The Carillon named best community newspaper

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/12/2020 (1996 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Carillon was named the best all round newspaper in the Manitoba Community Newspapers Association awards released Dec. 11, collecting 15 awards on the way to the top honour.

Originally scheduled for spring 2020, the award ceremony was bumped to fall before finally being cancelled due to COVID-19 regulations. Instead the announcement was made last week.

In addition to being named the best all round newspaper, The Carillon won first place in their class for editorial page, layout and design, and best in class. They also took first place for the best Christmas edition in the province.

Reporter Jordan Ross led the way for the individual awards, claiming six.

He won second place in the reporter of the year category for his entire body of work, and second for column or feature article on a business topic for a story on Elma coffee roaster, Trail’s End Coffee.

Ross also took third place for environmental story (St Pierre lagoon adds wetland cell), feature story (Anola area glassblower Lesa Cafferty), historical story (Mennonite Heritage Village sawmill), and photographer of the year.

The Carillon also won second place for best special section, for the Hockey Comes Home section.

Kaitlyn Kozarchuk won third for best agriculture story on grazing methods. Dave Baxter also claimed a third place win in the Better Communities category for a story on the “St Malo bag ladies”, a group of women who made mats from recycled plastic bags for the homeless.

Janet Smith won third place for best advertisement for an ad she designed for Ledingham GM welcoming Rogers Hometown Hockey to the community.

Publisher Laurie Finlay said The Carillon has a long history of awards for the quality of journalism and the quality of the overall product.

“Over the last couple of years we have seen not only the continuation of this tradition but indeed increased accolades among our peers,” he said. “2018 and 2019 saw The Carillon awarded as the Best Community Newspaper in their classification for all of Canada and most recently in Manitoba not only the Best in our classification but the Best All Round Community Newspaper in the province. This reflects on the dedication, skills and community pride of all of our employees.”

Editor Greg Vandermeulen said the awards are not only a reflection of the dedication of staff, but the willingness of the community to partner in sharing the stories that matter.

“We are fortunate to live in a community, a region where there are so many great stories waiting to be told,” he said. “We appreciate our readers and those who help us tell their stories.”