Globe and Mail wins in 9 categories at National Newspaper Awards

EDMONTON – The Globe and Mail won in a leading nine categories at the National Newspaper Awards on Friday and Joanna Slater of the newspaper was named 2015 Journalist of the Year for coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe.

A release from the National Newspaper Awards said judges found that Slater’s reporting “allowed us to smell the fear of the dispossessed, to experience the uncertainty and heartbreak of a continent in turmoil.” They called her reporting “deeply moving and memorable.”

The Canadian Press and Montreal La Presse won two awards each. Eight other news organizations won one each — the Brandon Sun, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, the Hamilton Spectator, the Kingston Whig-Standard, the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, the Ottawa Citizen, Postmedia and the Toronto Star.

The winners were announced at a gala dinner Friday in Edmonton.

The Globe and Mail won in a variety of categories: Arts and Entertainment, Beat Reporting, Business, International, Investigations, Long Feature, Politics, Presentation and Sports Photo. Slater, the Journalist of the Year, is a Globe foreign correspondent.

The Canadian Press won in News Feature Photo and News Photo while Montreal La Presse won in Editorials and Short Feature.

Here are the winners, as released by the National Newspaper Awards:

-Arts and Entertainment: Greg McArthur, Kate Taylor and Jacquie McNish of the Globe and Mail for coverage of philanthropic donations to the Royal Ontario Museum.

-Beat Reporting: Kathryn Blaze Baum of the Globe and Mail for coverage of indigenous communities.

-Breaking News: Ottawa Citizen team for coverage of a triple slaying.

-Business: Jacquie McNish and Niall McGee of the Globe and Mail for a look into the investigation of allegations in the online gambling industry.

-Columns: Michelle Hauser of the Kingston Whig-Standard for columns on sex education and the elderly.

-Editorial Cartooning: Bruce MacKinnon, Halifax Chronicle Herald.

-Editorials: Paul Journet of Montreal La Presse.

-Explanatory Work: Jon Wells of the Hamilton Spectator for looking inside McMaster University’s anatomy lab.

-Feature Photo: Tim Smith, Brandon Sun, for a photo of a lone skater on the ice of Clear Lake.

-International: Joanna Slater of the Globe and Mail for coverage of the refugee crisis in Europe.

-Investigations: Renata D’Aliesio, Globe and Mail, for her quest to unravel the spike in suicides among Afghanistan veterans.

-Local Reporting: Karissa Donkin and Adam Huras, New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, for a two-year Access to Information Act battle over daycare inspection reports.

-Long Feature: Sierra Skye Gemma, Globe and Mail, for a story on pornography and healthy attitudes toward sex and love.

-News Feature Photo: Justin Tang, The Canadian Press, for an election-night picture of Justin Trudeau embracing his mother.

-News Photo: Dave Chidley, The Canadian Press, for a photo of a protester engulfed in flames.

-Politics: Adrian Morrow, Globe and Mail, for coverage of secret payments by the provincial Liberal government to the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers’ Federation.

-Presentation: Bryan Gee, Benjamin MacDonald, Globe and Mail, for Globe Style portfolio.

-Project of the Year: Toronto Star team for a project on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

-Short Feature: Michele Ouimet, Montreal La Presse, for a story on the end of a way of life in Newfoundland.

-Sports: Vicki Hall, John Kryk and Scott Stinson, Postmedia, for a series on concussions in sport.

-Sports Photo: Fred Lum, Globe and Mail, for a shot of Jose Bautista’s famous bat flip.

Category winners received cheques for $1,000 and a certificate of award. The Journalist of the Year, chosen from among NNA category winners by a panel of previous National Newspaper Award laureates, was awarded $2,500.

The National Newspaper Awards are open to daily newspapers, news agencies and online news sites approved for entry by the Board of Governors of the National Newspaper Awards. The NNA says 66 finalists were nominated in the 21 categories, selected from 1,100 entries published in 2015. It is the 67th year of the prestigious awards.