The St. Albert Gazette snagged an armful of awards for its coverage in 2018, nabbing both photography and reporting awards on a provincial and national level.
On May 31, the Gazette staff were handed a first-place prize for best front page and best editorial page by the Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association.
The Gazette also earned second place for best overall for its class and best sports section, which is crafted by reporter Jeff Hansen.
Gazette reporter Kevin Ma snagged an award for his higher education writing.
Ma earned his accolades for a story about squirrel serial killers, “Squirrels kill rival offspring; U of A researcher discovers red squirrel serial killers.”
The Gazette environmental reporter also placed first in best environmental reporting with “To catch a leak,” a story about infrared cameras used to find gas leaks, or fugitive emissions, in the St. Albert area.
Ma continued to clean up over the weekend with a third-place finish in education reporting for a story about the use of games in classrooms in “Games teachers play.”
Gazette publisher Brian Bachynski said the paper's staff is dedicated to producing quality journalism.
“In a time when journalism is being challenged by social media and the silos it harbours, it is gratifying to know that our efforts are recognized. Our entire staff is dedicated to quality journalism, and we are honoured to be the trusted news source of our community,” he said.
Along with writing awards, the Gazette's photographers earned a nod for their work capturing important moments in the community.
Dan Riedlhuber snagged a third-place prize for his photo page on the Fire and Ice festival and earned an honourable mention in the sports action category.
Chris Colbourne won first place for a photo of a young girl observing the Animal Inside Out display at the Telus World of Science.
Duff Jamison, CEO of Great West Newspapers, noted the Gazette was one of many papers in the Great West family decorated with awards this season.
“We’ve built a culture of excellence at Great West and that really showed in this year’s competitions. Great West’s 19 community newspapers, including the St. Albert Gazette, dominated the provincial awards and took home nearly three dozen top honours in the national competitions. I’m very proud of our team and its accomplishments this year and every year,” Jamison said.
On the federal level, Ma also grabbed two awards from the Canadian Community Newspaper Awards for best historical story and best environmental writing.
Riedlhuber earned second place and third place for a feature photo and sports photo, respectively.
Hansen earned third place for his sports coverage.
