Judges looked at the Sept. 24, 2014 edition of the Osoyoos Times and another from May 2014.
One year after being named the best community newspaper in British Columbia, the Osoyoos Times has been selected as the best community newspaper in its circulation class in the entire country.
Last Friday, the Canadian Community Newspaper Association (CCNA) announced the winners in its annual CCNA Awards Competition and the Osoyoos Times captured three major awards, including Best Overall Newspaper, General Excellence, in its circulation class.
It also captured top honours for Best Front Page and Best Editorial Page.
This comes one year after the Osoyoos Times captured first place in the annual Ma Murray Awards, which honours journalistic excellence among all of the community newspapers in British Columbia.
The Osoyoos Times edged out the Blyth/Brussels Citizen from Ontario and South Peace News from High Prairie, Alta. in voting for Best Overall Newspaper in the circulation class 1,250 to 1,999. That was the same order of finish in voting for Best Front Page and Best Editorial Page as well.
Winning the award for Best Overall Newspaper in the entire country in its circulation class against hundreds of other newspapers in small towns across Canada is a remarkable achievement, said editor Keith Lacey.
“I have been in this business for just over 30 years now and have managed to win a few awards along the way, but nothing compares to this one,” said Lacey. “To be named as the very best community newspaper in Canada is almost overwhelming.
“We have a great team of employees at the Osoyoos Times who take great pride in their work and we all work hard to put out a quality newspaper each and every week. To be acknowledged by your peers as the best overall newspaper in Canada is quite remarkable and something everybody who works here is rightfully very proud of.”
It’s fortunate that Osoyoos is a busy and vibrant community where there happens to be a lot of interesting things taking place on a regular basis and this certainly helps the editorial team in its news gathering efforts each and every week, said Lacey.
“You can’t create the news, but Osoyoos is a bustling town, especially during the warm weather months when there are so many visitors and tourists around.
“It’s our job to report on everything that is of importance to local residents. I think we do an outstanding job of keeping our readers informed about the key issues and covering all of the events that go on in town in a very professional and capable way. We work hard to try and put out a very solid newspaper each and every week and the recognition we’ve received from our peers in the industry the past two years clearly indicates we’re doing a tremendous job.”
Linda Bolton, the managing director for Aberdeen Publishing, which owns the Osoyoos Times, Oliver Chronicle and Peachland View newspapers and numerous other publications in B.C. and Alberta, said winning these three major national awards is something all of the employees at the Osoyoos Times should be very proud of.
“I’m very pleased and very proud about winning these awards,” she said. “It’s amazing and involves a lot of hard work by our team in Osoyoos.
“I appreciate the amount of work and effort it takes to win major awards at this level because they don’t just hand these out to anyone. To be selected the Best Overall Newspaper in all of Canada is simply wonderful.”
The editorial team of Lacey and reporter/photographer Richard McGuire do an outstanding job of filling the paper with informative community news and quality photographs, but it takes an entire team of quality employees to win awards like this, said Bolton.
“It certainly takes a team effort to achieve what we have achieved,” she said. “We have a great editorial team in Osoyoos and they are responsible for getting our readers turning the pages, but to create editorial success, it takes the rest of the team being on board and we certainly have an amazing team at the Osoyoos Times.”
That team includes associate publisher and ad designer Ronda Jahn, sales representative Ken Baker and office administrator Jocelyn Merit.
Lacey has been the editor of the Osoyoos Times since December of 2011 and McGuire was hired in December of 2012.
Being named best newspaper in Canada and winning two other major awards competing against hundreds of other newspapers across the country will most certainly have many people talking about Osoyoos, said Bolton.
“This is just huge for our paper, but also for the entire community,” she said. “It’s great recognition for the people who work at the paper, but it’s great for the community of Osoyoos to be nationally recognized.”
Jahn agrees that teamwork has been the key to success and claiming provincial and national recognition the past two years.
“To be recognized not only in B.C. with the Ma Murray’s last year, but nationally this year is incredible,” she said. “We are so proud of our paper and our team. We have a great group of people who work here, we work hard and it’s fantastic to see all our hard work pay off.”
Bob Doull, the president of Aberdeen Publishing Ltd. and owner of the Osoyoos Times, said being recognized by peers as publishing the finest newspaper in Canada for a town this size is remarkable.
“I’m thrilled,” he said. “It’s wonderful to work with people as talented as the people we have in Osoyoos and the community is fortunate to have them.”
Doull concurs that it takes great teamwork to put out an award-winning newspaper.
“You need a great team and we have a great team in Osoyoos,” he said.
The Osoyoos Times wasn’t the only newspaper owned by Aberdeen Publishing to do well in this year’s CCNA Awards competition.
The Jasper Fitzhugh finished third in the Best Overall Newspaper competition in its circulation class (3,000 to 3,999) and also receive a Blue Ribbon Award for Best Editorial Page.
Kamloops This Week was given a Blue Ribbon Award for Best Overall Newspaper in its circulation class (25,000 and over).
Adam Williams, a reporter with Kamloops This Week, won the top prize for Best Historical Story for his feature article called D Day: 70 Years Later.
Nicole Veerman, a reporter/photographer with the Jasper Fitzhugh, placed second in the Best Photo Essay competition in its circulation class.
Kamloops This Week captured first place in the Best Holiday Edition in its circulation class and also finished third in Best Sports Coverage.
Lacey will be representing the Osoyoos Times at the annual CCNA Awards Banquet and Convention in Toronto on May 22.
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