SooToday up for national award for best small newsroom coverage - twice!

David Helwig's coverage of last fall's fiercely contested mayor's race and his diligence following the legal wrangling over the Port of Algoma during Essar Steel Algoma's bankruptcy protection has earned SooToday a pair of nominations in this year's Digital Publishing Awards.

The nominations list was announced today, which also happens to be World News Day - a day journalists around the globe celebrate the importance of independent, fact-based journalism.

SooToday is nominated twice in the Best News Coverage (Small Newsroom) category, up against entries from B.C.-based First Nations newspaper Ha-Shilth-Sa, French-language publication 100 degres, and YorkRegion.com/Markham Economist Sun.

Here's the criteria for the category:

"Honours excellence in news reporting of a single topic or event based on the enterprise and skill of the reporter or team of reporters, including insightful analysis and compelling narrative. This award will go to the digital publication that best serves its audience through timely, original reporting on any single topic or event of local, provincial, national or international significance. This category is intended for small, local publications with an editorial staff (digital and print if applicable) of less than 10 members."

SooToday was one of 50 Canadian digital publications nominated for the Digital Publishing Awards, which is in its fourth year.

The following is the full text of a news release issued this morning by the National Media Awards Foundation, which runs the DPAs:

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TORONTO - The National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) is thrilled to present the 2019 Digital Publishing Awards nominees. The DPAs—now in their fourth year—recognize and promote the excellent work of Canadian digital publications and creators.

For 2019, 118 submissions, from 50 various publications, have been nominated. These nominations are the result of a collaborative and rigorous judging process, made possible by our dedicated roster of 80 volunteer judges.

"The Digital Publishing Awards program was launched four years ago, and since, the number of participating publications has more than doubled. An impressive total of 127 publications submitted entries in 2019. It is thrilling to see the enthusiasm for these awards, and exciting to witness the outstanding work of Canadian creators being celebrated by their peers. The NMAF is immensely proud to present the 4th annual DPAs, and look forward to welcoming you all at the Awards Soirée on May 29." – Julie Cailliau, NMAF President.

On May 29th, the Gold, Silver, and Honourable Mention winners will be revealed at the Soiree, with Gold winners in select categories receiving a $500 cash prize. The Soiree will be held in Toronto at One King West and hosted by award-winning journalist and editor Eternity Martis. Purchase a ticket through digitalpublishingawards.ca to join us for the celebration.

Emerging Excellence Award
The emerging excellence award—which honours an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing demonstrates the utmost degree of craft and promise—nominees for 2019 are: Sofia Misenheimer of Art/iculation, Natalie Vineberg of The Walrus, and Erin Valois of the National Post.

General Excellence in Digital Publishing Awards
The General Excellence awards recognize the publications that maximize the possibilities of digital publishing; these are the publications that succeed in fulfilling their editorial mandate and represent the highest of journalistic standards. These awards are presented in three divisions: small, medium, and large. 

The Logic, The Sprawl, and unpointcinq.ca are finalists in the small division. 
Hakai Magazine, The Kit, and Maclean's are finalists in the medium division. 
In the large division, CBC News and Le Devoir are the nominees.

First-Time Nominees
A number of publications are first time DPA nominees, including: Art/iculation, BBC News, Ha-Shilth-Sa, LocalLove.ca, Magazine web 100 degrés, Mic Drop, Moneysense, National Post, Calgary Herald, Pastime, Peterborough Currents, QUB radio, Report on Business, Saskatoon StarPhoenix/Regina Leader-Post, SooToday, The Logic, The Narwhal, Unpointcinq.ca, and Yorkregion.com / Markham Economist Sun.

Top Nominees
For 2019, the top nominated publications are CBC News with 18 nominations across various divisions, and The Globe and Mail with 16 nominations. 

