Best in Canadian newspaper journalism honoured

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This article was published 06/05/2022 (1262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada’s newspaper journalists were lauded for their outstanding work in 2021 on topics that included the national reckoning over residential schools, domestic violence in Quebec and Toronto investment scandals, at the annual National Newspaper Awards Friday.

The Globe and Mail was the top winner, earning 10 of the 22 prizes handed out during a virtual event Friday.

Three Winnipeg Free Press reporters, its editor and a columnist were finalists in four categories.

“To be recognized as a National Newspaper Award finalist is a great honour as it means our journalism is judged to be among the best in the land. These nominations, much like our previous NNA awards, speak to our commitment to deliver the very best for our growing audience,” Free Press editor Paul Samyn said.

Ryan Thorpe was nominated twice: the investigations category for a series on living conditions and frequent inmate deaths in Stony Mountain prison; as well as the long feature category for chronicling the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malak Abas, Dean Pritchard and editor Samyn were nominated in the breaking news category for heart-rending stories about the near-fatal stabbing inside Seven Oaks Hospital last October.

Columnist Jen Zoratti got a nod in the arts category for a profile of a third-generation Inuit artist.

Samyn noted the importance of high-quality newspaper journalism amid changes in the media landscape.

“At a time when it can be hard to know where to turn to for information, you can trust in a world increasingly filled with disinformation, that Canada’s newspapers and the independent journalism they deliver from coast to coast to coast matters now more than ever,” Samyn said.

“Celebrating the critical role newspapers play in this country and honouring the best in Canadian journalism are what the National Newspaper Awards have been about since 1949.”

The Globe’s Grant Robertson, who along with Rachel Brady won in sports for an investigation into eating disorders and a sometimes-toxic culture in amateur sport, had been nominated for the 16th time and won for the eighth this year.

The Halifax Chronicle Herald, RMO Today and the Toronto Star each had two awards. The Canadian Press, Capital Daily, Le Devoir, the London Free Press, the National Observer and La Presse each had one win.

Capital Daily’s Tori Marlan’s win in the Long Feature category for a tale about a fugitive from justice in the U.S. taking control of a hotel in B.C. was the first for the Victoria-based online outlet.

First established by the Toronto Press Club in 1949, the competition is now open to newspapers, news agencies and certain, approved online news sites.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca