TORONTO, March 18, 2025 /CNW/ - This year's finalists for the 2024 National Newspaper Awards are being recognized for their work both inside and outside of Canada, from the Jasper wildfires and the Arctic Ocean to the Paris Olympics, the U.S. election and the war in Ukraine.
A total of 83 individual journalists representing 22 publications are finalists this year, alongside nine team submissions from those publications.
Finalists for the Project of the Year include: the Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun's months-long look at affordability issues; an extensive exploration of fatigue and the impact it has on quality of life by La Presse; and the Toronto Star's work on childhood sexual abuse and the complicated legacy of Canadian literary icon Alice Munro.
Three-judge panels selected three finalists in each of the 23 NNA categories. Judges considered a total of 864 entries, all published in 2024, from 82 news organizations.
Some other highlights:
- Isabelle Hachey (Columns) was nominated for the ninth-consecutive year and is now a 17-time finalist
- Tyler Olsen (Local Reporting) received his third-consecutive nomination for his work in the newsletter Fraser Valley Current, which is distributed five times a week in B.C.
- Three journalists were nominated in multiple categories: Carlos Osorio of Reuters is a finalist for Photo Story and News Photo; Katia Gagnon of La Presse is a finalist for Politics and, as part of a team, Sustained News Coverage: Robert Cribb is nominated as part of Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau teams for Business and Investigations
- Sing Tao and Nunatsiaq News are finalists for work in a language other than French or English. It is the second year for that category and both were finalists last year.
- 36 journalists are first-time finalists
The Globe and Mail leads all papers with 16 nominations, followed by the Toronto Star (15) and La Presse (13). Other organizations with multiple finalists include: The Canadian Press/La Presse Canadienne (4), Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun (3), Hamilton Spectator (2), Reuters (2), Sing Tao (2) and the Halifax Chronicle Herald, which has two finalists including one shared with the Globe and Mail. Two of the Toronto Star nominations are shared with the Investigative Journalism Bureau.
The full list of finalists can be found below.
Winners will be announced at a live gala at the Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain on Friday, April 25.
The 2024 Journalist of the Year, chosen from this year's individual winners, will also be announced on April 25, as will the winner of a Special Citation recognizing work that doesn't necessarily fit into the other 23 categories.
This is the 76th year for the awards program, and the 36th under the current administrative structure. The awards were established by the Toronto Press Club in 1949 to encourage excellence and reward achievement in daily newspaper work in Canada. The competition is now open to newspapers, news agencies and online news sites approved for entry by the NNA Board of Governors.
Twelve of the 23 category awards are named after important figures in the news industry, including a new award this year: The Geoffrey Stevens Award for Sustained News Coverage.
Known for quality, fact-based journalism that played an essential role in Canada's democracy, Stevens worked his way to managing editor of the Globe and Mail and was proudly responsible for appointing the Globe's first female foreign correspondent. He later served as managing editor of Macleans magazine. The author of six books about Canadian politics, Stevens continued to write weekly political columns for Torstar publications until his death in 2023.
Other named awards include:
- George Brown Award for Investigations (sponsored by The Globe and Mail)
- Mary Ann Shadd Cary Award for Columns
- John Wesley Dafoe Award for Politics (sponsored by Ron Stern)
- E. Cora Hind Award for Local Reporting
- Joan Hollobon Award for Beat Reporting (sponsored by The Globe and Mail)
- John Honderich Award for Project of the Year (sponsored by the Honderich family)
- Bob Levin Award for Short Feature (sponsored by The Globe and Mail)
- Stuart M. Robertson Award for Breaking News (sponsored by Paul and Lauraine Woods)
- Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing (sponsored by Le Devoir)
- William Southam Award for Long Feature (sponsored by the Fisher, Bowen and Balfour families)
- Norman Webster Award for International Reporting (sponsored by the Webster family)
Tickets for the awards gala are available at a cost of $250. Sponsorship opportunities also remain available for the gala and for named awards. For ticket information, contact [email protected]. For sponsorship information, contact [email protected].
