Yellowknife (June 13/03) - The talents of Northern journalists and designers took centre stage in the main ballroom of the Sheraton Wall hotel in downtown Vancouver, June 1.

Northern News Services Ltd.'s publications won three firsts, two second place and two third place awards at the 2003 Better Newspapers Competition sponsored by the Canadian Community Newspaper Awards. The CCNA represents 679 newspaper across Canada.

Photo editor Merle Robillard, now studying at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ont., took first place in Best Photo Illustration. Robillard, who has won several awards for his creative skills with a camera and computer, won with an "eye-catching" and "elegant" image of a man drowning in a beer glass, the cover of NNSL's annual drug and alcohol awareness publication.

Senior writer and editor Mike W. Bryant won first place for a feature story headlined "Open wound," an account of the Giant Mine murders 10 years after. The judges applauded Bryant's efforts to put the events into perspective through interviews with people close to the tragedy.

News/North's Opportunities North, a comprehensive report on Northern industry, won Best Special Section. The 2003 edition of Opportunities North, now in its 22nd year, will be on news stands later this month.

Former editor Leslie Campbell won second place for Best Local Editorial. Campbell's editorial Surgical Removal, in the words of the judges, "squarely takes aim at the territory's minister of health."

Deh Cho Drum, published by Northern News Services, took second place in the Best Special Section category with the Oil & Gas Drum, a special report on the oil and gas industry in the North.

NNSL advertising designers won second for Best House Ad. The ad, proving the power of advertising, appeared in Kivalliq News, an NNSL publication based in Rankin Inlet.

Robert Dall took third place in best Sports Photo competition. Dall captured a snowboarder in mid-flight during the Arctic Winter Games in Nuuk, Greenland.