WELLINGTON COUNTY – For the fifth straight year, the Wellington Advertiser has been named one of the top three community newspapers in Ontario in its circulation class.
On Feb. 14 the Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA) announced the finalists for its 2023 Better Newspaper Competition (BNC), which recognizes the work of community newspapers throughout the province.
Nominated alongside the Advertiser in the general excellence category (circulation over 12,500) are the Kitchissipi Times and the Listowel Independent Plus.
The Advertiser won the general excellence award in its class the previous four years, from 2019 to 2022.
The newspaper has been named a finalist in the following 2023 BNC Premier Award categories:
- Best Front Page, circ. over 10,000 (Aug. 17 issue);
- Best Editorial Page/Section;
- Best Community Website/WebPortal, circ. over 10,000 (wellingtonadvertiser.com)
- Best Editorial, circ. over 10,000, (for Avoiding the issue by Patrick Raftis);
- Environment Ontario/environment writing (Crawford Lake documents dawn of potential new epoch by Robin George);
- Feature Writing, circ. over 10,000 (‘Bluebird’ Alice Hindley cared for Canada’s wounded in First World War by Jordan Snobelen);
- Best News Story, circ. over 10,000 (Minto resident recovering after ‘freak accident’ by Patrick Raftis);
- Best Headline Writing (various headlines by Joanne Shuttleworth);
- Best Police/Court Story (‘My story is finally heard’: Erin man sentenced to seven years for ‘horrific’ sexual abuse by Jordan Snobelen);
- Best Police/Court Series (three articles on the crimes and trial of a Mount Forest arsonist by Jordan Snobelen);
- Humour Columnist of the Year (Write Out of Her Mind author Kelly Waterhouse);
- Best Feature/Unit Pages (July 27 Equine feature);
- In House Promotion (Aug. 17 ad by Alicia Roza on Facebook blocking news articles);
- Local Retail Layout (July 13 ad by Steve Gilholm on Dixon Home Hardware’s 100th anniversary); and
- Best Use of Colour (Oct. 13, 2022 ad by Steve Gilholm for Robinson Chrysler).
The Advertiser’s sister publication, the North Wellington Community News, which covers Wellington North, Minto and Mapleton, was nominated for the following Premier Awards:
- Best Feature/Unit pages (Feb. 9 Family Day feature); and
- Best Creative Ad (Nov. 10, 2022 ad by Alicia Roza for Young’s Home Hardware).
The complete list of finalists can be found at ocna.org.
The winners will be announced during a virtual presentation this spring.
