The finalists for this year’s National Newspaper Awards were announced late last week and almost half of the finalists for this year’s competition are first-time nominees.
Of the 87 individual journalists announced as finalists today, 41 of them — or just over 47 per cent — are being honoured for the first time. Three of them received nods in two categories: Nathan Griffiths and Glenda Luymes of the Vancouver Sun/Province (Special Topic and Project of the Year) and Susan Krashinsky Robertson of the Globe and Mail (Arts and Entertainment and as part of a team for Sustained News Coverage).
Four previous NNA winners are also up for multiple awards:
- Isabelle Hachey of La Presse (International Reporting, Column Writing and Investigations, as part of a team)
- Gordon Hoekstra of the Vancouver Sun/Province (co-nominated with Griffiths and Luymes for Special Topic and Project of the Year)
- Grant Robertson of the Globe and Mail (Sports and Sustained News Coverage, as part of a team)
- Steve Russell of the Toronto Star (Breaking News Photo and Feature Photo)
Canadian Press photographer Frank Gunn also had two entries nominated, both in Sports Photo.
Three finalists were selected by three-judge panels in each of the 23 NNA categories. Judges considered a total of 923 entries, all published in 2022, from 76 news organizations.
Winners will be announced at a live gala at The Design Exchange in Toronto on Friday, May 5.
The 2022 Journalist of the Year, chosen from this year’s individual winners, will also be announced on May 5, as will the winner of a special citation recognizing work that doesn’t necessarily fit into the other 23 categories.
The Globe and Mail has the most finalists with 19, in 16 categories. Other organizations with multiple finalists include:
- La Presse with 14
- Toronto Star with seven on its own, plus a shared nomination with the Halifax Chronicle Herald and another with The Narwhal. TorStar, the Star’s parent company, also has one.
- Canadian Press with six
- Winnipeg Free Press with three on its own, plus one shared with The Narwhal
- The Narwhal with two on its own, plus shared entries with the Star and Free Press
- Halifax Chronicle Herald with two on its own, plus a shared entry with the Star
- Vancouver Sun/Province with two
- Hamilton Spectator with two
- Saskatoon Star-Phoenix with two, one of which is shared with the Regina Leader-Post
Organizations with finalists for the first time this year include The Narwhal, Fraser Valley Current and 24 Heures.
Other highlights of this year’s nominations include:
- Grant Robertson of the Globe and Mail is a finalist for a record-tying 18th time. He was nominated in Sports and as part of a team for Sustained News Coverage.
- Serge Chapleau of La Presse is a finalist for a 16th time in Editorial Cartooning
- Isabelle Hachey was nominated for a 15th time
- Bruce MacKinnon (editorial cartooning) and Mark MacKinnon (International Reporting) are finalists for a 14th time.
A victory by Robertson or Chapleau would set a new record for NNA wins. The current record is eight, shared by Robertson, Chapleau, Jacquie McNish and Stephanie Nolen.
This is the 74th year for the awards program, and the 34th under the current administrative structure. The awards were established by the Toronto Press Club in 1949 to encourage excellence and reward achievement in daily newspaper work in Canada. The competition is now open to newspapers, news agencies and online news sites approved for entry by the NNA Board of Governors.
Eleven of the 23 category awards are named after important figures in the news industry. Two have names attached to an award for the first time this year. They are:
- Stuart M. Robertson Award for Breaking News (sponsored by Paul and Lauraine Woods)
- Joan Hollobon Award for Beat Reporting (sponsored by the Globe and Mail)
The other awards named after journalistic legends are:
- George Brown Award for Investigations (sponsored by the Globe and Mail)
- Mary Ann Shadd Cary Award for Columns
- John Wesley Dafoe Award for Politics (sponsored by Ron Stern)
- E. Cora Hind Award for Local Reporting
- John Honderich Award for Project of the Year (sponsored by the Honderich family)
- Bob Levin Award for Short Feature (sponsored by the Globe and Mail)
- Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing (sponsored by Le Devoir)
- William Southam Award for Long Feature (sponsored by the Fisher, Bowen and Balfour families)
- Norman Webster Award for International Reporting (sponsored by the Webster family)
Tickets for the awards gala are available at a cost of $250. Sponsorship opportunities also remain available for the gala and for named awards. For information on sponsorship or ticket information, contact us at the coordinates at the end of the release.