Hakai earned an impressive 6 nominations, while Maclean's and Radio-Canada each earned five nominations. Other top-nominated publications include:

Publication	Nominations
Global News	4
Hazlitt	4
VICE Canada	4
Le Devoir	3
Sportsnet	3
The Narwhal	3
The Walrus	3
VICE Québec	3

Individual Nomination Highlights
"Hustle in the oil patch: Inside a looming financial and environmental crisis" by Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Chen Wang, Renata D'Aliesio, Christopher Manza, Matthew French, John Sopinski, Murat Yükselir, Melissa Tait, Todd Korol, Brennan Higginbotham, and Theresa Suzuki (published in The Globe and Mail) is a finalist in both Best News Coverage and Best Digital Editorial Package.

Air Canada enRoute's "Canada's Best News Restaurants" guide is nominated for the fourth year in a row for Best Digital Editorial Package. The guide is also a nominee in the Best Online Video: Short category.

"Follow the Money"—a product of collaboration between the National Post and Calgary Herald teams and led by Zane Schwartz, Brice Hall, and Julie Traves—is nominated for Innovation in Digital Storytelling and Best News Coverage.

Leadership Award
The NMAF is delighted to present Kathy Vey, TVO's Executive Producer of Digital, with the prestigious 2019 Digital Publishing Leadership Award. Vey's 37-year career in Canadian journalism spans pivotal roles at media outlets including the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Sun, Queen's Park Briefing, OpenFile, and TVO.org.

Categories

Best News Coverage

Toronto Van Attack
William Wolfe-Wylie, Dwight Friesen, Richard Grasley, Hannah Wise, Sannah Choi, Kate Cornick, Farrah Merali, Andre Mayer, Paul Borkwood, David Donnelly, Albert Leung, Martin Trainor, Diana Swain, Ioanna Roumeliotis, Melissa Mancini, and the CBC Toronto digital team
CBC Toronto/CBC News

Fentanyl: Making a killing
Sam Cooper, Andrew Russell, Stewart Bell, Brent Rose, Carolyn Jarvis, Ben Jonah,  James Armstrong, Online Video team,  Network News Desk, Global News Graphics Department, Global News Copy Desk, Global News Social Desk
Global News

Campagne électorale québécoise 2018
La rédaction
Le Devoir

Follow the Money
Zane Schwartz, Brice Hall, Julie Traves
Postmedia

Hustle in the oil patch: Inside a looming financial and environmental crisis
Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Chen Wang, Renata D'Aliesio, Christopher Manza, Matthew French, John Sopinski, Murat Yükselir, Melissa Tait, Todd Korol, Brennan Higginbotham, Theresa Suzuki
The Globe and Mail

Best News Coverage (Small Newsroom)

Who was Maggie Sutlej? Humanitarian aid group reaches out to Ahousaht 150 years after wartime abduction of child
Denise Titian
Ha-Shilth-Sa

Réimaginer nos aménagements
Marianne Boire, François Grenier, Françoise Ruby
Magazine web 100 degrés

2018 Sault Ste. Marie Municipal Election Coverage
David Helwig
SooToday

Bankruptcy protection for Sault's main employer sparks fight over port
David Helwig
SooToday

The Yellow Brick Road to Mount Everest
Sarah Staples, Richard Vandentillaart
Yorkregion.com / Markham Economist Sun

Best Personal Essay

The Waiting Room
Christian Allaire
Hazlitt

The Agony of Intimacy
Chelsea Murray
Hazlitt

A Body Like a Home
Gwen Benaway
Hazlitt

What are land acknowledgements and why do they matter?
Selena Mills, Kat Tancock, Stacy Lee Kon, Chief Lady Bird
LocalLove.ca

I tried to live according to Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life. Here's what happened
Jessica Leeder, Winnie T. Frick, Bryan Gee, Lisan Jutras
National Post

A dad's discovery: Raising a child is thankless work
Tim Kiladze, Lisan Jutras
The Globe and Mail

A Dog's Life
Shawna Richer, Deb Baic
The Globe and Mail

I wanted an abortion in Nova Scotia, but all around, barriers still remained
Jessica Leeder, Winnie T. Frick, Bryan Gee, Lisan Jutras
The Globe and Mail

