Former Nunatsiaq News reporter David Venn received two first-place prizes at the Canadian Community Newspaper Awards for his work on the 8,000-word, four-part Our Home series that looked at possible answers to Nunavut’s housing crisis.
Nunatsiaq News earns 9 honours at national awards competition
Our Home and 50th anniversary special sections among entries singled out by Canadian Community Newspaper Awards judges
Nunatsiaq News received nine accolades at this year’s Canadian Community Newspaper Awards, including six first-place finishes.
News Media Canada, representing hundreds of print and digital publications across the country, announced the winners Monday from 760 entries in 27 different categories. The awards were for work done in 2023.
“These results reflect the high calibre of work our journalists do every day,” said Nunatsiaq News managing editor Corey Larocque.
Leading the way was the four-part Our Home series, an in-depth look at Nunavut’s housing crisis, published in March 2023.
Over several months, former Nunatsiaq reporter David Venn travelled to hamlets across the territory examining the impact of the shortage of housing on individuals and families.
He also investigated whether the Homeownership Assistance Program, which was active when Nunavut was still a part of Northwest Territories and allowed people to build their own homes with government assistance, might be part of the answer to today’s problem.
In August, the Government of Nunavut announced it would implement a revised version of that HAP program.
Venn was honoured with first-place finishes in both the Best Feature Series and Outstanding Reporter Initiative categories.
His work on Our Home was already recognized at the Quebec Community Newspaper Awards this year with two awards, and was nominated for a National Newspaper Award.
Nunatsiaq News received two more first-place honours related to its special section titled Celebrating 50 Years of Nunatsiaq News, on the paper’s 50th anniversary.
Nunatsiaq News received nine awards, including six first-place finishes, this week at the 2024 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards. Among the top prize winners was a look back at 50 years of publishing Nunatsiaq News, which won in the Best Special Section category.
The first story in the series was published in February 2023, with the paper’s first editor Ann Hanson recalling the early days of publishing using a Gestetner copy machine.
More than a dozen more stories appeared throughout the year, and were compiled in a special section that was published on Sept. 22, 2023.
The compilation was awarded first place in the Best Special Section category at this year’s CCNAs.
And Nunatsiaq News publisher Michael Roberts was awarded first place in the Best Business Writing category for his two-part series looking at the long journey to publish Nunatsiaq News.
It fondly described his family’s journey North and the culture shock they experienced, as well as the early days when he and his brothers Steven and David became involved in publishing.
Nunatsiaq News reporter Cedric Gallant was honoured with a first-place prize in the Best Historical Story category for his article examining the discovery of the Second World War-era Kurt weather station on the shore of Martin Bay near Killiniq Island.
Nunatsiaq News received the first-place prize in the Best Community Newspaper Website category.
The paper’s website is a regular top finisher at awards competitions — in July, for the fourth straight time it was named best website at the Quebec Community Newspaper Association Awards and last year it placed second at the Canadian Community Newspaper Awards.
For the 2024 CCNAs, former Nunatsiaq reporter Madalyn Howitt was singled out with a second-place finish in the Best Feature Story category for her story and photos on the creative work going on at the Red Fish Art Studio in Cambridge Bay.
As well, Nunatsiaq News was awarded second-place in the Best Coverage of the Arts category.
Managing editor Corey Larocque won third-place in the Best National Editorial category for his opinion piece examining the apparent apathy shown by Inuit leaders toward the coronation of King Charles III in May 2023.
“Cedric, David and Michael deserve the recognition they received,” Larocque said of the first-place finishers.
“But earning the best website award is evidence that Nunatsiaq News, as a team, is consistently delivering strong news coverage to its readers and presenting it in a way that’s easy for readers to find and understand.”
(0) Comments