Finalists in all categories are:
Arts and Entertainment / Culture
- Charles-Éric Blais-Poulin and Marissa Groguhé, La Presse, for their story on a wave of suicides in the performing arts community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Susan Krashinsky Robertson, Globe and Mail, for an immersive feature on Karen Kain’s final staging of Swan Lake, this time from the director’s chair.
- Eva Wasney, Winnipeg Free Press, for an in-depth profile of Anishinaabe graphic designer and visual artist Jordan Stranger.
Joan Hollobon Award for Beat Reporting / Prix Joan Hollobon pour le Journalisme spécialisé
- Sean Fine, Globe and Mail, for his coverage of the Supreme Court of Canada, delving into its history, political leanings and the impact of its judgements.
- Katia Gagnon, La Presse, for in-depth coverage of a failing youth protection system in Quebec and how recommendations from a commission of inquiry have yet to be addressed, leaving society’s most vulnerable at risk.
- Caroline Touzin, La Presse, for on-the-ground reporting on health and social services, highlighting the trauma in under-resourced Montreal hospitals coping with deadly gang violence and the rise in child abuse during the pandemic.
Stuart M. Robertson Award for Breaking News / Prix Stuart M. Robertson pour le Nouvelles de dernière heure
- Canadian Press, for coverage of the Freedom Convoy over the 36-hour period after the first trucks arrived in Ottawa.
- Saskatoon Star Phoenix and Regina Leader-Post, for their reporting on one of Canada’s largest mass killings as it was unfolding in James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Sask.
- Daniel Renaud, Alice Girard-Bossé and Henri Ouellette-Vézina, La Presse, for coverage of the shocking arrests of three high school basketball coaches accused of sex crimes.
Breaking News Photo / Photo de nouvelle de dernière heure
- Michelle Berg, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, for a chilling image of a man staring directly at the camera while being arrested.
- Steve Russell, Toronto Star, for a photo of a confrontation between police and Freedom Convoy protesters on Parliament Hill.
- Anton Skyba, Globe and Mail, for his photo of a young girl standing in front of the remnants of an apartment building destroyed during the first night of the war in Ukraine.
Business / Économie
- Greg McArthur and Andrew Willis, Globe and Mail, for their work on the problematic (and short-lived) appointment of Heather Zordel as chair of the Ontario Securities Commission.
- Niall McGee, Globe and Mail, for exclusive reporting on Canada’s critical minerals vulnerabilities against an ever-more-powerful China.
- Marco Chown Oved, Toronto Star, for exposing the hidden cost of food inflation at supermarkets: corporate greed.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary Award for Columns / Prix Mary Ann Shadd Cary pour la Chronique
- Isabelle Hachey, La Presse, for columns on reporting in Ukraine, Quebec laws that can give rapists parental rights over children born of their crime, and the husband of an Indigenous woman who died in hospital under the racist insults of caregivers.
- Melissa Martin, Winnipeg Free Press, for columns ranging from global issues (the plight of Ukrainian refugees) to local (accessibility problems in Winnipeg) to personal (the appeal of medical mis-information when facing the death of a loved one).
- Laura-Julie Perreault, La Presse, for writing on the Russian angle of the war on Ukraine: the Russia she fell in love with as a child, the danger of Vladimir Putin, and Russians who have found refuge in Turkey.
Editorial Cartooning / Caricature (portfolio)
- Michael de Adder, Halifax Chronicle Herald/Toronto Star
- Serge Chapleau, La Presse
- Bruce MacKinnon, Halifax Chronicle Herald
Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing / Prix Claude Ryan pour l’Éditorial
- Stéphanie Grammond, La Presse, for editorials on the war in Ukraine, the proposed design of an automated light rail network in Montreal, and protection of the French language.
