Nunatsiaq News nabs 11 community journalism awards

Nunatsiaq News is celebrating a handful of national community journalism awards this week.

News Media Canada announced the winners of its 2023 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards Friday and Nunatsiaq News was honoured with 11 awards, including four first-place finishes.

News Media Canada is an industry organization that represents hundreds of print and digital publications across the country. Its judges selected winners in 27 categories from a total of 798 entries.

Nunatsiaq News won first place for Best Front Page and Best Coverage of the Arts, with entries from reporters Jeff Pelletier, Madalyn Howitt and former reporters David Venn and Cedric Gallant.

Judges said Nunatsiaq News’s selection of stories about music, language, literature and Inuit tattoos is “what arts coverage should be.”

Reporter Madalyn Howitt was lauded with a first-place win in Best Local Civic Journalism for her coverage of an Ottawa city councillor’s fight against a new Larga Baffin facility for Nunavummiut who travel to the city for medical care.

Judges called the story a “well-balanced, informative piece” that does not take sides or get bogged down in technical jargon.

“It politely called out NIMBYism and gave voice to two communities who are geographically far apart but must come together for the good of both,” said the judges.

Former Nunatsiaq News reporter David Venn’s story about an extremely popular cake-maker in Rankin Inlet was also celebrated with a first-place win in Best Business Writing.

Nunatsiaq News locked in five second-place finishes, including Best Website.

Managing editor Corey Larocque got the second-place nod for Best National Editorial, for writing about NDP MP Lori Idlout’s change of heart on the Liberals following her party’s partnership with them last year.

“This is a well-written piece,” judges wrote about the editorial. “Neither flowery nor over-crafted, it gets straight to the point in calling out a local federal politician on the perceived hypocrisy of her actions.”

This photo taken by former Nunatsiaq News staffer David Venn showing Naujaat’s Josh Mapsalak harvesting a caribou in October 2022, won second place for Best Feature Photo in this year’s Canadian Community Newspaper Awards. (Photo by David Venn)

Former reporter David Venn won two second-place honours for his photography — one for Best News Feature Photo and another for Best Feature Photo.

Freelance photographer Denis Cahill also came in second place in Best Photo Essay for his photography from last year’s Canada Summer Games.

Nunatsiaq News has two third-place finishes to celebrate, including one for Best Sports Coverage which included selections from editor Gord Howard, former reporter David Venn and reporter Madalyn Howitt.

“Nunatsiaq News is unique in that it makes geography and culture a character in its coverage,” said the judges.

“Whether it is athletes excelling from small communities, the effort it takes to actually just travel to games much less play, or the desire to provide coverage in native languages, this entry shows all that.”

Also honoured with a third-place award was former editor Emma Tranter in Best Feature Series for her coverage of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s trip to France in search of an infamous priest accused of sexual abuse of Nunavut youth decades ago.