Four Star projects honoured
Journalists recognized for groundbreaking, innovative work
An in-depth investigation into police who lie in court that triggered a policy change in Ontario.
A series unearthing the way hightech hockey sticks are changing Canada’s game.
A heart-wrenching story of a seemingly ordinary woman who was anything but. And an inventive graphic novel about two weeks living underground.
These four Toronto Star projects earned top honours at the 64th National Newspaper Awards gala at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa on Friday.
“These awards reflect the Star’s excellence across a broad spectrum, from investigations that get action for the people of Toronto, to storytelling on multiple platforms, to design and sports reporting,” said Star editor Michael Cooke. “It’s a wonderful affirmation of the excellent work Star journalists do every day.”
Counting these awards, the Star has taken home 133 NNAs since their inception in 1949.
There were 1,430 entries to this year’s competition for work done in 2012.
Star reporters David Bruser and Jesse McLean won the investigative category for their shocking series, Police Who Lie. The investigative reporters highlighted 100 cases across Canada in which judges had suspected police officers of deceit on the stand.
It triggered an investigation by Ontario’s attorney general that culminated in rules requiring the Crown to report cases where a judge has found or suspects an officer lied.
McLean was part of the Star team that took last year’s investigative award for an exposé on elder abuse in Ontario nursing homes, as well as the 2012 recipient of the Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prize for Canada’s top young journalist. This is the third NNA for Bruser.
In the presentation category, the Star’s Spencer Wynn, Nuri Ducassi, Raffi Anderian and Katie Daubs won for their inventive graphic novel about reporter Daubs’ two-week stay in Toronto’s underground Path system. The category recognizes exceptional newspaper design, imaginatively conceived and creatively executed.
AStar team including Ducassi also won the presentation category last year. Wynn previously won the category for work in 2007.
Star sports columnist Dave Feschuk took home the prize for sports writing for his in-depth look into how high-tech hockey sticks are acting as a “great equalizer” on the ice, changing how goals are scored.
A Star team of writers, editors and visual journalists won the long fea- tures category for a compelling profile of Shelagh Gordon, a 55-yearold woman who died suddenly just over a year ago. The Star received nine nominations. Its runners-up include: a Star team for project of the year, for a series on autism that sparked an investigation by Ontario’s ombudsman; Mary Ormsby in the explana- tory category for her examination of why horses win big races; Jayme Poisson in the short features category for a story about a woman whose husband killed their son and himself; Catherine Porter, in the long features category, for her heart-rending series on Stella, a 2year-old girl with an inoperable brain tumour, and her family’s jour- ney to her death; and Jordan Himelfarb for editorial writing.
The Star shared the top awardwinning spot with the Globe and Mail and Montreal’s La Presse, each with four awards. The Canadian Press was the only other organization to receive multiple awards, with two. Full list of winners at thestar.com