Black Press Media newspapers took home 66 awards at the 2018 B.C. and Yukon Newspapers awards.
The Ma Murrays, which were held at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, celebrated the work of community journalists across the province for advertising, photography, writing in print and overall newspaper excellence. This year’s awards include a new category focussing on multimedia storytelling in the digital medium.
Dozens of editors and reporters were honoured with the Silver Quill award for more than 25 years in the industry and Black Press Media veteran Don Kendall received the Eric Dunning award for dedication and service to the community newspaper industry.
Black Press Media winners:
NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY A
Silver – Haida Gwaii Observer
Bronze – Clearwater Times
NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY B
Gold – Hope Standard
Silver – Revelstoke Review
Bronze – North Island Gazette
NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY C
Silver – Salmon Arm Observer
NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY E
Silver – Parksville/Qualicum Beach News
Bronze – Yukon News
NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY F
Gold – The Chilliwack Progress
Silver – Langley Times
Bronze – Penticton Western News
NEWSPAPER EXCELLENCE AWARD, CATEGORY G
Bronze – Vernon Morning Star
Photo awards:
FEATURE PHOTO AWARD, COLOUR OR BLACK & WHITE, UNDER 25,000
Gold – Yukon News, Joel Krahn - Bird Eclipse
Silver – Yukon News, Crystal Schick - Super Moon
Bronze – Yukon News, Mike Thomas - Have Canoe Will Travel
PHOTO ESSAY AWARD
Gold – Yukon News, Joel Krahn - Muskrat Jamboree
Bronze – Parksville/Qualicum Beach News, Peter McCully - Day in the Life of Parksville
PORTRAIT/PERSONALITY PHOTO AWARD
Bronze – Yukon News, Crystal Schick - African Music Festival
SPORTS PHOTO AWARD, UNDER 25,000
Gold – Yukon News, Crystal Schick - Butterfly Swimmer
Silver – Salmon Arm Observer, Lachlan Labere - Politician versus pugilist, a mayoral one-two
Bronze – Oak Bay News, Keri Coles - Flyin’ high
SPOT NEWS PHOTO AWARD, OVER 25,000
Gold – Abbotsford News, Vikki Hopes - Gang violence claims another life
Silver – The Chilliwack Progress, Paul Henderson - Overdose
SPOT NEWS PHOTO AWARD, UNDER 25,000
Gold – Terrace Standard, Quinn Bender - Train versus pedestrian
Silver – North Island Gazette, Tyson Whitney - Firefighter/house fire
Bronze - Revelstoke Review, Marissa Tiel – Standoff
Writing awards:
ARTS & CULTURE WRITING AWARD
Bronze – Campbell River Mirror, Mike Davies - Hope is such a precious commodity
COLUMNIST AWARD
Silver – Castlegar News, John White - Conversation with a moose / Bullying leaves deep scars behind
Bronze – Langley Times, Brenda Anderson - Taking Canada-US relations to the next level / Familiar name among the numbers
ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE AWARD
Gold – Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News, Andrew Bailey - Clayoquot Cleanup
Silver – Haida Gwaii Observer, Andrew Hudson - Deer Zero
ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING AWARD
Silver – Surrey Now-Leader, Tom Zytaruk - Trashed, a three-part series
Bronze – Yukon News, Lori Fox - Gwich’in prepare for another battle to stop drilling in caribou calving grounds
FEATURE ARTICLE AWARD, OVER 25,000
Gold – Nanaimo News Bulletin, Karl Yu - Nanaimo parent advocates for support
Silver – Nanaimo News Bulletin, Tamara Cunningham - Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district taking initial steps to reconciliation
FEATURE ARTICLE AWARD, UNDER 25,000
Silver – Burns Lake Lakes District News, Flavio Sachett Nienow - Wildlife traps concern dog owners
FEATURE SERIES AWARD
Silver – North Delta Reporter, Grace Kennedy - Making the Merge
Bronze – Cloverdale Reporter, Grace Kennedy - Life after the RCMP
JOHN COLLISON MEMORIAL AWARD FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Bronze – Langley Advance, Matthew Claxton - Murrayville House Discovery
SPORTS WRITING AWARD
Gold – The Chilliwack Progress, Eric Welsh - A soccer star’s tale of two worlds
Silver – Saanich News, Travis Paterson - Bullied player leaves Mount Doug, goes to B.C. final
MA MURRAY COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Gold – Kelowna Capital News, Karen Hill & Kevin Parnell - Get Involved
Silver – Langley Advance, Roxanne Hooper - Throwback Thursday… Way back!
Bronze – 100 Mile House Free Press, Evan Fentiman & Deb Theoret - Butt Out
SPECIAL SECTION AWARD, UNDER 25,000
Silver – Smithers Interior News, Grant Harris, Nick Briere & Laura Millsip - Mining Week 2017
Bronze – Oak Bay News, Christine van Reeuwyk, Janet Gairdner & Lyn Quan - Women in Business
Digital awards:
BREAKING NEWS VIDEO AWARD
Gold – Prince Rupert, The Northern View, Shannon Lough - A stand of defiance
Silver – Lake Country Calendar, Barry Gerding & Jen Zielinski - Lake Country couple devastated by fire
FEATURE VIDEO AWARD
Gold – Prince Rupert, The Northern View, Quinn Bender, Keili Bartlett, Shannon Lough & Todd Hamilton - Hammy the Deer
Bronze – Yukon News, Crystal Schick - The Nutcracker
MULTIMEDIA SERIES AWARD
Gold – Vancouver Island Free Daily, Ashley Wadhwani, Katya Slepian, Karly Blats, Arnold Lim - #MeToo at work
Silver – Williams Lake Tribune, Angie Mindus - Riske Creek ranchers go it alone in fight against dangerous wildfire
Bronze – Prince Rupert, The Northern View, Shannon Lough - Rebuilding the TSIMSHIAN LANGUAGE
SINGLE MULTIMEDIA BREAKING NEWS STORY
Gold – Penticton Western News, Staff - Search fails to turn up missing woman
Silver – Penticton Western News, Dustin Godfrey, Jen Zielinski & Staff - Firefighters battling fire on West Bench
Bronze – Saanich News, Travis Paterson - 11-year-old hit by car in Saanich
SINGLE MULTIMEDIA FEATURE STORY AWARD
Gold – Oak Bay News, Keri Coles - WWII veteran united with family of fallen soldier after decades-long search
Bronze – Goldstream News Gazette, Kendra Wong - What is it like to be part of the Canadian Armed Forces?
Advertising awards:
AD CAMPAIGN AWARD
Bronze – Mission City Record, Karen Murtagh - English Tarts
AD CAMPAIGN AWARD, COLLABORATIVE
Gold – Victoria News, Cara Robbins & Nick Waddington - Footloose Shoes
AD DESIGN AWARD, COLLABORATIVE, OVER 25,000
Bronze – Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News, Maryn Goms & Maggie Prince - Mark’s
AD DESIGN AWARD, COLLABORATIVE, UNDER 25,000
Bronze – Nelson Star, Sandy Leonard, Adam Mandseth & Marc-Andre Hamelin - Burger Week
AD DESIGN AWARD, OVER 25,000
Gold – Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News, Maryn Goms & Jackie Brittain - P&L Speedprint
Bronze – Goldstream News Gazette, Rebecca Wilde - Bucky’s Taphouse
AD DESIGN AWARD, UNDER 25,000
Silver – 100 Mile House Free Press, Evan Fentiman & Martina Dopf - Shop Local