Finalists in all categories are:
Arts and Entertainment
Richie Assaly, Toronto Star, for his portfolio of stories about musicians Mustafa, John Kameel Farah and Elisapie, in which he captured the artists' musical singularity as well as their cultural significance
Charles-Éric Blais-Poulin et Jean Siag, La Presse, for their investigation of Quebec's television production industry, highlighting the weakening of independent production in the province in favour of two major players
Tavia Grant, The Globe and Mail, for her work on the Vatican's unfulfilled promises to return cultural items that originated in Indigenous communities in Canada — and how Canada lags behind other countries when it comes to national repatriation frameworks
Joan Hollobon Award for Beat Reporting
Kate Allen, Toronto Star, for her rigorous and compelling portfolio of work on climate change
Susan Clairmont, Hamilton Spectator, for her exclusive reporting and authoritative analysis as a court reporter
Daniel Renaud, La Presse, for his coverage of police affairs and organized crime, done with the knowledge that one of his subjects had placed a bounty on his head
Stuart M. Robertson Award for Breaking News
The Globe and Mail, for coverage of one of the defining stories of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games: Canada's women's soccer team and the drone scandal
The Globe and Mail, for coverage of the wildfires that devastated Jasper, as well as the economic implications for the country and who is to blame
Toronto Star, for coverage of the summer storm that flooded the city, knocked out power to thousands and left millions of dollars of damage in its wake
Business
Robert Cribb, Max Binks-Collier, Masih Khalatbari and Charlie Buckley, Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau, for their reporting on Canada's 'exploitative' clinical trial industry, where study participants say they're incentivized to lie — even about medications' side effects
Naimul Karim, National Post, for his work on Canada's changing immigration laws and the impact they're having on thousands of highly skilled, and sometimes desperate, foreign workers
Matthew Van Dongen, Hamilton Spectator, for his ongoing reporting on real estate investment firm Forge & Foster, and its ever-widening circle of financial woes for investors, customers and homeowners
Mary Ann Shadd Cary Award for Columns
Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot, La Presse, for columns on Quebec's decisions to reduce the immigration threshold, spend $870 million on a new roof for Olympic Stadium, and deny a highly qualified foreign teacher the opportunity to teach
Isabelle Hachey, La Presse, for columns on a stalker who falsified claims in order to receive cheques from an organization that compensates victims of criminal acts, MAID and dementia, and lessons from Air India Flight 182
Tanya Talaga, The Globe and Mail, for columns on Canada's betrayal of residential school survivors, the need to stand against residential school denialism, and the legacy of Murray Sinclair
Editorial Cartooning (portfolio)
Michael de Adder, Halifax Chronicle Herald/The Globe and Mail
Patrick LaMontagne, Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun
Gabrielle Drolet, The Globe and Mail
Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing (portfolio)
Stéphanie Grammond, La Presse, for editorials on what a second Trump presidency will mean for Canada, the Air Canada labour dispute, and Quebec's long-term plan for housing and care for its aging population
Peter McKnight, Toronto Star, for editorials about Medical Assistance in Dying, the health disparity between Inuit people and the rest of Canadians, and problems with Ontario's approach to screening criminal charges
Richard Warnica, Toronto Star, for editorials on the strip-searching of children in Ontario's youth detention centres, the Jasper wildfires and human responsibility in the face of climate change, and Olympic swimmer Penny Oleksiak
Explanatory Work
Zosia Bielski, The Globe and Mail, for her nuanced exploration of Canadian laws that criminalize HIV non-disclosure — and put Canada out of step with modern science and the rest of the developed world
Marco Chown Oved, Steve Russell and Lance McMillan, Toronto Star, for their behind-the-wheel look at taking an EV on a road trip and a broader exploration of how EVs are spurring the creation of new businesses
