The Independent’s investigative work is once again being honoured on a national level.
Publisher and Editor, Heather Wright, won The Canadian Community Newspaper Association’s Stephen Shaw Memorial Award for Best News Story for her exclusive reporting on Petrolia’s CAO’s rental of buildings to the town.
The stories also garnered The Independent a second place in the CCNA’s Outstanding Reporter Initiative category.
Wright is also the winner of this year’s CCNA George Cadogan Memorial Outstanding Columnist Award, celebrating excellence in column writing across the country.
The Independent placed second in the Best All-Round Newspaper competition in its division. The Carillon from Steinbach, Manitoba was named best newspaper in the country for newspapers with a circulation between 4,000 and 6,499. The Independent also received second place in the Best Front Page competition and third in the Best Editorial Page race.
Photographer Bruce Smith, who covers the track and field circuit for The Independent, placed third in the Best Sports Photo category for his picture of LCCVI student Marissa Mueller called Before The Throw.
“We are beyond thrilled to be recognized by the Canadian Community Newspaper Association particularly for our investigative work,” says Wright.  “In a world of instant information, it is so important for journalist to look deeper to find the truth, even if it is difficult to hear. I’m pleased our colleagues recognized our work.”
Wright is also proud of the newspaper’s second place in the Best All-Round Newspaper division saying “this is a tribute to every single person who works at The Independent. “It takes everyone to make this a high-quality, award-winning community newspaper.” The winners were announced Monday.
The news comes on the heels of The Independent being recognized by the Canadian Journalism Foundation with the Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism in June.