Premier Awards - Best Feature Story ( Circulation 10000 to 12499,Circulation 12500 to 17499,Circulation 17500 and over,Digital - Population 100K plus)
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Place Name:
First Place
Contestant Name:
North Shore News (North/West Vancouver, BC)
Entry Title:
Bosnia vet reflects on minesweeping, trauma and remembrance
Entry Credit:
Brent Richter
Judge Comment:
An excellent examination from a retired soldier's reflections serving overseas during the Bosnia War, where Canada was in a peacekeeping mode, but this soldier in the aftermath remained to clear mines, where she saw colleagues killed, and herself wounded by explosions on the fields she was clearing. Great job from North Shore News (BC) reporter Brent Richter finding this retired veteran, and for her to share her traumatic story serving her country.
Place Name:
Second Place
Contestant Name:
Observer (Elmira-Woolwich, ON)
Entry Title:
FEW NOW ARE THOSE WHO CAN RECALL D-DAY FIRSTHAND
Entry Credit:
Julian Gavaghan
Judge Comment:
An excellent flashback feature looking at a Second World War navy veteran's involvement in Canada's participation in D-Day, a moment that changed the tide of defeating the German Army. Kudos to Elmira-Woolwich Observer (ON) reporter Julian Gavaghan composing this feature, a reminder of Canada freeing Europe from Nazis tyranny during the Second World War.
Place Name:
Third Place
Contestant Name:
Nanaimo News Bulletin (Nanaimo, BC)
Entry Title:
Ambassadors saving the turtles at Buttertubs Marsh
Entry Credit:
Jessica R. Durling
Judge Comment:
Jessica R. Durling with the Nanaimo News Bulletin (BC) wrote an excellent feature on why ambassadors, because of urbanization, spend three months protecting the nesting sites of the endangered Western Painted turtle.
Competition Comment:
It was a close race between the top-five features in this category featuring 39 submissions. However, North Shore News (BC) reporter Brent Richter came out on top thanks to a well-written piece on a Bosnia veteran reflecting on her dangerous minesweeping duties following that civil war, where Canada was part of a UN Peacekeeping mission. She not only survived her own injuries, but was there when colleagues were killed after mines detonated. Runner-up was another war-related feature, this time written by Julian Gavaghan with the Elmira-Woolwich Observer (ON), who looked back on a Canadian with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) who was just off the beaches of Normandy, during the Second World War, on D-Day. Garnering third-place for an interesting feature on protecting endangered Western Painted turtle eggs for three months is a piece written by Nanaimo News Bulletin reporter Jessica R. Durling. She shared the story of the survival of the eggs so this turtle species will survive as urbanization takes over its environment.
Jules Xavier, Shilo Stag editor (ret'd) MB