Mon manège à moi
Anick Lemay
URBANIA

How to Have "the Talk" as a Muslim Father
Yasir Khan, Lauren McKeon, Samia Madwar
The Walrus

Best Column

Queeries
Peter Knegt
CBC Arts

Science
Valérie Borde
L'actualité

Anne Kingston, columns
Anne Kingston
Maclean's magazine

Jennifer Ditchburn columns
Jennifer Ditchburn
Policy Options

Dorothy Woodend, culture columnist
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee

Chantal Braganza
Chantal Braganza, Sarah Sweet
TVO.org

Best Feature Article: Short

The Water Carriers

Alannah Campbell, Karen Levine, Pauline Holdsworth, Ruby Buiza, Andre Mayer, Lakshine Sathiyanathan
CBC Radio - The Sunday Edition

"My whole life taken away": Ontario father questions why 24-year-old wife died post-childbirth
Arti Patel, Caryn Lieberman, Beatrice Politi, James Armstrong, Sarah Kelsey, Peter Hadzipetros
Global News

In rural New Brunswick, a transgender woman charts a new path
Lindsay Jones, Matt Brown, Timothy Moore, Scott Munn
The Globe and Mail

The lost summer
Sharon J. Riley, Emma Gilchrist, Carol Linnitt
The Narwhal

Et si on jetait les camions dans le fleuve ?
Rémy Bourdillon
Unpointcinq

Best Digital Editorial Package

Canada's Best New Restaurants 2018
Gabrielle Simpson, Stephanie Mercier-Voyer, Yvonne Miou, Stefanie Sosiak, Danielle Groen, Sarah Musgrave, Nancy Matsumoto 
Air Canada enRoute

Stuck
Sophie Gray, Alexander Kim, Emma Loy, Holly McKenzie-Sutter, Alexander Migdal, Sharon Nadeem, Andrew Seal,Aryn Strickland, Peter Klein, Kathryn Gretsinger, Saranaz Barforoush, Dan McKinney, Britney Dennison, Andrew Munroe, Zak Vescera, David Murawsky, Amanda De Souza, Paul Trundle, Andrew Yates, Andree Lau, Louise Roug
International Reporting Program and HuffPost Canada

Lines of Fire
Leader-Post Team/StarPhoenix Team
Saskatoon StarPhoenix/Regina Leader-Post

Hustle in the oil patch
Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Renata D'Aliesio, Chen Wang, Melissa Tait, Christopher Manza, Matt French, John Sopinski,Todd Korol, Brennan Higginbotham
The Globe and Mail

Sex Ed: Beyond the Classroom
Lauren McKeon, Natalie Vineberg, Judy Ziyi Gu, Viviane Fairbank, Samia Madwar, Angela Misri, Dmitry Beniaminov,Sharon Nadeem, Jackson Weaver, Tajja Isen, Danielle Kinahan, Sebastian Leck, Amy van den Berg, Daina Goldfinger,Allison Baker, Sydney Hamilton, Seila Rizvic, Daniel Viola, Erin Sylvester, Anna Fitzpatrick, Lauren Vogel, Erica Lenti,Yasir Khan, Lindsay Nixon, Sue Carter, Eliza Robertson, Anubha Momin, Kate Sloan
The Walrus

Best Feature Article: Long

Jo Aubin
Shannon Proudfoot
Maclean's magazine

Croisière, bikinis et cocaïne
Julie Dufresne, Luc Tremblay, Chantal Cauchy, Gaétan Poulio, Éric Larouche, André Guimaraes, Santiago Salcido,Sophie Leclerc
Radio-Canada

Homeland (Parts 1 & 2)
Matthew Halliday, Chelsea Murray
The Deep

Murder on the Prairies
Jana Pruden, Laura Blenkinsop, Chris Manza, Victor Dwyer
The Globe and Mail

The Road
Stephanie Nolen, Aaron Vincent Elkaim, Laura Blenkinsop, Christopher Manza, Angela Murphy, Rachel Wine
The Globe and Mail

