Michener Award honours public service journalism

The Michener Awards Foundation named Nunatsiaq News this week as one of six finalists in the running this year for the prestigious Michener Award, one of the highest distinctions in Canadian journalism.

The annual Michener Award was created in 1970 by the late Roland Michener, then the Governor General of Canada, in honour of his daughter Wendy. It is awarded annually to a news organization that produces the finest example of journalism serving the public interest.

The Nunatsiaq News nomination is for the paper's "innovative coverage of the impact of climate change on the Canadian Arctic," the Michener Foundation said this week in a news release.

"We are extremely honoured to be recognized for our coverage of climate change in the Arctic," said Steven Roberts, the publisher of Nunatsiaq News.

"Since the late 90s, our editors and reporters felt is was essential to cover climate change as part of our ongoing news coverage because the Arctic is ground zero with respect to the impact of global warming," Roberts said.

That coverage of climate change, which dates back to 1997, includes stories that have been picked by news organizations in every corner of the planet: the sighting of a robin in Iqaluit, the use of air conditioners in the Arctic, and the complex issues created by the impact of climate change on people and wildlife, including polar bears.

Nunatsiaq News was one of the first newspapers in the world to add a climate change section. Despite the expense, the newspaper has supported reporters in coverage of international climate change meetings in southern Canada, Greenland and Iceland.

The other nominees are: CBC's Fifth Estate for coverage of the Ontario lottery system; the Globe and Mail for coverage of the impact of cancer on Canadians; the Toronto Star, the Hamilton Spectator and the Kitchener-Waterloo Record for coverage of aviation safety; La Presse for coverage of wine pricing in Quebec; and the Prince George Citizen for a series on safety issues affecting log truck drivers.

Governor General Michaëlle Jean will announce the winner June 8 at a ceremony inside Rideau Hall.

Nunatsiaq News also received 11 award nominations from the Quebec Community Newspapers Association for work done in 2006.

The nominations are for:

• Best Feature Page ("Sharing the art of the amautik," Jane George, May 10);
• Best Ad ("Best of the Best," Bill McConkey, June 16);
• Best Feature Story ("Life in the passing out lane," John Thompson, Feb. 3);
• Best Business Story ("Absence of air link could ground Nunavut-Greenland trade deal," Arthur Johnson, July 14);
• Best Investigative/In-Depth Reporting ("Police told to cut southern drug operations," Jane George, May 5);
• Best Arts and Entertainment Story, ("Cool woman, hot words," Jim Bell, Jan. 13);
• Best Local Editorial ("Welcome to Nunavik, the stoner's paradise," Jim Bell, Oct. 20);
• Best General Editorial ("Polar bears and global warming: who's right?" Jim Bell, June 2);
• Best Environmental Story ("A toxic journey from Europe," Jane George, Feb. 17);
• Best Municipal Affairs Story ("No joy in Trashville," John Thompson, June 9);
• Best Headline Writing (Arthur Johnson.)

QCNA award winners will be announced May 25 at a banquet in Montreal.