Nunatsiaq News shares ‘Best Overall’ win at newspaper awards
Paper earns three 1st-place finishes at Quebec Community Newspapers Association awards ceremony
Nunatsiaq News managing editor Corey Laroque, second from left, accepts one of three certificates for Best Overall Newspaper at the Quebec Community Newspaper Awards gala June 13 in Montebello, Que. He is pictured with Steve Bonspiel, editor/publisher of the Eastern Door, left, Michael Sochaczevski, publisher of the Suburban, second from right, and Ilka de Laat, general manager Quebec Community Newspaper Association. (Photo by Savanna Oliver, courtesy of Quebec Community Newspaper Association)
Nunatsiaq News emerged with three first-place finishes, including a tie with two other papers for Best Overall Newspaper, at the Quebec Community Newspapers Association’s 45th annual awards Friday in Montebello, Que.
“This win reflects the great work our team does every day. It’s an honour to share the title with two very strong publications,” managing editor Corey Larocque said.
“The individual wins recognize the outstanding work by two of our journalists while all of our nominations were evidence Nunatsiaq News is running with the best in our business.”
In the Best Feature Page category, web editor Gord Howard won for his story and photos profiling a group of young Nunavut fiddlers as they prepared to fly to Whitehorse last August for the first-ever Pan-Northern Youth Fiddle Summit.
Omni News producer Arvin Joaquin, who judged the category, said, “This is a lovely story, presented wonderfully and complemented by nice photos.”
Former Nunatsiaq News reporter Madalyn Howitt was awarded the first-place prize in the Best Education Story category for her reporting on repairs needed at Igloolik’s Ataguttaaluk Elementary School. An inspection report from late 2023 found 127 issues with the aging school, including nine that were considered critical.
The judge in this category, Tim Shoults, publisher of the St. Albert, Alta, Gazette, said of Howitt’s reporting: “Strong enterprise work as a result of an [access to information request to the Government of Nunavut] led to a story with the receipts on a deficient school building.”
In the category for Best Overall Newspaper, Nunatsiaq News finished in a three-way tie with The Eastern Door, based in Kahnawake, Que., and The Suburban, based in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent. Results in this category were calculated based on the newspapers’ finish among nominations in eight separate award categories.
The QCNA awards recognize the strong journalism produced by more than 30 community newspapers across Quebec, including Nunavik.
Overall, Nunatsiaq News was nominated in 14 categories.
Congratulations to all the staff at Nunatsiaq. Continue the good work and the updating of this page’ It is my daily read letting me know what is going on in the north. Thank you.
What a waste!
ALL WYT PEOPLE IN INUIT NUNAAT REPRESENTING THE NORTH!
I HOPE YOU FOLLOW THE I Q PRINCIPLES!
Well, if you learned how to spell, you too could help represent Inuit in the North!
Bravo!