Fiction

The Shadows
Kaitlin Prest, CBC Podcasts, Phoebe Wang, Sharon Mashihi, Shani Aviram, Yasmine Mathurin, Olivia Pasquarelli,Adriana Komura, Marina Lee Koslock
CBC Podcasts

The Stunt
Michael LaPointe
Hazlitt

Best Service Feature

Back to the land
Andre Mayer, Dave Pizer, Evan Mitsui
CBC News

As a person of colour, it's a struggle to find therapists who look like you
Arti Patel, Sarah Kelsey, Lina Toyoda
Global News

Hidden Canada
The Globe and Mail, Maryam Siddiqi, Christopher Manza, Rachel Wine, Benjamin MacDonald, Alanna Cavangh
The Globe and Mail

Best Science and technology Storytelling

Apps Installed On Millions Of Android Phones Tracked User Behavior To Execute A Multimillion-Dollar Ad Fraud Scheme
Craig Silverman
BuzzFeed Canada

The million-dollar drug
Kelly Crowe, Dave Pizer, Craig Chivers
CBC News

The Cavernous World under the Woods
Bruce Grierson, Jude Isabella
Hakai Magazine

The Noose Beneath the Waves
Sasha Chapman, Shanna Baker
Hakai Magazine

The Trees That Sail to Sea
Brian Payton, Jude Isabella
Hakai Magazine

Rio's Killer Apps
Stephanie Nolen, Rhian John-Hankinson, Jeremy Agius, Laura Blenkinsop, Elisangela Mendonca, Patrick Dell, Angela Murphy, Affan Chowdhry, Rasha Mourtada
The Globe and Mail

Follow the Water: Hidden Cost of a B.C. Town's Water
Joanne Pearce, Alfred Hermida, Hans Schreier
UBC School of Journalism

Best Online Video: Short

Canada's Best New Restaurants 2018: Elena
Martin Laporte, Nik Mirus, Marine Créquer, Stefanie Sosiak, L'Éloi
Air Canada enRoute

The truth about SugarBearHair vitamins
Roxanna Woloshyn, Anne MacRae, Charlsie Agro, Stephanie Dudley, Dave MacIntosh
CBC News

Endometriosis
Ben Shannon, Danielle d'Entremont, Jeff Goodes, Bria John, Olsy Sorokina, Dawna Dingwall
CBC Radio - White Coat, Black Art

How can I afford a home?
Prajakta Dhopade, Micah Bond, Yan Rosa, Elizabeth Palmieri
MoneySense

L'histoire de la paille
Djavan Habel-Thurton, Francis Lamontagne, Mélanie Julien, Eric Larouche, Martine Roy
Radio-Canada

Mums who scrum
Melissa Tait
The Globe and Mail

Best Arts & Culture Storytelling

The Sexy Sadness Of Sufjan Stevens
Scaachi Koul
BuzzFeed Canada

The Oracle of Oyster River
Brian Payton
Hakai Magazine

Alex Janvier's colourful life  
Marty Klinkenberg, Amber Bracken
The Globe and Mail

The Magnetism of Sadness and Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison
Josh Visser
VICE Canada

Comment faire son chemin, quand on est trans et actrice 
Justine de l'Église
VICE (Quebec)

Best Online Video: Feature

A day in the life of Raptors Photographer — Ron Turenne
David Zelikovitz, Donnovan Bennett
Sportsnet

Hockey is for Everyone: Jessica Platt
Donnovan Bennett, David Zelikovitz
Sportsnet

We the North Grandma
Donnovan Bennett, Graham Runciman, Maggie Naylor, Scott Simpson
Sportsnet

In rural New Brunswick, a transgender woman charts a new path
Scott Munn, Lindsay Jones, Matt Brown, Michael Belyea, Timothy Moore
The Globe and Mail

The caribou guardians
Sarah Cox, Jayce Hawkins, Emma Gilchrist, Carol Linnitt
The Narwhal

Les sites de rencontre vus par une artiste trans
Brigitte Noël, Catherine Marineau-Dufresne, Jean-Pierre Bastien, Matt Joycey, Steve Martella
VICE (Québec)