- Peter McKnight, Toronto Star, for editorials on immigration and detention, the harms of linking mental health and violence, and the 40th anniversary of the Charter of Rights.
- Peter Scowen, Globe and Mail, for editorials on the rise of “unserious politicians”, premiers who put populist policies over Canada’s values, and liberal democracy.
Explanatory Work / Texte explicatif
- Kathryn Blaze Baum, Globe and Mail, for laying out the devastating effects of rising temperatures, brought on by climate change, on the human body.
- Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot, La Presse, for a timely and sensitive analysis of immigration numbers in Quebec.
- Tyler Olsen, Fraser Valley Current, for an explanatory story on the geographical and political factors that make the Nooksack River, flowing entirely through the United States, such a threat to people living in Sumas Prairie in southwestern B.C..
Feature Photo / Photo de reportage
- Mike Deal, Winnipeg Free Press, for his image of a person lying on a bench beside a bus shelter, which a city councillor proposed to dismantle to stop homeless people from gathering.
- Leah Hennel, Globe and Mail, for her photo of a young Indigenous girl skateboarding in a ribbon skirt at a park in Lethbridge, Alta.
- Steve Russell, Toronto Star, for a photo of a child leaping while a father laments a lack of daycare benefits.
General News Photo / Photo d’actualité générale
- Nathan Denette, Canadian Press, for a photo of Pope Francis apologizing to Indigenous elders and survivors of residential schools.
- Dustin Patar, Canadian Press, for an image of people in Iqaluit collecting water through holes carved in the ice of a river.
- Robert Skinner, La Presse, for a photo of a young homeless man doing a cartwheel while hospitalized in a COVID unit.
Norman Webster Award for International Reporting / Prix Norman Webster pour le Reportage à caractère international
- Isabelle Hachey, La Presse, for her feature reports from Ukraine at the beginning of the war.
- Mark MacKinnon, Globe and Mail, for ongoing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
- Allan Woods, Toronto Star, for coverage from Russia of the lead-up to the war in Ukraine and Russian reaction to the invasion.
George Brown Award for Investigations / Prix George Brown pour la Grande enquête
- Kelly Grant, Globe and Mail, for her investigation into a tuberculosis outbreak in Pangnirtung, Nunavut.
- Isabelle Hachey and Marie-Ève Tremblay, La Presse, for re-visiting the #MeToo allegations that took down comedian Julien Lacroix in July 2020.
- Noor Javed, Brendan Kennedy, Jesse McLean and Emma McIntosh, Toronto Star and The Narwhal, for their investigation of Ontario’s decision to remove parcels of land from the Greenbelt, why the parcels were selected, and who had the most to gain.
E. Cora Hind Award for Local Reporting / Prix E. Cora Hind pour le reportage à caractère local
- Anne-Lovely Etienne and Camille Dauphinais-Pelletier, 24 Heures, for an investigation into racist behaviour directed at health-care workers at CLSC de Montréal-Nord.
- Stefan Labbé and Pippa Norman, Glacier Media, for a data-driven series on vehicle emissions and the effectiveness of B.C.’s climate policies.
- Juanita Mercer, St. John’s Telegram, for shining a light on the gender pay gap in Newfoundland and Labrador, one of the worst in Canada.
William Southam Award for Long Feature / Prix William Southam pour le Reportage élaboré
- Susan Clairmont, Hamilton Spectator, for a feature on the suicide of a 12-year-old girl who had been bullied for years.
- Emma Gilchrist, Globe and Mail, for her first-person feature on the harrowing and heartbreaking reality of terminating a pregnancy for medical reasons.
- Jana G. Pruden, Globe and Mail, for her in-depth feature on Helen Naslund, who was sentenced to 18 years in jail for killing her abusive husband.
John Wesley Dafoe Award for Politics / Prix John Wesley Dafoe pour la Politique
- Bill Curry and Mahima Singh, Globe and Mail, for exposing major transparency and accountability gaps related to billions of dollars spent each year through federal outsourcing.
- Fanny Lévesque, La Presse, for a portfolio of work dealing with the impact of Bill 79 on Indigenous families, imposed 16-hour nursing shifts, and the last of the Parti Québécois bastions.
