The Toronto Star has received eight nominations at this year’s National Newspaper Awards, as well as a shared nomination with the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, and another for parent company Torstar and the National Observer.
Among the Toronto Star’s nominations, investigative reporter Kevin Donovan is a nominee in three categories and Kelsey Wilson gets two nominations.
“This is great work and it demonstrates the Star’s strength in some key areas for us, including investigations, digital storytelling and politics,” said the Star’s editor, Anne Marie Owens, who notes that six of the nominations are the result of a team effort that involved the entire newsroom.
“The fact that this work was produced while all of us were in our second year of working remotely, and that much of it was the work of people pulling together as a team, is a testament to the newsroom’s enduring commitment to produce journalism that matters ,” Owens said.
Said Jordan Bitove, publisher of the Toronto Star and co-proprietor of Torstar: “We are so proud of our team, with 13 nominations for all of Torstar. These nominations reflect the hard work and powerful journalism that’s being done across our chain.
“We know that our journalism is making a difference in our communities, and our country, and we continue to build on that.”
The Star, itself, has been nominated in these categories:
business: Christine Dobby, Richard Warnica, Jacob Lorinc and Doug Smith worked on the clash within the Rogers family as members of the family fought over control of its business empire.
Explanatory Work: Kevin Donovan and Kelsey Wilson have been nominated for an investigation into what happens after someone’s car is stolen, which Donovan was inspired to write when his own vehicle was stolen from his driveway.
George Brown Award for Investigations: Kevin Donovan is a finalist in this category for his work on a five-part investigative series surrounding the mysterious death of toddler Nathaniel McLellan and the subsequent police investigation that rushed to pin the blame on his parents.
John Wesley Dafoe Award for Politics: Althia Raj is nominated for a piece that offered an inside look into the last-minute pivots and unexpected curveballs that helped shape the 2021 federal election; also nominated in this category are journalists Noor Javed, Steve Buist, Sheila Wang and Emma McIntosh, who uncovered the driving factors behind the Ford government’s push to build Highway 413, during a Torstar/National Observer investigation.
Presentation/Design: Nathan Pilla, Kelsey Wilson and Tania Pereira are nominated for their work on an online presentation that featured animation, 3D modeling, videos and photographs to tell the story about the terrifying blaze at 200 Wellesley, which changed the way Toronto fights fires in highrise buildings.
John Honderich Award for Project of the Year: The Toronto Star team has been nominated for its Atkinson series on COVID-19, which showed how the pandemic exposed fault lines in society.
Bobbie Rosenfeld Award for Sports: Joe Callaghan is nominated for his work featuring Maggie Mac Neil winning Canada a gold in the women’s 100-meter butterfly final during the Olympics, his coverage of how Muhammad Ali’s Canadian debut against George Chuvalo brought Ontario’s human rights into focus, and his story about former Raptor Kyle Lowry as one of the city’s most beloved sports stars.
Sustained News Coverage: Kevin Donovan has been nominated for his relentless reporting on the Barry and Honey Sherman’s murder case and his efforts to get the police files opened up to public scrutiny.
Editorial Cartooning: Michael de Adder is nominated for his work with the Halifax Chronicle-Herald and the Toronto Star.
The NNAs honor the best journalists and their work in Canada’s daily and community newspapers. Digital organizations are also recognized, as long as they publish at least five days a week.
“Finalists, representing 19 news organizations, were selected by three-judge panels in each category, from a total of 869 entries submitted for work published in 2021,” the awards organizers said on their website.
Winners are set to be announced on May 6.
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