Globe and Mail nabs a leading 19 NNA nominations; Star gets 8, CP 5

TORONTO – The Globe and Mail has nabbed a leading 19 National Newspaper Award nominations.

La Presse was next with nine finalists, the Toronto Star received eight nods and the Canadian Press landed five. The Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Winnipeg Free Press each received three nominations.

Other outlets with multiple nods include the National Post, Le Droit, the Toronto Sun and the Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun with two apiece. Fifteen other organizations each received one nomination.

Overall, there were 70 nominations in 21 categories, selected from 959 entries for work published in 2016.

The winners will be announced at a Toronto ceremony on May 5.

The nominees are:

Arts and Entertainment: Randy Turner and John Woods, Winnipeg Free Press, for their coverage of the Inuit art movement and the planned Inuit Art Centre; Murray Whyte, Toronto Star, for coverage of Wanda Nanibush, the first curator of indigenous art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, as well as coverage of a Canadian-made musical, “Come From Away”; Sylvie St-Jacques, La Presse, for her coverage of a musical camp and its impact on newly arrived Syrian refugees.

Beat Reporting: Theresa Boyle, Toronto Star, for coverage of health issues; Patrick White, Globe and Mail, for coverage of Canada’s prisons; Charles Hamilton, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, for coverage of crime and justice; Sara Mojtehedzadeh, Toronto Star, for coverage of labour issues.

Breaking News: Saskatoon StarPhoenix for coverage of the La Loche school shooting; Edmonton Journal/Edmonton Sun/Fort McMurray Today for coverage of the wildfire and the evacuation of Fort McMurray; La Presse for coverage of the explosion of a truck carrying 45,000 litres of diesel fuel on busy Metropolitan Boulevard at rush hour; Metro Calgary/Metro Edmonton for coverage of the wildfire and the evacuation of Fort McMurray.

Business: Mark MacKinnon, Globe and Mail, for a story on how Bombardier does business in a murky market like Russia; Marina Strauss, Globe and Mail, for a look into the dramatic and fast-paced changes in the retailing sector; Bruce Livesey, National Observer, for coverage of the Irving family dominance in New Brunswick

Columns: Stéphanie Grammond, La Presse, for personal finance columns on pharmacies, banks and pharmaceutical companies; Melissa Martin, Winnipeg Free Press, for columns on Gord Downie, the right to die and a small-town Pride parade; Doug Saunders, Globe and Mail, for columns on gun ownership, sex crimes in Sweden and school bullies; Dawn Dumont, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, for commentary from the perspective of an indigenous woman embracing her heritage.

Editorial Cartooning: Brian Gable, Globe and Mail; Guy Badeaux, Le Droit; David Parkins, Globe and Mail.

Editorials: Ariane Krol, La Presse; Tony Keller, Globe and Mail; Jordan Himelfarb, Toronto Star.

Explanatory Work: Ann Hui, Globe and Mail, for probing the treatment of hens and the resulting egg products; Steve Buist, Hamilton Spectator, for explaining how immunotherapy offers the best hope to tame cancer; Grant Robertson and Karen Howlett, Globe and Mail, for reporting on the deadly opioid crisis; Anne Jarvis and Dave Battagello, Windsor Star, for reporting on the long-awaited Gordie Howe International Bridge linking Windsor and Detroit.

Feature Photo: Dario Ayala, Montreal Gazette, for a photo of a romantic moment during a heavy downpour; Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, for a photo of a horseback rider out on the range; Andrew Vaughan, Canadian Press, for a winter surfing photo.

International: Mark MacKinnon, Globe and Mail, for reporting on Syria, Brexit and Turkey; Isabelle Hachey, La Presse, for coverage of Big Tobacco’s move into Malaysia, Kenya and other poor countries; Richard Warnica, National Post, for coverage of the U.S. presidential race.

