Nunatsiaq News team earns 14 award nominations for community coverage

Nunatsiaq News’ coverage of Nunavut and Nunavik has earned 14 award nominations from the Quebec Community Newspapers Association.

Reporters Daron Letts and Cedric Gallant and production co-ordinator Krista Klassen led the way with two nominations each, while the paper and its entire staff received three nominations for best front page, best community newspaper promotion, and best website.

“These individual and team nominations are a reflection of the good work that goes on every day at Nunatsiaq News,” managing editor Corey Larocque said. “I know that our journalists are dedicated to covering the news that affects Nunavut and Nunavik. These results should convey to readers the high calibre of journalism we’re giving them.”

Letts is nominated for Best Sports Story for his coverage of the annual hockey game between Iqaluit firefighters and RCMP officers competing for the Guns and Hoses trophy. His article looking at a polar bear problem in Arviat also earned a nomination in the Best Environmental Story category.

Nunatsiaq News is nominated in the Best Front Page category for the Quebec Community Newspapers Association awards for this April 19, 2024, page.

Gallant is nominated in the Best Feature Series for his stories that looked at the 20^th anniversary of Nunavik Parks. He is also up for an award in the Best Nature/Environment Photo category for a picture he shot showing the breathtaking landscape at Pingualuit Park.

Klassen is nominated in the Best Advertisement category, and is also nominated in the Best Advertising Creation Large Format category, for ads that were a half-page or larger.

Reporter Jeff Pelletier is nominated in the Best News Photo category for his shot that captured then-prime minister Justin Trudeau inside an igloo during his visit to Iqaluit to sign the devolution agreement in January 2024.

In the category for Best Arts and Entertainment Story, reporter Arty Sarkisian is nominated for his article on the Matchbox Gallery in Rankin Inlet, the world’s hub for Inuit ceramics that was facing closure.

At the Quebec Community Newspapers Association awards for 2024, reporter Cedric Gallant is nominated for Best Feature Photo for this shot inside Pingualuit National Park in Nunavik. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)

In the category for Best Feature Page, web editor Gord Howard and Nunatsiaq News staff are nominated for the story, photos and page layout highlighting a group of Nunavut fiddlers preparing to leave for a fiddlers’ summit in Whitehorse. The page appeared in the Aug. 30 print edition.

Longtime Taissumani columnist Kenn Harper is nominated in the Best Column Writing category. Three of his columns from 2024 were submitted for consideration.

And in the Best Education Story category, former Nunatsiaq News reporter Madalyn Howitt is nominated for her reporting on the Ataguttaaluk Elementary School in Igloolik where 127 repair issues were identified.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Montebello, Que., on June 13.