Editorial cartoonist Norm Muffitt earned a national award for his work in Inuvik Drum at the Canadian Community Newspaper Awards in Vancouver in late April.

Muffitt earned first place for a cartoon depicting a pelican coated in oil at the Inuvik Petroleum Show. The Best Local Cartoon judge deemed it a timely topic with relevance both locally and internationally; "a light-hearted jab at a heavy subject."

At the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association Awards in Edmonton last week, Inuvik Drum picked up three more distinctions, including second place for arts and culture writing.

A story entitled Recipe for success, which appeared in the April 23 edition of the Drum, finished in third place for Best Trades Technology Award. The judge stated that the article written by Andrew Rankin about the Territorial Skills Competition was "easy to read" and "interesting" with good quotes and a good opening sentence: "Douglas Sittichinli is on a mission to create the perfect cream puff."

An Aboriginal Day feature that appeared in Inuvik Drum last June captured third place for Best Special Sections and Supplements. The judge was impressed with the celebration of people throughout the edition, which was "laid out in a clear, clean manner with great photographs and accompanying sponsored ads."

Other Northern News Services' publications fared well at the earlier Canadian competition.

NWT News/North earned another blue ribbon. A blue ribbon signifies that judges ranked the newspaper in the top third in its circulation class among all competitors across Canada.

Nunavut News/North rose to the top of the General Excellence and Best Front Page categories in its circulation class. It also earned a blue ribbon.

Yellowknifer was awarded second place for Best Business Writing for Guy Quenneville's feature on the closure of video stores.

Kivalliq News editor Darrell Greer took third place for Best Feature Series with his examination of an outfitter whose licence was revoked by the Government of Nunavut.

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