The Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA) Better Newspapers Competition honours the great work of Ontario’s weekly community newspapers. Congratulations to the 2022 winners in the General Excellence (Class 1) category, selected from 10 entries.
🥇 1st Place: The Independent, Petrolia
“The Independent emerged as No. 1 in this category for its extensive coverage, strong photography, clean design, and effective advertising. The Independent sets the tone with its front page consisting of one strong photograph and interesting news stories and continues that theme throughout the paper. Readers are provided each week with a package of news and feature stories that are supported by numerous photographs. There is a lot of content in the pages of The Independent, providing people with the information they need about their community.”
🥈 2nd Place: The Haliburton County Echo
“The Haliburton County Echo draws readers in with a strong front page filled with stories and photos and it doesn’t disappoint as its pages are filled throughout with informative and engaging stories, interesting features, and good photos. The Echo has lots of well-designed, effective advertising to support the news and features.”
🥉 3rd Place: Listowel Banner
“The Listowel Banner provides extensive coverage of the community, supplemented by good photography, interesting opinion pages, a variety of features and strong, effective advertising. The paper starts with an engaging, well-designed front page and carries that commitment throughout its pages. There is no doubt that readers anticipate the arrival of the Banner on the newsstand each week.”
The 2022 awards showcase the hard work, talent, and dedication demonstrated by Ontario publishers, editors, reporters, photographers, and designers. More than 1,200 entries were received and the awards were presented at a virtual ceremony on April 14, 2023.
