CWA Canada Members Win National Newspaper Awards!

Congratulations to all the National Newspaper Awards winners, especially our CWA Canada members at the Kingston Whig-Standard, and The Canadian Press.

And a shout out to all the CWA Canada members who were named as finalists from: Canada’s National Observer, The Canadian Press, Kingston Whig-Standard, North Bay Nugget, and Regina Leader Post.

Here is a list of our members who won:

STUART M. ROBERTSON AWARD for BREAKING NEWS

Winner: The Canadian Press, for their responsive and compassionate coverage of the Lapu Lapu street festival attack in Vancouver. Judges praised the team for the “swiftness of response and sustained commitment to offering clarity and compassion.”

E. CORA HIND AWARD for LOCAL REPORTING (Medium Market)

Winner: Maegen Kulchar, Kingston Whig-Standard, for her reporting on the suicide of a prison guard and the toxic workplace culture of bullying. Judges said Kulchar’s work “shone a light on the human cost of a dark workplace culture.”

PHOTO STORY

Winner: Chris Young, The Canadian Press, for his series, From Moss Park with Love, documenting the human side of the safe consumption site at the epicentre of Toronto’s opioid crisis. Judges said “the raw imagery captures the trauma of addiction with both compassion and love.”

JOHN HONDERICH AWARD for PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Winner: Liam Casey and Christopher Katsarov Luna, Canadian Press, for their extensive coverage from the Ring of Fire region in Northern Ontario, highlighting the landscape, the people and the powerful politics at play. Judges said “The project brings genuine depth to a story of economic opportunity, Indigenous rights and the complexities of development.

SPORTS PHOTO

Winner: Darryl Dyck, Canadian Press, for his celebration soccer photo from the Canadian Championship quarterfinal in Vancouver. Judges said. “The uniqueness of this composition pushed this photo over the edge.”

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And here is a list of our members named as finalists:

MARY ANN SHADD CARY AWARD AWARD for COLUMNS

Finalist: Arno Kopecky, National Observer, for his dispatches from a self-guided campaign trail following Pierre Poilievre’s announcement he wouldn’t allow journalists to travel with him.

INNOVATION IN JOURNALISM

Finalist: Rory White, Bruno De Bondt, David McKie, Jimmy Thomson and Linda Solomon Wood, National Observer, for Civic Searchlight, a tool for any Canadian journalist or civic worker that transcribes municipal council meetings and makes them searchable by keyword and location.

E. CORA HIND AWARD for LOCAL REPORTING (Small Market)

Finalist: Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, North Bay Nugget, for revealing the mayor used taxpayers’ money on personal expenses, leading to internal debate at city council, resignations and public outcry.

NEWS PHOTO

Finalist: Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press, for his photo of a candlelight march in Vancouver during a vigil for the victims of the Lapu Lapu festival attack.

BOB LEVIN AWARD for SHORT FEATURE

Finalist: Nono Shen, The Canadian Press, for her novel tariff impact story that took readers on an impromptu journey from Vancouver’s docks to the kitchen of one of Canada’s most renowned Asian chefs.

SPORTS

Finalist: Gare Joyce, Kingston Whig-Standard, on Don Cherry’s life and complicated legacy in his hometown of Kingston, Ontario.

SPORTS PHOTO

Finalist: Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press, for his portrait of L.A. Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani mid-pitch.

GEOFFREY STEVENS AWARD for SUSTAINED NEWS COVERAGE

Finalist: Michelle Berg, Brandon Harder, Larissa Kurz, Kayle Neis and Rob O’Flanagan, Regina Leader Post and Saskatoon Star Phoenix, for their up-close look at the people most impacted by Saskatchewan’s summer of wildfires.

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A link to the complete list of winners and finalists: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/national-newspaper-awards-announce-2025-winners-817015967.html