NNA's A CLUCKING SUCCESS

The Friday Night gala was a fantastic success. Emceed by Brad Oswald, (Winnipeg Free Press TV columnist and local standup comic) in a Tux and Doug Speirs, Free Press humour columnist, in a kilt and chicken suit. One of those "you had to be there moments".



Between award presentations, they entertained the enthusiastic crowd with top ten lists of why Winnipeg should be the Centre of the Universe, wacky lymrics and even a song written for the evening called simply Belinda, roasting Belinda Stronich.

The Awards of course highlighted the best in Canadian Journalism:


Highlights:

Lisa Rochon of The Globe and Mail won her second straight NNA for Arts and Entertainment.

David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen won in both Beats and in Politics. The two awards boosted his total to three. He last won in 2002.

There were 32 first-time nominees and they won 11 of the 20 awards.

Yves Boisvert won for Column work. He first won for Short Features in 2004.


The winners and runners-up in the visual catagories:



Editorial Cartooning:
Winner, Marc Beaudet, Le Journal de Montreal
Runners-up--Brian Gable, The Globe and Mail; Graham Harrop, The Vancouver Sun.

Feature Photography:
Winner, Gord Waldner of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix for a photo of a little girl with Santa Claus
Runners-up, Colin O'Connor, National Post, for a photo of children perched on branches of a tree in Uganda; Lyle Stafford, Reuters, for a photo of PM Stephen Harper getting his nose tweaked.

News Photography:
Winner, Peter McCabe for a photo of Dawson College students fleeing out of a doorway while a police officer, with the body of the suspect at his feet, trains his weapon on the doorway, not sure if there are more gunmen;
Runners-up, Luc Laforce, Le Journal de Montréal, for a photo of emergency personnel hustling a wounded student away from Dawson College in the aftermath of the September shooting; Bruce Stotesbury of the Victoria Times Colonist for a photo of an anguished protester who was forced to find open air to escape the effects of tear-gas.

Presentation:
Winner: Genevieve Biloski, National Post,
Runners-up, Cinders McLeod, Globe and Mail; Philippe Tardif, La Presse, Montreal.


Sports Photography:
Winner, Steve Russell of the Toronto Star for a photo of a controversial and disallowed goal scored by Canada’s Rick Nash on Swiss goalie Martin Gerber;
Runners-up, J.P. Muczulski of Reuters for an extreme closeup of a tumble involving Jorge Garbajosa of the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers Steven Hunter in a pro basketball game; Ryan Remiorz of The Canadian Press for a photo of jubilant B.C. Lions holding pieces of a broken Grey Cup after their win over the Montreal Alouettes