Investigations: Isabelle Hachey, La Presse, for coverage of the thriving Cambodian “voluntourism” industry and the fraud artist orphanage owners who drive it; Kathy Tomlinson, Globe and Mail, for her exposé of unsavoury practices fuelling the Lower Mainland real estate boom in B.C.; David Bruser and Jayme Poisson, Toronto Star, for their series on 50 years of mercury leaching in northwestern Ontario; Randy Richmond, London Free Press, for his coverage of the wilful indifference that led to the death of a prisoner found unresponsive on a police cell floor.

Local Reporting: New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal team, for in-depth coverage of a day in the life, the history and the economy of a critical part of the community; Joe Fries, Penticton Herald, for coverage of how government institutions respond to Freedom-of-Information requests; Paul Schliesmann, Kingston Whig-Standard, for reporting on the plight of marginalized people and their shocking living standards; Justine Mercier, Le Droit, for the sad, shocking story of one family’s journey through the health-care system.

Long Feature: Christina Frangou, Globe and Mail, for a gut-wrenching and sometimes disturbing story of a young widow’s life in the aftermath of her husband’s death; Amy Dempsey, Toronto Star, for a story on the miscarriage of justice that resulted in a mentally-ill Canadian ending up in one of American’s most notorious prisons; Isabelle Hachey, La Presse, for the story of a woman’s four-year nightmare in the grips of an impostor.

News Feature Photo: Nathan Denette, Canadian Press, for capturing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waving a flag during a Pride parade; Jason Franson, Canadian Press, for his photo of police directing traffic at the Fort McMurray wildfire; Veronica Henri, Toronto Sun, for her picture showing Rob Ford’s eight-year-old son holding a poster in the doorway of his home.

News Photo: Mark Blinch, Reuters, for a picture of a shirtless detainee who had been protesting the not-guilty verdict of radio host Jian Ghomeshi; Stan Behal, Toronto Sun, for a photo of a grieving father whose daughter was killed in an automobile accident; Amber Bracken, Globe and Mail, for a photo of a man being treated with milk of magnesia after being pepper-sprayed.

Politics: Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal/Edmonton Sun, for her investigation into the death of a four-year-old First Nations foster child; Steven Chase, Globe and Mail, for coverage of the Canadian government’s $15-billion deal to sell weaponized armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia; Globe and Mail team for coverage of “cash for access” fundraisers that bring together Liberal politicians and those lobbying the government.

Presentation: Christopher Manza, Globe and Mail, for crafting story designs specifically for digital platforms; Philippe Teisceira-Lessard, Louis-Samuel Perron, Sophie Allard, Véronique Beaudet and Francis Auger, La Presse, for their visual presentation of the terrorist attack in Nice; Globe and Mail team for the visual depiction of the Fort McMurray fire.

Project of the Year: Sara Petrescu, Katie DeRosa and Louise Dickson, Victoria Times Colonist, for a five-day series on an overdose crisis; Globe and Mail team for stories on soldiers and vets who died by suicide after serving in Afghanistan; Kristy Kirkup and Sheryl Ubelacker, Canadian Press, for stories of indigenous Canadians terrorized by the emotional and physical impact of sexual abuse.

Short Feature: Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun/The Province, for a story about a hiking family following a new path after a tragic accident; Andrew Cohen, Ottawa Citizen/Ottawa Sun, for a story on the death of his cousin, iconic Canadian singer Leonard Cohen; Hugo Pilon-Larose, La Presse, for a story on the sexual abuse of a young boy by film director Claude Jutra.

Sports: Mary Ormsby and Paul Hunter, Toronto Star, for a series on the dangers of boxing and its grim legacy; Marty Klinkenberg, Globe and Mail, for a profile of the first indigenous player in the NHL; Joe O’Connor, National Post, for stories on horse breeding, an ultra marathoner and hockey parents; Randy Turner, Winnipeg Free Press, for a story on small-town arenas and what they mean to their communities.

Sports Photo: Lucas Oleniuk, Toronto Star, for a shot of personal triumph at the finish line of an Olympic track event; Darryl Dyck, Canadian Press, for a photo showing the frantic hand action around a soccer ball; Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, for a picture of a rodeo rider being trampled into the mud.