The Globe and Mail took home six National Newspaper Awards last night, the most of any newspaper in Canada.
The awards, celebrating their 60th year, are a top industry honour and were handed out at a gala in Montreal last night. The Globe won the categories of international reporting, business writing, arts and entertainment writing, multimedia feature, explanatory work, special projects.
The heralded Talking to the Taliban series, which has collected several awards, won for best multimedia feature. Graeme Smith, the Globe reporter who spearheaded the project, also won for international reporting.
Jennifer Wells won the arts and entertainment category, for a profile of the head of CBC’s English radio and TV services.
Sinclair Stewart and Paul Waldie won in business, for an analysis of the causes and consequences of the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Carolyn Abraham won the explanatory work category for a piece about the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children.
Finally, the Globe’s Mental Health series won as the year’s top special project.
Last night’s wins secured The Globe’s position as the news organization with the most NNA wins overall, at 118, since the awards were founded in 1949. The Toronto Star has won 115 awards to date.
The Star had the second most awards last night, with four. Montreal’s La Presse and The Hamilton Spectator won two each.
The awards each come with a $1,000 prize, and are handed out by the Canadian Newspaper Association.
Globe winners
The Globe and Mail team won for Breakdown, a multifaceted series about mental-health issues in Canada that included a number of profiles, explanatory articles and multimedia features. The project has earned a number of awards in the health care industry.
The Globe also won for Talking to the Taliban, a series of video interviews with Taliban foot soldiers. Earlier this month, the project won a prestigious international Editor & Publisher award.
Graeme Smith
The Globe's Afghanistan correspondent won for best international reporting for his work, including an investigative piece on the ambush of French soldiers last August, and the Taliban's growing control of Kabul.
Sinclair Stewart and Paul Waldie
won in the business category for their analysis of the causes and consequences of the subprime mortgage crisis. The Globe won the category last year.
Jennifer Wells
won in the arts and entertainment category for her profile of CBC chief Richard Stursberg and his vision for innovating the public broadcaster.
Carolyn Abraham
won in the explanatory work category for her story on the debate surrounding prescribing powerful drugs to children diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Ms. Abraham was a runner-up in the Long Features category last year.
Full list of winners and runners-up
• Multimedia Feature
Winner: The Globe and Mail for its Talking to the Taliban multimedia project
Runners-up: La Presse in Montreal for a podcast of Saint-Laurent Boulevard that featured a self-guided tour and galleries of music, pictures and text; the Ottawa Citizen for marking the 70th anniversary of Superman’s debut with a multi-media presentation.
John Lehmann's photo of Vancouver naturists bowling in the buff was nominated for a National Newspaper Award in the feature photography category
• News Feature Photography
Winner: Lucas Oleniuk of the Toronto Star for a photo of a young female at a refugee camp in Kenya during morning prayers
Runners-up: Bernard Brault of La Presse in Montreal for a snowstorm photo; Chris Wattie of Reuters for a photo of former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion staring at Prime Minister Harper.
• Beat Reporting
Winner: Michelle Lang, Calgary Herald, for health and medicine coverage
Runners-up: Rob Shaw, Victoria Times-Colonist, for reporting on policing issues; Jane Sims, London Free Press, for justice coverage.
