The Yukon News has won 13 awards this year from the Canadian Community Newspaper Association, including three first-place prizes.
Jesse Winter, who left the News last summer to pursue a masters degree in Ottawa, netted four awards for his writing and photography.
Winter won the top prize for business writing for his feature on the Carcross/Tagish First Nation’s efforts to train local tradespeople and build community housing. He also won a first-place prize for best spot news photo, with his shot of concerned onlookers at a car crash.
Winter won second place for best news story on Michael Nehass filing a human rights complaint over his time spent in solitary confinement. And he took third place for best feature story for his piece on Larissa
Rueckenbach’s struggles to obtain a pricey drug to treat her rare form of cystic fibrosis.
Editor John Thompson’s snarky take on Stephen Harper’s visit to Whitehorse won the top prize for national editorial writing.
Jacqueline Ronson won a second-place prize for best environmental writing for her series on Yukon’s debate over hydraulic fracturing.
Tom Patrick took second for best sports photo, with a well-timed photograph of a mountain biker taking a dive off Whitehorse’s clay cliffs. And Alistair Maitland took second for his feature photo of participants in the Ice Bucket Challenge.
Wyatt Tremblay received a third-place prize for his cartoon about concerns in Watson Lake about fracking.
The newspaper also received a second-place win for best multimedia feature for an online slideshow of baby animals at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. And the News garnered third-place prizes for best front page, best headline writing and best website design.