LAKELAND - Lakeland This Week was named a top three finalist in number of award categories during the Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association (AWNA) awards banquet, held on June 3 in Edmonton.
In the Better Newspaper Competition Awards of Excellence, Lakeland This Week earned third place for Best Ag Section.
Earning second place for Best Habitat Conservation Story sponsored by DUCKS Unlimited Canada was Jazmin Tremblay's story: ‘Moose Lake proposed to be first Canadian lake treated with alum to curb blue-green algae.'
VIsit: 'Moose Lake proposed to be first Canadian lake treated with alum to curb blue-green algae.'
Rob McKinley earned a first place finish and the Gordon Scott Memorial award for Best Feature Column by a local writer for his column, 'It’s pretty real when you have it.'
Visit: 'It's pretty real when you have it'
Another first place was given in the Sports Writing Award category for Janice Huser's story: ‘St. Paul Canadiens re-establishing unique affiliation with Montreal Canadiens.'
Visit: 'St. Paul Canadiens re-establishing unique affiliation with Montreal Canadiens'
Lakeland This Week also received second place in the Pandemic Writing category for Rob McKinley and Robynne Henry's coverage around local restaurants that opened despite public health measures in place in early 2021.
"Our team at Lakeland This Week and LakelandTODAY.ca have persevered through some challenging times served up by the pandemic, but through it all our staff members have continued in their professionalism and commitment to local journalism in the Lakeland region," says publisher Clare Gauvreau.
"I am very proud of their accomplishments and seeing them recognized at the provincial level for their journalistic endeavors is especially rewarding. Congratulations to all on a job well done."
The event also includes the Better Newspaper Competition (BNC) General Excellence awards.
In the Class C category, which is for newspapers that have a circulation between 5,000 and 9,999, Lakeland This Week received third place for "Best Overall," first place for "Best Editorial Page," and second place for "Best Front Page."
In the AWNA Photographic Awards, a third place award was given to Janice Huser's photo of a helicopter crash near St. Paul in the spot news category.
