SASKATOON — The Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association announced its winners for 2023 Better Newspapers Competition Friday, with a number of award winners among SASKTODAY.ca’s contributors.
In order of the presentations, Weyburn This Week staff were among the nominees for an award for Best Special Section, winning third place for "On The Farm".
The Salute to Veterans category saw second and third place, respectively, going to the Unity-Wilkie Press-Herald, shared by Tim Holtorf, Helena Long and Sherri Solomko and to the Canora Courier, Rocky Neufeld.
In the Best Page Design category, Delwyn Luedtke of The Outlook took second place.
Unity’s Sherri Solomko took first and third place in the Best Headline Writing section. We share the winning heads: “It’s snowvertime for community public works departments,” and “Unity’s cobbler put his heart and ‘sole’ into 63-year career.”
In the Columnist of the Year category, Eric Westhaver of the Creighton/Flin Flon The Reminder took top honours. Westhaver’s work is often featured on SASKTODAY.ca as The Reminder is a member of the same Glacier Media community news group. Second went to Anastasiia Bykhovskaia of the Estevan Mercury and third to Shelley Luedtke of The Outlook.
In the Best Saskatchewan Arts or Cultural Story category, Miguel Fenrich of the Battlefords Regional News-Optimist took first place with his story “Conversation, unity and truth highlight of Twin Flames Saskatchewan tour.” Shelley Luedtke was third with “A group that brings the stories to the stage.”
In the Best Saskatchewan Arts or Cultural Series category, Miguel Fenrich of the Battlefords Regional News-Optimist took another first place.
Greg Nikkel of the Weyburn Review took first place in the Best Saskatchewan Recreational Story or Series of Stories for “’Dungeon Master’ finds running role-playing game highly rewarding.” Third place went to Derek Ruttle of The Outlook for “Outlook rink tops host’s ‘most haunted’ location.”
In the Best Tourism Story or Series of Stories, Miguel Fenrich of the Battlefords Regional News-Optimist won first place for his story “Biggar Museum is a community staple.”
Sherri Solomko and Helena Long won another first place award for the Unity-Wilkie Press-Herald with “Unity’s cobbler put his heart and ‘sole’ into 63-year career” in the Best Business Writing category.
Under Best First Nations Coverage, Battlefords Regional News-Optimist reporters Miguel Fenrich and Lisa Joy won second and third, respectively, for their stories “Conversation, unity and truth highlight Twin Flames Saskatchewan tour,” and “Thunderchild woman survives ride with ‘The Truck Stop Killer.’”
In the Best Feature category, the aforementioned story by Lisa Joy won first place.
In the Best Health/Healthcare Coverage, Single Story or Feature category, Anastasiia Bykhovskaia of the Estevan Mercury won first place with her story “Miracle No. 2: Bangsund Family welcomes new baby carried by surrogate mother.”
In the Best Health/Healthcare Coverage Series of Stories category, Greg Nikkel of the Weyburn Review took first place with his story “Organizers hope for ‘sea of green’ with Weyburn mental health initiative.” Second place went to Kulchera Nicholson and William Koreliuk for their story “Kamsack faces major healthcare crisis with repeated ER closures.”
In the Best Habitat Conservation Writing category, Greg Nikkel of the Weyburn Review won second for his story “Students have opportunity to see fish hatch and grow in classroom.”
Derek Ruttle of The Outlook took first and second place in the Best Photo Essay of the Year category
Freelancer Helena Long won second place in the Best Sports Photo category for her baseball photo in the July 22, 2023, issue of the Battlefords Regional News-Optimist.
Battlefords Regional News-Optimist reporter Miguel Fenrich was third in the Best Hard News Photo category.
In a series of General Excellence awards, the Weyburn Review won second and The Outlook tied for third in the Best Front Page, Class A – Circulation under 1,000 category. The Weyburn Review won again, this time third, in the Best Editorial Page for Class A. The Review capped it off with first for Best Overall Paper in their class.
In the Class B – Circulation 1000 – 1,999 category, Best Front Page and Best Overall Paper was won by Yorkton This Week
In the Class C – Circulation 2,000 – 6,499 category, Weyburn This Week won third for Best Editorial Page.
In the Class D – Circulation over 6,500 category, Best Front Page first place went to the Estevan Mercury. Best Editorial Page went to the Battlefords Regional News-Optimist. The Estevan Mercury was in third for Best Editorial Page and won second in Best Paper Overall for the class.
About the awards, editor for SASKTODAY.ca, Jayne Foster, said, “Some of the most talented and dedicated newspaper people in the province have been honoured today and we are proud that many of them are part of SASKTODAY.ca. These awards prove that local news coverage is still important to our communities, still has an impact, and is still what readers are looking for.”
The Count – Writers/Reporters
Ana Bykhovskaia: first (1), second (1).
Miguel Fenrich: first (3), second (1), third (1).
Lisa Joy: first (1), third (1).
William Koreluik: second (1).
Shelley Luedtke: third (2).
Helena Long: first (1), second (1).
Kulchera Nicholson: second (1).
Rocky Neufeld: third (1).
Greg Nikkel: first (2), second (1).
Derek Ruttle: first (1), second (one), third (1).
Sherri Solomko: firsts (2), third (1).
Eric Westhaver: first (2), third (1).
The Count – Papers
Battlefords Regional News-Optimist: first (1)
Canora Courier: third (1) (Rocky Neufeld).
Estevan Mercury: first (1), second (1), third (1).
The Outlook: third (1), second (1) (Delwyn Luedtke).
Unity-Wilkie Press Herald: second (1) (Tim Holtorf, Helena Long and Sherri Solomko).
Weyburn Review: first (1), second (1), third (1).
Weyburn This Week: third (1).
Yorkton This Week: firsts (2), one third (1).
