Finalists announced for 2007 National Newspaper Awards

The Record of Waterloo Region gets 1 out of 63 in the finals
What's up with the long awkward name?

TORONTO - The Globe and Mail leads all newspapers in Canada with 15 finalists in the 59th National Newspaper Awards competition.

The Toronto Star was next with eight, followed by Montreal's La Presse and the Ottawa Citizen with six each, and the Winnipeg Free Press with four.

The Canadian Press had three with the National Post, Montreal Gazette, The Hamilton Spectator, Kingston Whig-Standard and Victoria Times Colonist collecting two each. The Barrie Examiner, Brandon Sun, Calgary Herald, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, Edmonton Journal, Halifax Chronicle-Herald, Prince George Citizen, Saint John Telegraph-Journal, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, The Vancouver Sun, and The Record of Waterloo Region have one each. The 63 finalists in the 21 categories were announced on March 13, 2008, from the National Newspaper Awards office in Toronto. There were 1,408 entries in this year's competition for works that appeared in the year 2007, the third highest in NNA history.

In all, 22 news organizations have been nominated.

The winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony in Toronto on Friday, May 9. Winners will receive cheques for $1,500 and a certificate of award. Runners-up receive citations of merit and cash awards of $250 each.

This is the 19th year for the NNAs under a Board of Governors which includes editors, publishers and the public from across Canada as well as representatives from the Toronto Press Club. Previous to 1989, the NNAs had been sponsored by the Toronto Press Club. The awards are administered from the National Newspaper Awards office at the Canadian Newspaper Association.

The National Newspaper Awards were founded by The Toronto Press Club in 1949.

<< Highlights:

- Graeme Smith of The Globe and Mail has been nominated in two categories, Short Features and International Reporting.

- Lisa Rochon of The Globe and Mail has been nominated for a third straight year in Arts and Entertainment.

- The Globe and Mail is guaranteed one NNA after being nominated three times in International Reporting.

- Stephanie Nolen of The Globe and Mail has been nominated in International Reporting for the fifth straight year and has another nomination this year in Explanatory Work.

- Bruno Schlumberger of the Ottawa Citizen has been nominated twice in the four photography categories.

- The Toronto Star has been nominated for the 11th time in Special Project.

The nominees:

- News Feature Photography: John Lehmann, The Globe and Mail, for a photo of a young mother kissing her conjoined twins in Vernon, B.C.; Bruno Schlumberger, Ottawa Citizen/CanWest News Service, for a photo of retired military nursing sisters having a snack at the National Military Cemetery; Tara Walton of the Toronto Star for a photo of a two-year-old girl recovering from a heart transplant.

- Beat Reporting: Frank Armstrong, Kingston Whig-Standard, for crime and justice reporting; Bruno Bisson, La Presse, Montreal, for reporting on Montreal's transportation issues; Jen Skerritt, Winnipeg Free Press, for stories on health care in Manitoba.

- Explanatory Work: Maria Cook, Ottawa Citizen, for a story on an engineering revolution that makes it faster and safer to replace aging bridges; Linda Gyulai, The Gazette, Montreal, for an examination of Montreal's crumbling water system from reservoir to sewers; and Stephanie Nolen, The Globe and Mail, for a story on how inexpensive vaccinations, mosquito nets and vitamins are saving the lives of children in the developing world.

- Politics: Gary Dimmock, Ottawa Citizen, for the alleged political backdoor negotiations of mayoral candidate Terry Kilrea and Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien; Kathryn May, Ottawa Citizen, for stories about the mismanagement of the RCMP pension and insurance funds; and Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal, for stories on an Alberta government agency's tactics against a group of farmers.

- Short Features: Emilie C?te, La Presse, Montreal, for a piece on Bangladesh refugees forced to flee their homes because of rising seas; Roy MacGregor, The Globe and Mail, for a story on the funeral service for a slain RCMP officer; and Graeme Smith, The Globe and Mail, for a story on what happens when an Afghan is found dead.

- Local Reporting: Gordon Hoekstra, Prince George Citizen, for stories about air quality issues in the city; Elisabeth Johns of the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder for a series on domestic violence in the community; Ann Lukits of the Kingston Whig-Standard for stories on declining care for seniors and a shortage of doctors in nursing homes.

