Dear Colleagues,

The Guild is crossing its fingers and sending good luck wishes to seven of our photographers and the team of reporter/editors, led by our Halifax bureau, who have won nominations for the 2020 National Newspaper Awards. The winners will be announced on May 7, 2021.

The well-earned recognition of these nominations reflects the best that all of us at The Canadian Press delivered day after day, every day since the explosive start of 2020 and through the COVID-19 pandemic: bravery, dedication and relentless hard work in the service of telling the stories of our time, documenting suffering, sacrifice and historic achievements, all while providing essential information and holding power to account.

We all recognize the heroism of our crack team of photographers who have been in the field since day one of the pandemic, when none of us truly understood the dangers of the coronavirus and how it could be spread and caught. In the months that followed, reporters from across the continent followed in their footsteps, emerging from our homes to bear witness and report, in person. This began on April 18, 2020 when CP journalists left their Halifax area homes to hit the streets, highways and towns of Nova Scotia to cover the unfolding rampage and aftermath of a mass shooting. 

The eight National Newspaper Award nominations for The Canadian Press are representative of our shared commitment and dedication to our craft. Three photographers swept the Breaking News Photo category, and two photographers each secured nominations in the Feature Photo and Sports Photo category. In the Breaking News category, a team of journalists – spearheaded by our colleagues in Halifax – was nominated for coverage of the carnage wrought by a rampaging Nova Scotia gunman, who committed the largest mass shooting in Canadian history. This year’s nominations also mark major NNA career milestones for three of our photographers: Andrew Vaughan and Frank Gunn have now been nominated seven times, and Darryl Dyck has been nominated six times.

Let’s all share some CP pride in the achievement of our colleagues:

Breaking News Photo

Darryl Dyck, Canadian Press, for a photograph of two men clashing at a Black Lives Matter protest in Vancouver.

Andrew Vaughan, Canadian Press, for a photo of the body of Gabriel Wortman, shot and killed by police at a gas station after he killed 22 people during a 13-hour rampage in Nova Scotia.

Chris Young, Canadian Press, for a picture showing the anguish of a man as authorities broke up an encampment inhabited by homeless persons in downtown Toronto.

 

Feature Photo

Nathan Denette, Canadian Press, for a photo of a woman hugging her mother through a plastic “hug glove” the woman created so the family could embrace despite COVID-19 restrictions.

Fred Thornhill, Canadian Press, for a picture of a paddleboarder out for an early-morning paddle on the Trent-Severn waterway.

Sports Photo

Jacques Boissinot, Canadian Press, for the image of a freestyle skier tumbling to earth after a jump went wrong.

Frank Gunn, Canadian Press, for his photo of a collision between a Toronto Maple Leafs player and a Carolina Hurricanes goaltender.

Breaking News

The Canadian Press for coverage of the shocking killing rampage that left 22 people dead in Nova Scotia.

Andrew Vaughan, Michael MacDonald and Michael Tutton of the Halifax bureau led the coverage on the ground after leaving their homes on a Sunday morning with the shooter still at large, and a five-week-old COVID-19 pandemic raging everywhere. They collected words and images, working in tandem with several colleagues backing them up remotely: Holly McKenzie-Sutter, Keith Doucette, Kevin Bissett, Adina Bresge and Jim Bronskill. All contributed memorably to the relentless minute-by-minute coverage of the unfolding tragedy.

Good luck to you all! You’ve brought a collective smile to all of our faces in these challenging times. And hopefully a much needed bolt of adrenalin as we carry on with our work.

With great admiration,

Mike Blanchfield
CP Branch President, Canadian Media Guild

Carmel Smyth
National President, Canadian Media Guild