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From Rankin Inlet to Paris, France, Nunatsiaq News told the stories that were important to northern readers in 2022.
The newspaper’s journalism earned seven awards at the Quebec Community Newspapers Association’s annual awards ceremony June 16 in Gatineau, Que.
It was the association’s first in-person awards dinner since 2019 as events went virtual that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was a rewarding showing for the Nunatsiaq team because it reflects the high quality of journalism Nunatsiaq News is providing every day on a wide range of subjects,” managing editor Corey Larocque said.
Reporter Meral Jamal won an award for Best Feature Story, which describes how Nunavummiut outside of Iqaluit reacted to Pope Francis’ historic visit to the territorial capital last summer.
“This story grabs your interest immediately with a powerful lead that makes you want to read on, and it keeps you interested with strong quotes,” the category’s judge wrote.
Web editor Gord Howard’s story about Nunavut wrestler Eekeeluak Avalak’s gold-medal win at the Canada Summer Games last year won for Best Sports Story. The judge complimented Howard’s “strong writing” in a “powerful story about the gold medal win that outlines why it means so much.”
Freelance photographer Denis Cahill, recruited to shoot the Canada Summer Games, which were held in Ontario’s Niagara region, won the Best Photo Essay category. Cahill entered five pictures of the events’ opening ceremony, which the judge called “a wonderful variety of images which come together to bring the viewer into the event.”
This photo essay, shot by photographer Denis Cahill, won Best Photo Essay June 16 at the Quebec Community Newspapers Association’s annual community newspaper awards ceremony. (File image)
David Venn earned the award for Best Business Column or Feature for an article he wrote about Rankin Inlet cake-maker Rebecca Osborn.
“I felt like I was in the kitchen!” the category’s judge wrote.
Emma Tranter’s coverage of the delegation Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., led to France last September to pressure French officials to extradite Rev. Johannes Rivoire, won the Best Feature Series category.
Nunatsiaq News sent Tranter to France to follow the delegation’s progress because Nunavut readers have been interested for 25 years in seeing Rivoire face criminal charges in Canada.
“There is plenty of detail, offered while respecting the lived experience of the victims,” the judge wrote. “The articles balance the particular and local of the story with the larger context.”
Andrea Sakiyama Kennedy’s story about research into the loss of sea ice won the Best Environmental Story. Her strong lead sentence caught the judge’s attention.
“What came through was the sense of wonder experienced by scientists and locals alike,” he wrote.
The judge noted “stories about difficult topics don’t have to be severe or preachy to be impactful.”
Tranter, Venn and Sakiyama Kennedy left Nunatsiaq News in 2023 for other journalism jobs, but were recognized for the work they did in 2022.
Nunatsiaq News won the Best Website category for the third year in a row, with the judge recognizing “excellence in both content and presentation.”
Larocque called the website award “especially satisfying because it reflects the great work our entire team does on a daily basis.”
The paper also earned a second-place finish in the Best Front Page category for its Oct. 21 e-edition. The judge called the stories “compelling and well written,” noting the page’s “great use of colour to draw in the reader.”
Nunatsiaq News had been nominated for 20 awards in 14 different categories — including investigative reporting, sports writing, feature writing, editorial writing, as well as reporting on municipal affairs, health, business, education, the environment and agriculture. The paper was a finalist in three photography categories as well.
Reporter Madalyn Howitt was a finalist in five categories, while former reporter Mélanie Ritchot was nominated in three, web editor Randi Beers and managing editor Corey Larocque each received nominations in a single category.
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