What I didn't learn in Ontario's sex-ed curriculum
Corey Misquita, Riley Sparks
Xtra

Best Online Video: Mini-Doc

Canada's peacekeeping mission in Mali: Who's fighting and why
Krista Hessey
Maclean's

Coal Valley: The story of B.C.'s quiet water contamination crisis
Carol Linnitt, Jayce Hawkins, Emma Gilchrist
The Narwhal

Fear and Loading: Meet the NRA's Most Wanted Customer
Sofi Langis, Manisha Krishnan, Spencer Chumbley, Danny Patterson, Taylor Rivers, Heidi Besner 
VICE Canada

Is this the next Standing Rock?
Hilary Beaumont, Alex Craig, Taylor Rivers, Heidi Besner 
VICE News Canada

Souldia : à double tranchant
Simon Coutu, Jean-Pierre Bastien, Zacharie Fay, David Valiquette, William Gignac, Maude M. Ouellet
VICE (Québec)

Where have all the spaces for queer women in Toronto gone?
Corey Misquita, Riley Sparks, Lulu Wei, Eric Wright
Xtra

Best Podcast

Front Burner
Jayme Poisson, Chris Berube, Elaine Chau, Shannon Higgins, Derek Vanderwyk, Nick McCabe-Lokos
CBC News

Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo
Connie Walker, Marnie Luke, Jennifer Fowler, Mieke Anderson, Heather Evans
CBC News

Love Me
Mira Burt-Wintonick, Cristal Duhaime, Sarah Geis
CBC Podcasts

Uncover: Escaping NXIVM
Josh Bloch, Kathleen Goldhar, Anita Elash, Heather Evans, Mieke Anderson
CBC Podcasts

CBC Mic Drop
Shari Okeke, Carrie Haber, Cristal Duhaime, Jess Shane
Mic Drop

Peterborough Currents
Ayesha Barmania, Will Pearson
Peterborough Currents

En 5 minutes
Charles Trahan, Baptiste Zapirain, Benjamin Bourque, Hélène Laurin, Frédéric Guindon
QUB radio

Rap carcéral
Simon Coutu, Alain Loiselle, Dice B, Laurent K. Blais
Radio-Canada Première (produit par VICE)

Best Digital Design

Universités : payer plus pour avoir moins?
Naël Shiab, Santiago Salcido
CBC/Radio-Canada

On a redessiné le Québec
Marc Lajoie, Melanie Julien, Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski, Santiago Salcido, Martine Roy
Radio-Canada

Toronto Star's Featured Projects Portfolio
Fadi Yaacoub, Cameron Tulk, David Schnitman, Nathan Pilla, Tania Pereira
The Toronto Star

Best Photo Storytelling

Black in Canada: 10 stories
Jalani Morgan, Robin Levinson King, Jessica Murphy
BBC News - Canada bureau

Us Too
Geneviève Caron, Lindsay Siu, Tavia Grant, Dawn Calleja, Clare Vander Meersch, Jeremy Agius
Report on Business magazine

Living in limbo
Renaud Philippe, Jeremy Agius, Matt French, Theresa Suzuki, Patrick Dell, Michelle Zilio, Carol Toller, Carine Abouseif,Tu Thanh Ha
The Globe and Mail

Proms from coast to coast
Ming Wong, Jeremy Agius, Theresa Suzuki, Melissa Tait, Jackie Dives, Darren Calabrese, Todd Korol, Caroline Alphonso
The Globe and Mail

Best Social Storytelling

As It Happens 50th anniversary animations
Ben Shannon, Kate Swoger, Sheena Goodyear
CBC Radio - As It Happens

Escaping NXIVM
Irene Thomaidis, CBC News Social Team
CBC News

#FirstTimeIWasCalled
Farah Nasser, Erica Vella, Ben Jonah, Eric Mark Do, Dean Hayashi, Mike Lapalme, Chris MacDougall, Trevor Owens, Lacy Atalick, Michael Hutchinson, Samantha Turchan, Nida Omar, Jessica Maxwell, Drew Hasselback, Shauna Rempel,Simon Osler, Brian McKechnie, Mackay Taggart
Global News

