on secondment to the Toronto Star, was a finalist with a team from Torstar and the National Observer for the John Wesley Dafoe Award for Politics. Their work shone a light on the province’s relationships with groups poised to benefit from proposed highways.

Results for the 73rd National Newspaper Awards, recognizing excellence and achievement from newspapers, news agencies and online news sites across Canada, were announced via a webcast.

There were 66 winners and finalists from 22 news organizations in 22 categories, selected from a total of 869 entries.

Améli Pineda and Magdaline Boutros of Le Devoir were named journalists of the year, the first time that award has gone to more than one journalist. With 10 wins, The Globe and Mail was the most-honoured organization; the Toronto Star, The Chronicle Herald (Halifax) and RMO Today each had two wins.

There were 66 winners and finalists from 22 news organizations in 22 categories, selected from a total of 869 entries