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Toronto Blue Jay Jose Bautista throws his bat in the air after hitting a three-run homer in the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers in game five of the American League Division Series Oct 14, 2015 in Toronto. The photo earned Globe and Mail photographer Fred Lum a National Newspaper Award.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail dominated the 67th National Newspaper Awards, winning nine of 21 categories handed out Friday, capped when Joanna Slater, a Globe foreign correspondent, was named 2015 Journalist of the Year for her coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe.

No other Canadian news organization won more than two of the awards and it's at least the fifth consecutive year The Globe has won or tied for the most awards nationwide.

"The emphatic wins prove we are providing journalism based on empathy, curiosity and courage," said David Walmsley, Globe editor-in-chief.

"We care deeply about hosting the national conversation and the wins convey the range of our passions and our commitment to deliver the best journalism.

"This has been a most extraordinary year. All of us at The Globe and Mail are proud to be associated with journalism of this calibre."

Globe staff or freelancers won the awards in these categories:

  • International: Ms. Slater for her coverage of the Syrian refugee issue in Europe. That coverage also won her the Journalist of the Year award.
  • Beat Reporting: Kathryn Blaze Baum for coverage of indigenous communities.
  • Business: Jacquie McNish and Niall McGee for a look into the investigation of allegations in the online gambling industry.
  • Investigations: Renata D’Aliesio for her 18-month quest to unravel the spike in suicides among veterans who served in Afghanistan.
  • Politics: Adrian Morrow for coverage of secret payments to the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers’ Federation by the provincial Liberal government.
  • Arts and Entertainment: Greg McArthur, Kate Taylor and Jacquie McNish for their coverage of philanthropic donations to the Royal Ontario Museum.
  • Long Feature: Sierra Skye Gemma for a story on pornography, and healthy attitudes toward sex and love.
  • Sports Photo: Fred Lum for a shot of Jose Bautista’s infamous bat flip in last year’s baseball playoffs
  • Newspaper Presentation: Bryan Gee, Benjamin MacDonald for Globe Style portfolio

A news release from the awards committee said The Canadian Press and La Presse each won two awards, and eight other news organizations won one each – The Brandon Sun, The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, The Hamilton Spectator, The Kingston Whig-Standard, The New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, The Ottawa Citizen, Postmedia and The Toronto Star.

This is the second year the National Newspaper Awards have designated a Journalist of the Year. Ms. Slater was chosen from among the category winners by a panel of previous NNA laureates.

"Her writing allowed us to smell the fear of the dispossessed, to experience the uncertainty and heartbreak of a continent in turmoil," the judges wrote, according to the statement.

"Her reporting also played out against the backdrop of a Canadian election in which refugee issues featured prominently. In short, Slater's reporting was timely, significant, deeply moving and memorable – the exemplars of great journalism."

All category winners received cheques for $1,000 and a certificate of award, the statement said. Other finalists received citations of merit. The Journalist of the Year is awarded $2,500.

The National Newspaper Awards are open to daily newspapers, news agencies and online news sites approved for entry by the NNA Board of Governors. Sixty-six finalists were nominated in the 21 categories, selected from 1,100 entries published in 2015. Of 57 newspapers and online news sites to submit entries, 23 organizations earned nominations. The winners were announced Friday evening at a ceremony held in Edmonton.

The Globe and Mail had also led all entrants with 19 entries on the short list considered by the judges.

In five categories, The Globe earned two separate nominations: Arts and Entertainment, Beat Reporting, Business, International and Long Feature. There were also four double nominees.

The Globe's short-listed nominees:

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: A team of reporters – Mr. McArthur, Ms. Taylor and Ms. McNish – won the award for their investigation into the Royal Ontario Museum's difficulties collecting on donations, while senior media writer Simon Houpt was short-listed for coverage of CBC Radio program Q, English-language Canadian films and Canadian television.

BEAT REPORTING: Ivan Semeniuk earned a nod for his coverage of science, while  Ms. Baum won the award for her reporting on indigenous communities.

BREAKING NEWS: The Globe was short-listed for its coverage of the attack on Charlie Hebdo, which killed 11 people and wounded 11 others.

BUSINESS: Tim Kiladze and Janet McFarland teamed up to win a short-list nomination by examining why executive pay keeps climbing in Canada, despite those increases often appearing divorced from performance, while Ms. McNish joined forces with Mr. McGee to win the award by unraveling the story of online gambling player Amaya, and Canada's largest insider trading case.

INTERNATIONAL: Foreign correspondent Mark MacKinnon was short-listed or his coverage of two different deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, while Ms. Slater won for giving readers an up-close look at the refugee crisis in Europe.

INVESTIGATIONS: It took many months and more than two dozen federal Access to Information requests for Ms. D'Aliesio to reveal that at least 62 military members and veterans have killed themselves after serving in the war in Afghanistan. Her coverage won the award in this category.

LONG FEATURE: A deeply personal story on healthy attitudes to sex and love in an age of online pornography earned Sierra Skye Gemma the award in this category, while a similarly revealing story by Alexandra Kimball about the fallout from her miscarriage was also short-listed.

NEWS PHOTO: During a major protest against ride-sharing company Uber in Toronto, photographer Mark Blinch captured the moment when a taxi driver hung onto a moving car to earn his nomination.

POLITICS: Mr. Morrow, The Globe's Ontario politics beat reporter, won this award for his work revealing secret payments from the province's Liberal government to the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation in an apparent bid to secure labour peace.

PRESENTATION: Mr. Gee and Mr. MacDonald won together for their Globe Style portfolio.

PROJECT OF THE YEAR: A team of Globe and Mail journalists led by Angela Murphy was short-listed for wide-ranging coverage of Canada's missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, including a series exploring women targeted by serial killers.

SHORT FEATURE: Sports writer Cathal Kelly earned a short-list nod for encapsulating the angst and euphoria of the Toronto Blue Jays' rare and engrossing playoff run.

SPORTS: Grant Robertson's three-part series on how a minor-league professional baseball squad in Quebec has opened a promising diplomatic channel to Cuba, mixing sports and politics, was a finalist.

SPORTS PHOTO: Fred Lum captured the award for his now-famous photograph of Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista's much debated and celebrated bat flip.

A full list of nominees can be found here.

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