Anglican newspapers win Canadian Church Press awards

The national church’s Anglican Journal, the diocese of Ottawa’s Crosstalk and the diocese of Quebec’s Gazette won several awards at the Canadian Church Press Awards on May 17.

The Journal was awarded second prize in the General Excellence (newspaper) category for its entry of the September, October and November issues, which were produced by its former editor, Kristin Jenkins. Judge Carol Goar of The Toronto Star commented that the issues had a “good mix of reporting and reflection, forthright approach to difficult issues of faith and finances, clear aboriginal presence, welcome international perspective, strong writing and good design.”

That category was the only one in which newspapers and magazines were evaluated separately. In the rest, for the first time, newspapers and magazines were considered together but divided according to circulation under or over 10,000.

Journal art director Saskia Rowley also won second prize for the layout of the September edition (circulation over 10,000). “A very beautiful publication and a very well-done redesign,” commented judge Brian Morgan, who is currently art director of The Walrus magazine. She also won third prize for her front-cover design in the same issue. Morgan wrote that the photo of Bishop Victoria Matthews was a wonderful and graphic opening image…and that it was “a very well executed, impactful cover – VERY well-designed.”

During the two-day conference that preceded the awards, Rowley was also elected as vice-president of the CCP.

Two diocesan papers won awards for articles focusing on animals. Archdeacon Bruce Myers, editor of Gazette, won a second-place award for his theological reflection “Do Dogs go to Heaven?” Rolf Pedersen, a former newspaper editor and now a seminary student who judged the category, called the reflection “an excellent piece,” with plenty of biblical backup. Pederson added that Myers had sparked his interest in reading the book Animal Rites: Liturgies of Animal Care. “Bruce manages to universalize the issue of the place of non-human animals in God’s creation,” he wrote.

Crosstalk, edited by Art Babych, won a third-place award for a feature in a publication under 10,000 for Lisa Chisholm-Smith’s article “Forever Friends.” Freelance writer-editor Cynthia Shannon, who judged the category, wrote that the story was a “nice, original take on animals; sound arguments/points made backed by biblical passages! Well-written and organized. Thoughtful and thought-provoking.”