Reporter wins top industry honour
Nunavut News/North named third best overall, places second for best front page
Northern News Services
Monday, June 1, 2015
TORONTO
A Nunavut News/North reporter was recognized by his peers for outstanding coverage with one of the highest honours awarded to journalists in Canada.
Extensive coverage of the 2014 Iqaluit landfill fire from start to end earned reporter Casey Lessard first place for Outstanding Reporter Initiative, the top honour for reporters from Canada's community newspapers in the newspaper's circulation class.
It's his second time receiving the award.
"Lessard's exhaustively researched stories on letting a dump burn quickly rose to the top of the heap," judge Jules Xavier wrote, noting the heap consisted of 26 entries.
Lessard chose 10 stories he wrote that showed the ups and downs of city council and government decision-making as the situation drew national attention.
"The editor must be commended for allowing Casey to work on this hot environmental story, coming at it from numerous angles, and bringing in many voices," Xavier wrote.
"The artwork and layout allowed the story to grab a reader's attention, and is topical when you think of the community having to endure an arduous dump burn."
Meanwhile, Nunavut News/North remains one of Canada's top three community newspapers overall in its circulation class. The newspaper finished third in the General Excellence category. Nunavut News/North also placed second in the Best Front Page category in the national contest.
"Great front pages, good use of interesting photos. Strong opinion pages," said judge Dale Bass, who saw two issues of each newspaper from 2014.
Meanwhile, at the Ontario Community Newspapers' Association Better Newspapers Competition awards ceremony May 22, Nunavut News/North took home third place in the General Excellence category in its circulation category. Nunavut News/North belongs to the provincial newspapers association in Ontario because there is no newspapers association in the territories.
"There is probably no newspaper in Canada more worthy of our admiration and appreciation," a panel of three judges wrote.
"To pull off the near impossible (and) make a reader-friendly newspaper in two languages with different scripts is a near miracle. Residents of the Canadian North are truly fortunate to have Nunavut News/North as a source of news and information."
Lessard's story about scuba diving in Frobisher Bay received an honourable mention in the Sports and Recreation category, which had 71 entries.
"Sometimes, what sets a story apart is the really blasted odd - and the Nunavut News/North nailed that element," wrote judge Vern Faulkner, the editor of the Saint Croix Courier in St. Stephen. N.B.
"Here's props to the reporter, Casey Lessard, actually going out in the boat into the frozen waters, and then engaging in some really basic - but truly effective - storytelling."
