The veteran reporter was sent to the Hub City to cover the extensive manhunt that shut down the north end of the city and paralyzed many in fear that Justin Bourque would strike again.
Gooding’s photo of RCMP officers manning a barricade on Mountain Road the afternoon after the shooting was selected as the outstanding news photo at last weekend’s Newspapers Atlantic Better Newspapers Competition in Halifax.
“I’m honoured and humbled to have received the honour,” Gooding said. “It was a very tense environment in Moncton and you could see it in the faces of the officers and bystanders at the scene.”
In describing the scene, Gooding said it was the day after the shootings and RCMP officers thought they had cornered the gunman in a boarding house near the corner of Mountain Road and Connaught Avenue.
“They hadn’t but no one knew at the time,” Gooding said. “As a tactical team approached the scene, officers were positioned on every corner, behind almost every building, at every intersection and all at the ready in the event the suspect tried to flee or come out shooting.
“I had a night’s sleep before getting here, but most of the officers had not and at different times you would catch one of them crouching lower and lower until their bodies forced them to take a rest. Still alert and at the ready, but their legs clearly needing a break.
“What I remember most about this day and taking this photo was the aftermath, when the boarding home was cleared and the manhunt continued into the night. As the spectators were leaving one of them approached me directly and asked ‘If he’s not there, then where is he?’ like I was supposed to know.
“I didn’t, and it was unnerving.”
Judges said Gooding’s photograph “stood out from the pack with great composition, capturing the tired, but tense feeling of an event that made national news.”
Besides Gooding, reporter Andrew Wagstaff’s April story on the spruce budworm was recognized as a standing finalist in the best resources story category while reporter Dave Mathieson’s photo from Ski Wentworth’s closing aquaneige event last spring was a standing finalist in the best sports photo category.
The Sackville Tribune-Post was recognized as a standing finalist in the General Excellence (Class 1) category, while managing editor Scott Doherty’s photo of the vice principal at Marshview Middle School getting doused by water was a standing finalist in the Outstanding Feature Photo category.
Tribune-Post reporter Katie Tower received honorable mention for her sports story on a cancer survivor’s determination to compete at the Canadian Transplant Games.
It was a successful event for the Amherst News, The Citizen-Record and Sackville Tribune-Posts’s sister papers in the TC Media chain.
The Digby Courier won the General Excellence Class 1 Award for being an all-around excellent newspaper, while the Queens County Advance was a standing finalist along with the Tribune-Post.
In Class 2, the Yarmouth Vanguard won first place as an excellent newspaper filled with engaging story and illustrated by beautiful photographs.
The Kings County Advertiser was a standing finalist in this category.
Brandon Anstey of the Gander Beacon was honoured with the Outstanding Feature Photo. Derek Montague of the Labradorian had the most outstanding sports story, while Jonathan Parsons of the Clarenville Packet was a standing finalist and Tower received honorable mention.
TC Media’s online feature A Week That Changed Our World was recognized as the outstanding online innovation in which the judges said was a “wonderful idea and well executed, expressing the weight of small moments.”
John DeCoste and Jennifer Hoegg of The Kings County Advertiser was a standing finalist, while Kevin Curley of the Clarenville Packet accepted the award for the Outstanding Resources Story. Both Wagstaff and Kevin Higgins of the Gander Beacon were standing finalists, while Jonathan Riley of the Digby Courier received honorable mention.
The Yarmouth Vanguard received the award for Outstanding Special Section and Chantelle MacIsaac of the Gulf News accepted the award for Outstanding Investigative Story.
Other award winners were: Jason Freeman of the Kings County Register (Outstanding Cartoon), Michele White of the Hants Journal (standing finalist Outstanding Revenue Idea), Sharon Gallant of the Labradorian (standing finalist Outstanding Advertising Campaign), Bonnie Learning of the Labradorian and Carole Morris-Underhill of the Hants Journal (standing finalist Outstanding News Story), Tina Comeau of the Yarmouth Vanguard and Ashley Thompson of the Hants Journal (standing finalist Outstanding Feature Story), Kevin Higgins of the Gander Beacon (standing finalist Outstanding Photo Essay), Carole Morris-Underhill of the Hants Journal (standing finalist Outstanding Editorial) and Tina Comeau of the Yarmouth Vanguard (standing finalist Outstanding Local Columnist).
