Coast Reporter took home gold for newspaper excellence at this year's British Columbia and Yukon Community Newspaper Association (BCYCNA) Ma Murray Community Newspaper awards ceremony Saturday night at the River Rock Casino in Richmond.
This was the second straight year Coast Reporter has won the general excellence award in its circulation class. Also Saturday night, Coast Reporter won gold in the ad design award under 25,000 circulation class, gold for the special section award under 25,000 for the Horizons business section, silver for the classifieds award, silver in the ad design award under 25,000, bronze in the ad design award under 25,000 and bronze for the special publications award under 25,000 for Coast Life magazine.
The judges' comments for the general excellence award were, "Coast Reporter is a clean, approachable paper with an easy-to-read layout throughout, with strong editorial and opinion pieces and exceptional, in-depth community content. Lots of niche sections that would appeal to a local audience as well, including a very strong arts section, good sports coverage and a lengthy classifieds section."
Coast Reporter publisher Peter Kvarnstrom said he was thrilled with the results.
"We are all delighted with this latest award in our trophy case," Kvarnstrom said. "It is with great pride that we accept recognition at the provincial level on behalf of our community and the team of nearly 100 employees, drivers, carriers and contributors who work extremely hard and passionately every week to put out the very best product we can."
For more than 80 years, the BCYCNA has been celebrating excellence amongst its member newspapers. The Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards recognizes all aspects of the newspaper industry, including production, publishing, reporting, editing, advertising, photography, website design and community contribution.
The 2010 event saw record-breaking attendance yet again, with nearly 315 delegates from across B.C. and Yukon.
"This year's entries were some of the best we've ever seen at the Ma Murray Awards," said BCYCNA president Lorne Doerkson. "It's obvious that Western Canada is home to some of our industry's brightest contributors. These awards really highlight the incredible quality of community newspapers in B.C. and Yukon."
The BCYCNA is a non-profit membership organization representing 120 community newspapers throughout B.C. and Yukon, with a combined readership of more than two million.
