Two of Canada's giants of journalism are being honoured by the naming of National Newspaper Awards after them

• Two National Newspaper Awards to be named after distinguished journalists
• Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing and Norman Webster Award for International Reporting will be presented for first time at NNA gala on May 4, 2018
• Tickets still available for NNA gala

TORONTO, April 27, 2018 /CNW/ - Claude Ryan and Norman Webster will have their names attached to awards when Canada's news industry gathers on Friday, May 4, for the presentation of the 2017 NNAs.

The Norman Webster Award for International Reporting and the Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing will be presented for the first time at the awards gala. Mr. Ryan and Mr. Webster had long and stellar careers as journalists, and each won a National Newspaper Award (Claude Ryan for Editorials in 1964; Norman Webster for Staff Corresponding in 1971 and for Editorials in 1988).

Claude Ryan
He may be remembered for leading the "No" forces in the 1980 referendum on Quebec sovereignty, but Claude Ryan had just as great an impact in the world of journalism. He began as an editorial writer for Le Devoir in 1962 and after two years became the editor-in-chief. After serving as leader of the Quebec Liberal party, Mr. Ryan was a professor of Catholic Studies at McGill University and a prolific author of books on Quebec, religion and society. He died in 2004.

Norman Webster
Norman Webster began his journalism career on the night police beat at the Globe and Mail, then served in the newspaper's Quebec City and Ottawa bureaus and as Editor of the Globe Magazine before being posted to Beijing. In 1971, he had worldwide exclusive reports on the startling "ping-pong diplomacy" that opened China to the world. Mr. Webster went on to serve as the Globe's London correspondent before becoming editor-in-chief of both the Globe and the Montreal Gazette. He lives today in Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, Que.

The awards to be named after Mr. Ryan and Mr. Webster are among 22 being presented May 4 at the National Newspaper Awards gala in Toronto. Tickets for the event are still available and can be obtained by contacting NNA Program Director Sharon Hockin ([email protected]).

The National Newspaper Awards are open to daily newspapers, news agencies and online news sites. The awards were established by the Toronto Press Club in 1949 to encourage excellence and reward achievement in daily newspaper work in Canada. The awards program has been owned and operated by the Canadian Daily Newspaper Awards Programme Administration Corp. since 1989.

Our thanks to Cision for sponsoring this announcement.

SOURCE National Newspaper Awards

Paul Woods, Executive Director, National Newspaper Awards, [email protected], 905-719-8675