- Justin Ling, Toronto Star, for his feature on the years-long making of the “Freedom Convoy” protest and organizers’ links to conspiracy theories and anti-government ideologies.
Presentation/Design / Présentation/Conception graphique
- Carol Linnitt, Arik Ligeti, Ashley Tam, Shawn Parkinson and Jimmy Thomson, The Narwhal, for an interactive, multimedia feature on how Indigenous guardians are reestablishing sovereignty and stewardship of traditional territories.
- Christopher Manza, Globe and Mail, for a portfolio of multimedia stories on figure skater Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Indonesia’s plan to relocate its capital city, and drought across the Horn of Africa.
- Sandrine Vieira, Cédric Gagnon and Antoine Noreau, Le Devoir, for an interactive feature on species at risk in Quebec, featuring photos, graphics, illustrations, maps and more.
John Honderich Award for Project of the Year / Prix John Honderich pour le Projet de l’année
- Molly Hayes, Tavia Grant and Elizabeth Renzetti, Globe and Mail, for their solutions-based series on intimate partner violence.
- Gordon Hoekstra, Glenda Luymes and Nathan Griffiths, The Vancouver Sun, for a data-driven investigation into the readiness of B.C. communities for a world of increasing fires and floods.
- Rachel Mendleson and Steve Buist, TorStar, for a national investigation on the systemic and growing problem of serious Charter violations.
Bob Levin Award for Short Feature / Prix Bob Levin pour le Reportage bref
- Maria Iqbal, Toronto Star, for her story on the one food item that actually became less expensive in Canada last year: the potato.
- Rosalyn Roy, National Post, for her first-person piece from Port aux Basques, Nfld. as parts of the town were destroyed by Hurricane Fiona.
- Patrick White, Globe and Mail, for his feature on a book club at a federal prison near Kingston, Ont.
Special Topic: Indigenous Issues-Climate Change / Sujet Spécial: questions autochtones/changement climatique
- Gordon Hoekstra, Glenda Luymes and Nathan Griffiths, The Vancouver Sun, for their data-driven investigation into the readiness of B.C. communities for a world of increasing fires and floods.
- The Narwhal, for their integrated coverage of Indigenous issues and climate change and the impact of Indigenous Guardian programs.
- Julia-Simone Rutgers, The Winnipeg Free Press and The Narwhal, for stories on the everyday impact of climate change on the citizens of Manitoba and, in particular, Winnipeg.
Sports / Sport
- Lori Ewing, Canadian Press, for her persistent coverage of athlete protests against maltreatment and the safe sport crisis in Canada.
- Cathal Kelly, Globe and Mail, for columns on the Maple Leafs honouring Borje Salming just weeks before he died of ALS, the retirement of Serena Williams, and Alphonso Davies lifting Canada’s men’s soccer team to the world stage.
- Grant Robertson, Globe and Mail, for his three-part series on Hockey Canada’s finances, the National Equity Fund, and the connection between player fees and sexual assault.
Sports Photo / Photo de sport
- Frank Gunn, Canadian Press, for a photo of a skier flying down Lake Louise on her way to winning a FIS World Cup downhill title.
- Frank Gunn, Canadian Press, for capturing a collision between Toronto Blue Jays’ shortstop Bo Bichette and centre fielder George Springer.
- Tim Krochak, Halifax Chronicle Herald, for an overhead image, captured from an ultralight drone, of the start of a race at the Canadian Canoe Kayak sprint trials.
Sustained News Coverage / Reportage soutenu
- Sebastian Bron and Katrina Clarke, Hamilton Spectator, for their change-making series of stories prompted by a privacy breach at a Hamilton hospital.
- Vincent Larouche, La Presse, for ongoing coverage of a secret criminal trial deemed “incompatible with the values of a liberal democracy” by the Quebec Court of Appeal.
- Grant Robertson, Robyn Doolittle, Joe Friesen, Colin Freeze and Susan Krashinsky Robertson, Globe and Mail, for exclusive, high-impact coverage of Hockey Canada as it responded to rape allegations against players.
