TC•Media community newspapers are well represented in the list of standing finalists for the 2014 Newspapers Atlantic Better Newspapers Competition.
The competition judges the 2013 work of community newspapers and journalists in Atlantic Canada.
While the standing finalists in the categories have been announced, the winners will be named Friday, May 30, during the Newspapers Canada Ink & Beyond annual conference in Charlottetown, PEI.
Two TC•Media journalists are finalists for the outstanding journalist award, they are Tina Comeau, associate editor of the Yarmouth Vanguard and Jennifer Hoegg, associate editor of the Kentville Kings County Advertiser and Register. Also a finalist in this category is Tammy Scott-Wallace of the Sussex Kinds County Record.
The three finalists named in the outstanding photographer award represent a Nova Scotia TC•Media sweep. Nominated are the Vanguard’s Tina Comeau, Vanguard editor Fred Hatfield and Carole Morris-Underhill, editor of the Windsor Hants Journal.
Aside from its three outstanding category nominations, at the Yarmouth Vanguard Tina Comeau is nominated in the best feature series for a series called Rough Waters, which examined the heartache and the heartbreak of making a living from the sea in 2013. Fred Hatfield is nominated for best sports photo for a photo he took during a Yarmouth Junior A Mariners game. The newspaper is a finalist in the best community service category for its involvement in the community-led and driven All Hands on Deck initiative, which also coincided with the Georgetown Conference on rural redevelopment and a community survey conducted by the newspaper. The Vanguard is also up for best Christmas issue.
At the Kentville Kings County Advertiser, in addition to its nomination in the outstanding journalist category, editorial staff from the newspaper – which includes reporters Wendy Elliott, John DeCoste and Kirk Starratt, associate editor Jennifer Hoegg and editor Jennifer Vardy Little – received a nod in the best feature series category for a series of cold case stories that appeared in the June 10, 2013 edition of the Advertiser. Hoegg is also a finalist for best investigative story for her Cornwallis Inn coverage at the time the fire marshal’s office issued a fire watch for the historic Kentville property. Hoegg and Vardy Little are both finalists in the category of best page design. The Kentville Kings County Register and Advertiser is a finalist for best website. Freelance writer Laurent d’Entremont is a finalist in the category of best general interest column for columns that ran in the Kentville King’s County Advertiser and Laura Churchill Duke, writer of the Valley Family Fun column, is nominated in the best specialty column category for her work that appears in the Kentville newspaper.
At the Shelburne Coast Guard, the news staff of editor Greg Bennett, reporter Amy Woolvett and freelancer Kathy Johnson is a finalist for best news story for the newspaper’s coverage of the Miss Ally tragedy that claimed the lives of five fishermen in February 2013. Bennett is also a finalist for best local editorial.
The Windsor Hants Journal has been nominated in several categories. Beyond the nomination in the outstanding photographer category, editor Carole Morris-Underhill is a finalist for best photo essay. Reporter Ashley Thompson is a finalist for best sports story or feature for her coverage of a gender rights petition that allowed a child who identifies as male the chance to play on an all-boys soccer team. A finalist in the best feature photo category for the Hants Journal is freelance photographer Aimee Alden for a photo of a 4-H Woodsmen Competition.
Lawrence Powell, the editor of the Annapolis County Spectator, is a standing finalist in both the best national and best local editorial categories.
At the Queens County Advance, reporter Brittany Verge is a finalist in the category of best photo essay.
In the general excellence competition, the Digby County Courier is a finalist in its circulation category.
At the Amherst News, Sharon Robinson is a finalist for best original advertising idea.
TC•Media’s Sackville Tribune in New Brunswick also has a strong showing in the list of standing finalists. The newspaper is a finalist in the general excellence category in Class 2. Katie Tower is a finalist for best news story for a story she wrote about a property owner troubled by a council decision to turn down a rezoning request based on hearsay. The newspaper is a finalist for best specialty section for a Fall Fair section it did. Jordan Normore is a finalist for best original advertising idea. Trevor Donald, is a finalist for best specialty column for environmental columns that are run in the Sackville newspaper.
There are also numerous nominations among TC•Media newspapers in Newfoundland and Labrador.
For a complete list of all of the award finalists you can visit the Newspapers Atlantic site:
Not all of the categories had been announced at the time this story was written.
