The B.C. Catholic and its team have received 11 awards from the Catholic Media Association, including a second place nod in the best weekly newspaper category.
Contributing writer Terry O’Neill came away with three awards – two of them first place – for his investigative reporting on euthanasia in Fraser Health Association facilities and on last summer’s residential schools story.
O’Neill’s March 1, 2021, feature “Whose Dying Wish?” won first place for investigative news writing as well as for best local/regional news writing for weeklies with one to five staff. The judges called his package of stories an “Excellent investigation” that was “thoroughly reported, well written on an important and timely issue.”
Judges also gave O’Neill third place for investigative news writing for his June 7, 2021, story “‘Mass grave’ narrative misses need for answers.” O’Neill’s work was described as “excellent” and was one of the first media reports to raise questions about some of the initial narrative from last summer’s Kamloops residential school announcement.
The B.C. Catholic’s coverage of last summer’s residential school story also earned it second-place in the best newspaper category for papers with one to five staff members.
Coverage of last summer’s residential school story earned The B.C. Catholic a second-place award for best newspaper.
“This publication pulls it all together,” said judges, “including extensive coverage
of apologies from church leaders and a possible meeting of an Indigenous delegation with the Pope. Letters to the editor and stories from survivors of the school round out the excellent coverage. The paper still managed to find space for inspiring stories about the Eucharist, abortion, and the pandemic including an insight into how restrictions caused by COVID were wearing down priests.”
Editor Paul Schratz received two column writing awards – second place for pandemic writing and an honourable mention for political writing. Judges said the pandemic columns were “provocative” and featured strong writing.
Assistant editor and reporter Agnieszka Ruck picked up three writing awards, including second place in the best personality profile category (1-5 staff) for her feature “Despite disabilities, singer embraces the ‘Gift of Life’ with CD,” about a singer-songwriter Melanie Krishna who lives with cerebral palsy and blindness.
Ruck “thoroughly captured the subject’s personality and zest for life,” said the judges, who called the article “an easy, fun read, enticing the reader to go listen to the subject’s CD to get to know her even better.”
Ruck received third place for best vocations reporting with her feature “Soon-to-be deacons await ordination with joyful anticipation.” Judges noted the quality of Ruck’s writing and said the piece stood out by telling the deacons’ stories in their own words.
Ruck’s writing also earned her third place in immigration coverage with a feature that appeared in the Knights of Columbus’ Columbia Magazine as well as The B.C. Catholic. “Opening doors to brotherhood” told the story of the first Chinese council in B.C. and how it was bridging cultural and generational gaps.
Designer Inca Siojo won second place in the best chart or information graphic category with “One-Year Report, How the Church in Vancouver has weathered the pandemic.” The graphic appeared in the newspaper’s one-year of COVID edition in March.
Judges said, “The information and bold numbers of this graphic are easy to interpret and nicely complement the article. The timeline at the bottom is helpful and the
coronavirus graphics add to the impact of the overall presentation.”
The newspaper’s work with the Communications Office also received recognition in the annual report category, taking second place with the 2020/2021 Archdiocese of Vancouver annual report “The Joy of the Family.”
Created by Siojo and writer Krista Greig, the entry “had a strong mix of text and images” and “offered significant detail into the fundraising, spending, and achievements” of the archdiocese.
One judge said, “I got a strong sense from the document what the Archdiocese of
Vancouver did, where (and how many people) they served, what their values were, and who many of their personnel were.”
Schratz said the awards “confirm the professionalism of the journalistic work being done” by the newspaper.
“It’s never been more important to support independent media who provide reporting and commentary that runs counter to the narratives and story lines that dominate all the traditional channels and platforms,” he said.
The awards, which were announced Thursday at the 2022 Catholic Media Conference in Portland, Oregon, bring to 19 the total number of honours for The B.C. Catholic this year.
In May the newspaper received eight awards from the Canadian Christian Communicators Association, including two for O’Neill’s investigative work on the Fraser Health Authority’s unauthorized expansion of assisted suicide in its hospitals.
The conference and awards ceremony were held live after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