The veteran reporter was sent to the Hub City to cover the extensive manhunt that shut down the north end of the city and paralyzed many in fear that Justin Bourque would strike again.
Gooding’s photo of RCMP officers manning a barricade on Mountain Road the afternoon after the shooting was selected as the outstanding news photo at last weekend’s Newspapers Atlantic Better Newspapers Competition in Halifax.
“I’m honoured and humbled to have received the honour,” Gooding said. “It was a very tense environment in Moncton and you could see it in the faces of the officers and bystanders at the scene.”
In describing the scene, Gooding said it was the day after the shootings and RCMP officers thought they had cornered the gunman in a boarding house near the corner of Mountain Road and Connaught Avenue.
“They hadn’t but no one knew at the time,” Gooding said. “As a tactical team approached the scene, officers were positioned on every corner, behind almost every building, at every intersection and all at the ready in the event the suspect tried to flee or come out shooting.
“I had a night’s sleep before getting here, but most of the officers had not and at different times you would catch one of them crouching lower and lower until their bodies forced them to take a rest. Still alert and at the ready, but their legs clearly needing a break.
“What I remember most about this day and taking this photo was the aftermath, when the boarding home was cleared and the manhunt continued into the night. As the spectators were leaving one of them approached me directly and asked ‘If he’s not there, then where is he?’ like I was supposed to know.
“I didn’t, and it was unnerving.”
Judges said Gooding’s photograph “stood out from the pack with great composition, capturing the tired, but tense feeling of an event that made national news.”
Besides Gooding, reporter Andrew Wagstaff’s April story on the spruce budworm was recognized as a standing finalist in the best resources story category while reporter Dave Mathieson’s photo from Ski Wentworth’s closing aquaneige event last spring was a standing finalist in the best sports photo category.
The Sackville Tribune-Post was recognized as a standing finalist in the General Excellence (Class 1) category, while managing editor Scott Doherty’s photo of the vice principal at Marshview Middle School getting doused by water was a standing finalist in the Outstanding Feature Photo category.
Tribune-Post reporter Katie Tower received honorable mention for her sports story on a cancer survivor’s determination to compete at the Canadian Transplant Games.
It was a successful event for the Amherst News, The Citizen-Record and Sackville Tribune-Posts’s sister papers in the TC Media chain.
The Digby Courier won the General Excellence Class 1 Award for being an all-around excellent newspaper, while the Queens County Advance was a standing finalist along with the Tribune-Post.
In Class 2, the Yarmouth Vanguard won first place as an excellent newspaper filled with engaging story and illustrated by beautiful photographs.
The Kings County Advertiser was a standing finalist in this category.
Brandon Anstey of the Gander Beacon was honoured with the Outstanding Feature Photo. Derek Montague of the Labradorian had the most outstanding sports story, while Jonathan Parsons of the Clarenville Packet was a standing finalist and Tower received honorable mention.
TC Media’s online feature A Week That Changed Our World was recognized as the outstanding online innovation in which the judges said was a “wonderful idea and well executed, expressing the weight of small moments.”
John DeCoste and Jennifer Hoegg of The Kings County Advertiser was a standing finalist, while Kevin Curley of the Clarenville Packet accepted the award for the Outstanding Resources Story. Both Wagstaff and Kevin Higgins of the Gander Beacon were standing finalists, while Jonathan Riley of the Digby Courier received honorable mention.
The Yarmouth Vanguard received the award for Outstanding Special Section and Chantelle MacIsaac of the Gulf News accepted the award for Outstanding Investigative Story.
Other award winners were: Jason Freeman of the Kings County Register (Outstanding Cartoon), Michele White of the Hants Journal (standing finalist Outstanding Revenue Idea), Sharon Gallant of the Labradorian (standing finalist Outstanding Advertising Campaign), Bonnie Learning of the Labradorian and Carole Morris-Underhill of the Hants Journal (standing finalist Outstanding News Story), Tina Comeau of the Yarmouth Vanguard and Ashley Thompson of the Hants Journal (standing finalist Outstanding Feature Story), Kevin Higgins of the Gander Beacon (standing finalist Outstanding Photo Essay), Carole Morris-Underhill of the Hants Journal (standing finalist Outstanding Editorial) and Tina Comeau of the Yarmouth Vanguard (standing finalist Outstanding Local Columnist).