Pay equity social sells
Elizabeth Palmieri, Jason Kirby, and Scott Simpson
Maclean's

Weed did it.
Sasha Kalra, Daman Lamba, Jill Krajewski, Laura Lloyd, Kate McKerroll, Tyler Hughes, Victoria Pandeirada
VICE Canada

Best Editorial Newsletter

What on Earth?
Emily Chung, Andre Mayer, Nicole Mortillaro
CBC News

Hakai Magazine Weekly Newsletter
Adrienne Mason, Raina Delisle, David Garrison, Mark Garrison, Josh Silberg
Hakai Magazine

Le courrier électoral
Geneviève Tremblay, Stéphane Baillargeon, Cédric Gagnon, Jean-Philippe Corbeil, Simon Poirier
Le Devoir

Pastime, Season One
Nathaniel Basen, Adam Anshan, Cody Gault, Paul Thompson, Colin McGowan, Sam Riches, Josh Tucker, Mike Piellucci,Sarah Brown, Glenn Harvey, Kyle Scott, Alex Mathers, Joe Wolfond, Paul Kim
Pastime

Innovation in Digital Storytelling

Forever Changed
William Wolfe-Wylie, Dwight Friesen, Richard Grasley, Sannah Choi, Kate Cornick, Farrah Merali, Andre Mayer, Paul Borkwood, David Donnelly, Albert Leung, Martin Trainor
CBC News

Because News Alexa Game
Elizabeth Bowie, Gavin Crawford, Ian Cauthery
CBC Radio's Because News

Toronto Votes
Victoria Valido, Chris Glover, Laura Green, David Allmark, T.J. Heideman, Bob Weiers, Julia Whalen, Lauren Pelley, Lisa Xing, Farrah Merali, Talia Ricci, Nick Boisvert, John Rieti, Matt Elliott
CBC Toronto

Follow the Money
Zane Schwartz, National Post & Calgary Herald teams
National Post and Calgary Herald

Olympics interactive graphics
Timothy Moore, Christopher Manza, Trish McAlaster
The Globe and Mail

Digital Publishing Awards Soiree
Join us on May 29th when we present the Gold, Silver, and Honourable Mention awards at the 4th annual Digital Publishing Awards Soiree. The Soiree will be held at One King West, and Eternity Martis will host. Martis' work has helped shape the language used in newsrooms across Canada, is discussed in mainstream media, changed policies on racism and is taught on academic syllabuses at Western University, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. 

Digital Publishing Awards Soirée
Wednesday, May 29th, 2019
Doors open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm
One King West Hotel
1 King Street West, Toronto, ON
Tickets on sale at digitalpublishingawards.ca.

Acknowledgments
The National Media Awards Foundation is incredibly grateful for the support of: Government of Canada, the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Creates, Reader's Digest Foundation, and KCK Global. We are also thankful for the support of Cision, Magazines Canada, PUSH Media, Very Good Studios and Vividata.

Our sincerest thanks to this year's judges, who graciously volunteered their time and expertise, evaluating the hundreds of entries submitted to this year's competition.

Sponsorship Opportunities
For sponsorship inquiries, please contact Barbara Gould, Executive Director, at [email protected].

About the Digital Publishing Awards
Produced by the National Media Awards Foundation, the Digital Publishing Awards promote and reward the achievements of those who create digital publishing content in Canada—the writers and editors, designers and developers, video and podcast producers, photographers and illustrators, and many others. The DPA program recognizes, celebrates and promotes to a national audience the innovative publishing teams that produce digital content in Canadian media.

About the National Media Awards Foundation
A charitable foundation, the NMAF's mandate is to recognize, support and promote excellence in content creation of Canadian print and digital publications through an annual program of awards and national publicity efforts. The Foundation produces three distinct and bilingual award programs: the National Magazine Awards, the Digital Publishing Awards, and the National Magazine Awards: B2B.

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