Finalists named for BC's Annual Journalism Awards

VANCOUVER, Sept. 7, 2017 /CNW/ - Finalists have been named for the 2017 Jack Webster Awards, with category winners to be announced at the 31st annual Jack Webster Awards dinner on October 12 at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.

CBC's Washington Correspondent Paul Hunter is the featured speaker at the awards dinner and CBC's Gloria Macarenko, host of BC Almanac and Stephen Quinn, host of On The Coast, take on this year's emcee duties. The 2017 Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to The Vancouver Sun's Kim Bolan.

The Jack Webster Foundation was established in 1986 to recognize excellence in British Columbia journalism in honour of legendary BC reporter Jack Webster.

FINALISTS FOR THE 2017 WEBSTER AWARDS

Best Breaking News Reporting of the Year – Print

• Andrea Woo, Sunny Dhillon, Wendy Stueck, Mike Hager, Mark Hume, Ian Bailey, Ben Nelms, Rafal Gerszak, James Keller, Luiz Lopes, The Globe and Mail: Cheque Day
• Kim Bolan, The Vancouver Sun/The Province: Death of an Angel
• Kathy Tomlinson, Gary Mason, Justine Hunter, The Globe and Mail: Wild West Politics

Best Breaking News Reporting of the Year – Radio

• Charmaine de Silva, CKNW Radio: Developers Behaving Badly: Cracking down on Illegal Hotels
• Stephen Quinn, Richard Zussman, Justin McElroy, Theresa Duvall, Michelle Eliot, Chris Robinson, Polly Leger, CBC Radio Vancouver: The Deal
• Newsroom, News 1130, Langley Condo Fire

Best Breaking News Reporting of the Year – Television
Presented in memory of Keith Bradbury

• Jill Krop, Doug Sydora, Michael Hennigar, Rumina Daya, Nadia Stewart, Tony Clark, Cody Chaban, Global News: Fire Chief Search
• Skye Ryan, CHEK News: Missing Boy Found
• Jill Krop, Michael Hennigar, Doug Sydora, Aaron McArthur, Steve Lyon, Paul Rowand, Pat Bell, Cody Chaban, Global News: Truck Diver Rescue

Excellence in Feature/Enterprise Reporting – Print

• Travis Lupick, Amanda Siebert, Georgia Straight Newspaper: A community response: How the worst overdose epidemic in Vancouver's history left the Downtown Eastside to fend for itself
• Katie DeRosa, Times Colonist: Man living in shed highlights revolving door of criminal justice system
• Gordon Hoekstra, The Vancouver Sun: Seismic rift

Excellence in Feature/Enterprise Reporting – Radio

• Stephen Quinn, Bridgette Watson, Theresa Lalonde, Lee Rosevere, CBC Radio One: DIY Death: Rite at Home
• Gordon Katic, Sam Fenn, Alexander B. Kim, Travis Lupick, Nancy Mullane, Cited & The Georgia Straight: The Heroin Clinic
• Josh Pagé, CBC Kelowna: Towns on the Clock

Excellence in Feature/Enterprise Reporting – Television

• Natalie Clancy, Eric Rankin, Lisa Johnson, Justin McElroy, Manjula Dufresne, Yvette Brend, Cathy Kearney, Steve Lus, Amar Parmar, Fred Gagnon, Cliff Shim, Karen Burgess, CBC Vancouver: Frontlines of Fentanyl
• Curt Petrovich, Helen Slinger, Yvette Brend, CBC: Lost on Arrival
• Michele Brunoro, Maria Weisgarber, Mi-Jung Lee, Jon Woodward, Brian Mellersh, CTV Vancouver and CTV's W5: Overdose Crisis

Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Digital Journalism

• Travis Lupick, Georgia Straight Newspaper: A data-driven look at the recent past and near future of the Downtown Eastside
• Lori Culbert, The Vancouver Sun/The Province: The Data on Dope
• Justine Hunter, Jimmy Jeong, Mychaylo Prystupa, The Globe and Mail: Weigh Anchor

Jack Webster Business, Industry and Economics Award
Endowed by Jean Cormier

• Kathy Tomlinson, The Globe and Mail: Losing the Farm
• Rachel Sanders, The Tyee: Slaves to Tips: How BC Laws Fuel Sexism on the Job
• Erica Johnson, James Roberts, Amar Parmar, Karen Burgess, Alison Broddle, CBC Vancouver: The Big Sell: How bank employees turn customers into targets

Best Reporting - Chinese Language

• Andy Cheung, Edward Chun, Kelvin Chung, Jose Ng, CHMB AM 1320: Drug Abuse: Point of No Return?
• Victor Ho, Edward Liu, Sing Tao Daily: Vanishing Chinese Story in BC Historic Sites
• Johnny Wong, Fairchild Television: Magazine 26: Where Should I Stay?

Jack Webster Award for Community Reporting

• Phil McLachlan, The Free Press: 58 years into her life, Marsha Bradcoe found herself
• Tyler Olsen, Abbotsford News: State of Emergency
• Marty Hastings, Kamloops This Week: Wedding night turns tragic; Adkin dies of OD

Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Legal Journalism
Sponsored by the Law Society of BC

• Bal Brach, CBC Vancouver: Kidney transplant patients left without caretaker after visitor visa refused
• Louise Dickson, Lindsay Kines, The Times Colonist: Sheriff Shortage Sets Accused Drug Dealers Free
• Dan Fumano, Matt Robinson, The Vancouver Sun: The Tallio Appeal

Jack Webster Award for Science, Technology, Health and Environment

• Alison Broddle, Franny Karlinsky, Michelle Eliot, Rafferty Baker, Justin McElroy, Tina Lovgreen, Yvette Brend, Maryse Zeidler, Tamara Baluja, Farrah Merali, Peter Scobie, Richard Zussman, Jesse Johnston, Michael McArthur, CBC Vancouver: The Fentanyl Fix
• Dan Fumano, The Vancouver Sun: Troubled Waters
• Amorina Kingdon, Daniel Wood, Hakai Magazine: Vancouver's Port Expansion

Bill Good Award
The 2017 recipient will be announced on September 11, 2017.

Commentator of the Year
Presented in memory of Linda Webster
The winner will be announced at the Jack Webster Awards Dinner.

The 31^st Annual Jack Webster Awards Dinner will be held October 12, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.  Tickets are $185 per person and can be reserved at jackwebster.com/dinner or by calling 604-261-6184.

The work of the Foundation is made possible by the generous sponsorship of HSBC Bank Canada, Fortis BC, Wazuku Advisory Group, GCTGlobal Container Terminals, Port of Vancouver, Labatt Breweries, Coast Capital Savings, UDI, Vancity, TELUS and TD.

CNW distributes Webster releases as part of its support of the Jack Webster Foundation.

SOURCE Jack Webster Foundation

Jack Webster Foundation, Nora Newlands, Executive Director , 604-261-3348, [email protected], www.jackwebster.com