Vanguard newsroom up for three awards
The Tri-County Vanguard has been named a finalist in three categories of the Atlantic Journalism Awards for coverage the newsroom provided during 2023.
Part of the biggest news story in Nova Scotia last year – the wildfires – happened in southwestern Nova Scotia when the Barrington Lake wildfire in Shelburne County broke out and threatened entire communities for weeks.
The daily and weekly online and print coverage provided by Vanguard journalists Tina Comeau and Kathy Johnson for the TriCounty Vanguard, Saltwire. com and other Saltwire publications throughout May, June and July is a finalist in the Breaking News (print) category.
There was much to cover during the Barrington Lake and other wildfires in the southwest region.
Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in many communities; many homes and structures were destroyed; businesses were forced to close; many roads and a large section of Highway 103 were closed; schools were canceled for prolonged periods; a hospital and seniors long-term facilities were evacuated; the end of the commercial lobster fishing season was impacted; animals and wildlife needed rescue; community volunteers,
officials and first responders were kept busy tending to the fire and the needs of those impacted; and then there was the recovery effort from what would be Nova Scotia's largest wildfire in history.
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Vanguard journalist and lead editor Tina Comeau is also a finalist in two other categories.
Her heart-warming account of the decades-long friendship between Randy Muise and Mark Deveau, known as the “dynamic duo” for the Yarmouth Jr. A Mariners organization, and who are also beloved members of the Yarmouth community, is a finalist in the Profile (print) group.
Comeau's story about members of the first Yarmouth minor hockey team – the 1971-1972 Yarmouth Braves Bantam B team – to ever win a provincial title and who finally got to hoist a championship banner after 51 years is a finalist in Sports Reporting and Writing for any medium.
AJA winners will be announced during the awards show at the Nova Scotia Community College's Ivany Campus in Dartmouth on May 4.