Brandon Sun shines with pair of national awards

The Brandon Sun took home awards for editorials and photography while the Globe and Mail was the big winner Friday night at the National Newspapers Awards in Toronto.

The Free Press was nominated for four awards, including combined coverage with the Brandon Sun of the Trans-Canada Highway crash in Carberry that killed 17 seniors in June 2023.

Montreal’s La Presse won the breaking news category for its coverage after a bus driver killed two children and injured six others when a vehicle crashed into a Laval daycare centre.

The Free Press was a finalist in the columns category for Niigaan’s Sinclair’s writing on Manitoba politics; in the explanatory category for Melissa Martin’s feature on men and women trying to break the cycle after years in the criminal justice system; and in the sports photo category for John Woods’ picture of women’s Manitoba Marathon winner Dawn Neal with a fallen competitor behind her.

“These awards recognize the best newspaper journalism in the country, so being nominated speaks to the quality and strength of our newsroom,” said Free Press editor Paul Samyn.

“I’m proud of all our nominees and the work they delivered for our readers.”

Matt Goerzen of the Brandon Sun, sister paper of the Free Press, won the Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing about Brandon’s growth on LGBTTQ+ rights, changes needed after the Carberry tragedy and why deficit numbers can’t always be trusted. It is Goerzen’s first NNA award.

Brandon photojournalist Tim Smith’s picture of women washing windows at a manufacturing business on the CanAm Hutterite Colony east of Minto was named the top feature photo in the country.

The Globe won seven awards, including Doug Saunders for journalist of the year. La Presse took home three awards, as did the Toronto Star, which shared one with The Narwhal.

The Brandon Sun and the Narwhal both won two awards. The Narwhal’s second award was shared with IndigiNews.

— Free Press staff