- Presentation: Genevi?ve Biloski, National Post; Brian Hughes, Toronto Star; Spencer Wynn, Toronto Star.

- Special Project: Halifax Chronicle-Herald for a series of stories in Afghanistan focusing on the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based in the Maritimes; Toronto Star for a project on poverty with a focus on social justice; La Presse of Montreal for a worldwide look at the implications of a world without a clean and abundant supply of water.

- Sports Photography: Paul Chiasson, The Canadian Press, for a photo of a Canadian hockey player upside down after a check from a Russian player; David Cooper, Toronto Star, for a celebration leap by Ontario skip Glenn Howard in a curling championship; Darren Stone, Victoria Times-Colonist, for an all-out stretch by the ball carrier to reach the end zone in a football game.

- Business: Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald, for a story of how the government and unknown agencies seek to regulate water; Boyd Erman, Jacquie McNish, Tara Perkins and Heather Scoffield, The Globe and Mail, for stories on the sub-prime mortgage crisis; and Eric Reguly, Boyd Erman, Sinclair Stewart, Andrew Willis of The Globe and Mail for work on the takeover of BCE Inc.

- Columns: Les Leyne, Victoria Times Colonist; Gordon Sinclair, Winnipeg Free Press; Margaret Wente, The Globe and Mail.

- Investigations: Jim Bronskill and Sue Bailey of The Canadian Press for an investigation into the use of tasers by police forces; Kevin Donovan, David Bruser and Andrew Bailey of the Toronto Star for a series on phony charities; Michele Ouimet, La Presse, Montreal, for stories on Canada's mission in Afghanistan and what has happened to aid sent there.

- Arts and Entertainment: Marty Klinkenberg, Saint John Telegraph- Journal, for stories on New Brunswick arts and entertainment; Lisa Rochon, The Globe and Mail, for stories on architecture; and Jon Wells, The Hamilton Spectator, for a story on producer and songwriter Daniel Lanois.

- Sports: Colin Hunter of the Waterloo Region Record for features about unusual sports such as the culture of a skateboard park; Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix for story about Fred Saskamoose, a young Cree who gave up on the NHL to return home; and Mary Ormsby, Toronto Star, for stories on minor hockey's failure to attract immigrants, the relationship between the late John Ferguson and his son John Jr., and the purchase of a showjumping horse by a wealthy princess.

- Feature Photography: Charla Jones, The Globe and Mail, for a photo of Leonard Cohen at his home in Montreal; Phil Hossack, Winnipeg Free Press, for a shot of lightning illuminating an abandoned grain elevator; Bruno Schlumberger, Ottawa Citizen/CanWest News Service, for a photo from Paris of a painter hiding his face from the camera alongside a self-portrait.

- International Reporting: Stephanie Nolen, The Globe and Mail, for a story on the quest in South Africa to find and identify bodies of people killed during the apartheid era; Doug Saunders, The Globe and Mail, for a series on the world's middle class; Graeme Smith, The Globe and Mail, for stories on the torture of detainees in the Afghan war.

- Editorials: Gerald Flood, Winnipeg Free Press; Mary Janigan, The Globe and Mail; Andre Pratt, La Presse, Montreal.

- Editorial Cartooning: Serge Chapleau, La Presse, Montreal; Patrick Corrigan, Toronto Star; John B. Larter, Brandon Sun

- Long Features: Carolyn Abraham, The Globe and Mail, for a story on the growing movement to bury the unborn; Ian Brown, The Globe and Mail, for a feature on spring cleaning; Sue Montgomery, The Gazette in Montreal, for a feature on Dawson College shooter Kimveer Gill.

- News Photography: Mike Carroccetto, Ottawa Citizen/CanWest News Service, for a photo of a woman cradling her cat who woke her up in time to flee a burning building; Dave Chidley, The Canadian Press, for a picture of Conrad Black giving a one-finger salute to the press; Cathie Coward, The Hamilton Spectator, for a photo of an imprint left behind after a five-year-old boy fell nine stories onto the soft-waterlogged ground...and lived.

- Breaking News: Barrie Examiner team's coverage of the massive fire that destroyed much of Barrie's historic downtown; Mary Vallis of the National Post for coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre; the Vancouver Sun team of Lori Culbert, Neal Hall, Jeff Lee, Chad Skelton and Derrick Penner for coverage of the Pickton verdict. >>