2019 Better Newspaper award
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR WINNERS!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR WINNERS!
1) Pontiac Journal
2) The Suburban City
3) Nation
Judge comments:
| Nice work by all. The winners are memorable and very creative. I love the power of print that these messages utilize. |
1) Low Down to Hull & Back News
2) The Suburban Laval
3) Low Down to Hull & Back News
Judge comments:
| Well done. This is a display of some really fine creative and messaging work. |
1) The Suburban West Island
2) The Equity
3) Low Down to Hull & Back News
1) Quebec Farmers' Advocate
2) The Equity
3) Quebec Farmers' Advocate
Judge comments:
| Congratulations to the Advocate for their strong submissions - and to all three winners who stood apart from the remainder of the competition. |
1) The Equity
2) Iorì wase
3) Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Judge comments:
| A few of the images were technically well executed, well composed, nice to look at, but showed no action, no emotion, lacked impact. |
1) The Equity
2) Record
3) Pontiac journal
1) Nunatsiaq News
2) Spec
3) Nation
1) Low Down to Hull & Back News
2) The Eastern Door
3) Nation
Judge Comments:
| It is a treat to view all the entries. Congratulations to all the contestants. |
1) Nunatsiaq News
2) The Suburban
3) LavalNews
1) Bulletin d'Aylmer
2) Pontiac Journal
1) Pontiac Journal
1) Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
2) The Suburban Laval
3) Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Judge comments:
| There were a number of photographs that missed making the top 3 because of a missed opportunity to crop, being a second late on the shutter or tough lighting conditions. I certainly understand space can be an issue, but I'm disappointed by how small some of these photo were. When you've got a great photo, use it to draw in the reader by playing it large. |
1) The Eastern Door
2) The Suburban West Island
3) Spec
Judge comments:
| All entries in this category achieved the purpose of the Best Community Newspaper Promotion category. First place stood out for the layout in the newspaper both in writing and graphics to draw attention to these two worthwhile community causes. The promotion was excellent in combining two efforts of encouraging people to donate blood but also the newspaper raising funds to promote the Kahnawake language and involving other community businesses. |
1) Nunatsiaq News
2) Nunatsiaq News
3) Low Down to Hull & Back News
Judge Comments:
| A few of these entries stood out far above some of the others. It's one thing to tackle a really interesting topic but it's another thing to do it in a way that interests, educates and even benefits readers. |
1) LavalNews
2) The Eastern Door
3) Nation
1) The Eastern Door
2) The Suburban City
3) The Equity
Judge Comments:
| A great selection of entries. The quality of each shows the importance of and loyal support given to Community Newspapers and why their ongoing success is important to smaller suburban and / or very rural communities, regardless of which province they are located. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. |
1) Nation
2) Nunatsiaq News
3) Nunatsiaq News
Judge Comments:
| This was a true pleasure to judge and numerous entries made for great reads. What set the winners apart was a combination of visual representation and the clear effort to delve beneath the outer layer of their subject matter to give as broad of a scope of detail as possible. |
1) Nation
2) Nunatsiaq News
3) Nunatsiaq News
Judge Comments:
| An excellent array of 24 submissions. Ideally would have been helpful to have an "A" and a "B" class, as there were several submissions which easily could have been 1, 2 & 3, should the field have been divided. Very encouraging to see how First Nations are participating in Canada's "newest" industry since the legalization of "weed". Would be interesting to judge a separate competition "on their success" in five years. That is something QCNA should set up for a category in 2024. |
1) The Eastern Door
2) Nunatsiaq News
3) Low Down to Hull & Back News
Judge Comments:
| Honorable mention to two papers whose front pages featured dramatic photos that helped tell stories and grab readers' attention: * The Kahnawake News highlighted a photo of a tense encounter at a public meeting. * The Pontiac Journal showed three homes ravaged by a tornado. |
1) Low Down to Hull & Back News
2) Spec
3) The Eastern Door
Judge Comments:
| I found the quality of writing in the entries to be lacking. Some stories didn't flow, others had a lot of errors, first person was used in some, and some features incomplete. Other entries were more hard news stories rather than "feature". All in all, the stories were interesting and held value for your readers but I would urge writers to take more time and thought towards any stories that has the potential to enter into a "feature" category in a competition. In the description for entries into this category it lists seven things to look for so keep those seven points top of mind before sitting down to write and plan the layout. Congratulations to all. |
1) Nation
2) Pontiac Journal
3) The Suburban West Island
1) Nunatsiaq News
2) The Eastern Door
3) The Suburban Laval
1) Nunatsiaq News
2) Nation
3) Nation
1) The Eastern Door
2) The Equity
3) Low Down to Hull & Back News
Judge Comments:
| Honourable mention: The Nation: Flood panic - Good reconstruction of a moment of terror in the community. Clear writing keeps reader's interest until the end. |
1) Nation
2) Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
3) Record
Judge Comments:
| Key to a good column is the breadth of topics covered and the quality of writing. Lebrecque-Saganash demonstrates that she manages both, while keeping an eye to what matters to her readership, She moves from lighthearted and funny, to important and serious, all while maintaining a signature style. She does the extra work to include interviews, which help to make her columns persuasive and convincing. |
1) The Eastern Door
2) The Suburban Laval
3) Nation
Judge Comments:
| Always hard to pick a winner in this category. Congratulations to all who entered. |
1) The Equity
2) Nation
3) Record
1) Low Down to Hull & Back News
2) The Eastern Door
3) Nation
Judge comments:
| Honourable Mentions The Equity and the Canadian Jewish News. I'd like to encourage reporters to bring their copy alive. News is about people and very often the stories did not start with the direct impact on people - a high school takes over the local dog park should be Dog owners will have to find another place to take Fido. High school students will soon take over the dog park. And photos - there were lots of photos but very little action! It's hard work to get good photos but work on new angles and people's reactions to events instead of putting people in a line. Good luck to all as you continue to serve your communities! |
1) The Eastern Door
2) The Suburban City
3) The Suburban City
Judge comments:
| The top-ranking sports sections in this competition were very closely matched. Between the Eastern Door and the three Suburban entries, it was a tough decision. Engaging writing, well-played photographs and a good diversity of sports and participants featured gained high marks. Those that offered personality features and stories beyond game action were also much appreciated. The other three entries each had strong individual elements, but more variety and more space dedicated to sports would have ranked them higher. There's some good work presented here across the category. Keep it up! To drive readership, consider hierarchy of stories on based on impact and don't be afraid to play well-cropped, active photos big. Always try to write game stories that go beyond play-by-play to provide a greater understanding of a team or a moment. |
1) The Suburban City
1) Nunatsiaq News
2) The Eastern Door
3) Quebec Farmers' Advocate
1) Low Down to Hull & Back News
2) The Eastern Door
3) Nunatsiaq News
1) Low Down to Hull & Back News
2) Nunatsiaq News
3) Low Down to Hull & Back News
1) Nation
2) Nation
3) Low Down to Hull & Back News
1) Nunatsiaq News
2) The Eastern Door
3) Nation
Judge comments:
Investigative reporting is a tough slog when you are working for a community newspaper. It's that simple.
So with that being said, I think what these entries continue to show is that there is great value to community newspapers that many people don't understand. When local media disappears we are all the worst for it.
We need journalists - young and old - to keep the people we elect honest and true to their word. We need local journalists to tell the stories from within their communities so we can understand what is happening in Quebec and Canada.
There are reporters in this category who will go on to do great things and I for one can't wait.
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