Amy Dempsey Raven, Toronto Star, for explaining why rats are proliferating in Toronto and how an organized rodent mitigation strategy could limit the public health threat
Feature Photo
Shane Gross, The Globe and Mail, for his photo of a curious beluga whale trying to get a taste of his camera in its natural habitat in Churchill, Manitoba
David Lipnowski, The Canadian Press, for his photo of people giving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the finger while posing for a selfie at the Folklorama Festival in Winnipeg
Kari Medig, The Globe and Mail, for his photo of double amputee Oleksandr Budko and the Wild Bear Vets program, created to support veterans with PTSD
News Photo
Sammy Kogan, The Globe and Mail, for capturing a moment of profound grief and loss that also serves as a stark reminder of the devastating toll of gun violence
Carlos Osorio, Reuters, for his aerial photo of the message "We Will Return" spray-painted on the vacated grounds of a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto
Jim Wells, Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, for his dramatic photo of a man working to free a deer that had fallen through the ice and into the bitterly cold Bow River
Norman Webster Award for International Reporting
Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun/The Province, for her reporting from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Southeast Asia on the international reach of B.C.'s criminal organizations
Jean-Thomas Léveillé, La Presse, for his coverage of the environmental and social consequences of a recent oil boom in Guyana
Mark MacKinnon, The Globe and Mail, for his comprehensive, human-driven reporting on the Russian war on Ukraine
George Brown Award for Investigations
Katrina Clarke and Jeff Hamilton, Winnipeg Free Press, for their months-long investigation into the state of childcare in Manitoba and the underlying issues that put kids and families at risk
Robert Cribb, Wendy-Ann Clarke, Declan Keogh and Owen Thompson, Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau, for their reporting on a program meant to fund mental-health care for First Nations and Inuit people but is instead failing them
Terry Pender, Waterloo Region Record, for exposing the role of the Mennonite Central Committee in bringing thousands of Nazi war criminals to Canada after the Second World War
E. Cora Hind Award for Local Reporting
Aaron Bewsick, Halifax Chronicle Herald, for his coverage of the lawlessness in Nova Scotia's lobster and eel fisheries, including poaching, boats and buildings being burned, and the emergence of organized crime and international smuggling operations
Tyler Olsen, Fraser Valley Current, for his in-depth look at why a B.C. community news empire went bust and what it means for local readers and the company's own employees
Julia Peterson, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, for her all-encompassing coverage of the two inquests into the James Smith Cree Nation mass killings: one for the 11 victims and one for Myles Sanderson, who died in custody four days after killing them
William Southam Award for Long Feature
Brandon Harder, Regina Leader-Post, for his painstaking re-creation of what happened when police went undercover to wring out a confession from a cold-case murderer
Emma McIntosh, The Narwhal, for braiding science with storytelling and vivid descriptions to bring the story of Canada's endangered southernmost caribou herd to life
Anne-Marie Provost, La Presse, for her feature about the four-season road that connected Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk in 2017, giving Canadians access by car to the Arctic Ocean, and how communities are dealing with the influx of tourists
Photo Story
Carlos Osorio, Reuters, for his coverage of the U.S. election
Goran Tomasevic, The Globe and Mail, for documenting the gang takeover of Haiti
Martin Tremblay, La Presse, for his photos from Syria and the fallout from the Assad regime
John Wesley Dafoe Award for Politics
Patrice Bergeron, La Presse Canadienne, for his work on Premier François Legault's CAQ government monetizing access to its ministers through fundraising cocktails
Katia Gagnon, La Presse, for her 5,000-word portrait of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who has breathed new life into the Parti Québécois
Rachel Mendleson and R.J. Johnston, Toronto Star, for their coverage of Pickering city council and how the alt-right movement is disrupting libraries, school boards and other local democratic institutions across Canada
