Ontario Newspaper Awards

Winner: Nick Dunne, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder Nick Dunne’s two-part feature on the last known Mohawk-speaking code talker, Levi Oates, who died a year ago, is a wonderful and unusual piece of feature writing. It is a challenge to tell the story

Winner: Trevor Wilhelm, Windsor Star – Exit Wounds Trevor Wilhelm’s feature on first responders and post-traumatic stress disorder is the kind of story that sticks with a reader for days. It’s clear that former police officer William Donnelly trusted him,

Winner: Peter Lee, Waterloo Region Record, “Science Fair” The image took a relatively routine assignment and elevated the topic with personality, energy and humour. It is well cropped and has excellent interplay between the subjects in the foreground and background.

Winner: Karena Walter, St. Catharines Standard It was one of those assignments that could have been nothing, but turned out to be quite something. While reporting on the local impact of provincial funding cuts to an inter-library loan program, Karena

Winner: The London Free Press newsroom (9 reporters, 2 photographers)  At a time when local journalism is under siege, it is inspiring to see the vigour the newsroom of the London Free Press brought to bear on this remarkable project.

Winner: Josh Brown, Waterloo Region Record Josh Brown’s entry shows quite clearly he’s learned that winning sports entries usually have very little to do with the game being played. His keen eye for what will draw a reader to a

This award recognizes the collaborative nature of producing video.   Winner: Max Martin, Randy Richmond and Brice Hall, London Free Press, “We Are The Cops” Despite extremely limited visuals and circumstances, this video was an effective and engaging way to

Winner: Julie Jocsak, The St. Catharines Standard Julie Jocsak was out on assignment when the allure of flashing lights drew her to the scene of a tragic developing story. A car was perched curiously on a sidewalk, its hood tangled

Winner: Randy Richmond, London Free Press – We Are the Cops  This series exposing police misbehaviour is a perfect example of why the public needs vigorous media oversight of public officials and their conduct. Over a year in the making,

Beat Reporting (over 25,000 circulation) Winner: Trevor Wilhelm, Windsor Star Runner-up: Nicole O’Reilly, The Hamilton Spectator Runner-up: Jane Sims, London Free Press   Beat Reporting (under 25,000 circulation) Winner: Grant LaFleche, St. Catharines Standard Runner-up: Sabrina Bedford, Brockville Recorder &

The 2019 Ontario Newspaper Awards gala — originally scheduled to be held in Hamilton on April 25, 2020 — has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the winners of the awards will be announced on this website on

Beat Reporting (over 25,000 circulation) Nicole O’Reilly, The Hamilton Spectator Jane Sims, London Free Press Trevor Wilhelm, Windsor Star Beat Reporting (under 25,000 circulation) Sabrina Bedford, Brockville Recorder & Times Alan Hale, Cornwall Standard Freeholder Grant LaFleche, St. Catharines Standard