Presentation/Design
McKenna Hart and Tania Pereira, Toronto Star, for their portfolio of work on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, Toronto's top influencers of 2024, and the struggles of TTC riders
Timothy Moore, The Globe and Mail, for his portfolio of work on science and sailing, breaking's debut as an Olympic sport, and how to master skating later in life
Pascal Roux, La Presse, for his portfolio of work on a 150-year-old wreck mysteriously surfacing off the coast of Newfoundland, the 50th anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons, and the conflict between Israel and Hamas
John Honderich Award for Project of the Year
Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, for "Squeezed", a months-long look at inflationary and affordability issues ranging from housing and utilities to groceries, family expenses and pets
La Presse, for their extensive exploration of fatigue, its impact on our quality of life, and whether it's possible (or even beneficial) to slow down
Toronto Star, for their work on childhood sexual abuse and the complicated legacy of Canadian literary hero Alice Munro
Bob Levin Award for Short Feature
Dakshana Bascaramurty, The Globe and Mail, for her story from Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, where they've cracked down on risk-taking tourists in search of the perfect selfie
Jordan Himelfarb, Toronto Star, for his feature on 18-year-old world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and the dawning of a new golden age in chess
Naomi Skwarna, Toronto Star, for her reflection on an all-but-forgotten quilt that spans 30 feet in Spadina Station and the labour of love that went into it
Special Topic: Journalism in a Language other than French or English
Gord Howard, Shanshan Tian, Krista Klassen, Andrea Gray, Corey Larocque, Nunatsiaq News, for their coverage of the Nunavut Quest, a 370-km route from Arctic Bay to Pond Inlet, which involved a group of young Inuit correspondents and culminated in a 20-page commemorative edition
Yat Pui Venus Ho, Sze Lun Cissy Hsu, Tak Kit Henry Wong, Cheuk Ting Cliff Yau and Wai Keung Norman Sin, Sing Tao, for their month-long investigation into the sale of fraudulent mooncakes at Asian food markets in Toronto and the impact on Hong Kong diaspora consumers
Sing Tao, for their ongoing coverage of Canada's 'lifeboat' program and the problems encountered by applicants and 'illegal stayers' from Hong Kong, caught up in processing delays
Sports
Greg Mercer, Nancy Macdonald and Simon Houpt, The Globe and Mail, for their coverage of Canada Soccer in the wake of the spying scandal at the Paris Olympic Games
Paige Taylor White, IndigiNews, for her series on an East Van women's basketball team and their experience at the 64th annual All Native Basketball Tournament in Tsimshian territories
Ken Warren and Tony Caldwell, Ottawa Citizen/Ottawa Sun, for their feature on an Ottawa man who uses saws and shovels to carve out a lane in the frozen river for a daily swim in zero-degree temperatures — in a standard bathing suit
Sports Photo
Nathan Dennette, The Canadian Press, for his photo of Canada's high-speed men's pursuit team at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press, for his photo of Toronto Argonauts receiver Dejon Brissett flipping in the air after being upended by Winnipeg's Tyrell Ford during the Grey Cup
Olivier Jean, La Presse, for capturing a spontaneous moment of joy between Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown after they won Olympic gold in the men's 4x100-metre relay in Paris
Geoffrey Stevens Awards for Sustained News Coverage
The Globe and Mail, for their year-long exploration of the root causes of housing shortages and creative ideas that could help solve the crisis
Caroline Touzin, Ariane Lacoursière, Gabrielle Duchaine and Katia Gagnon, La Presse, for their investigative work on the systemic problems within Quebec's youth protection services
Toronto Star, for shining an unrelenting spotlight on one of the most dramatic criminal cases in recent memory: the problematic prosecution of Umar Zameer
For more information, contact:
Bev Wake
Executive Director
National Newspaper Awards
[email protected]
604-220-7254
Andria Samis
Program Director
National Newspaper Awards
[email protected]
416-738-3654
Amanda Hansen
Director of Sponsorships
National Newspaper Awards
[email protected]
819-583-9609
SOURCE National Newspaper Awards
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