The Abbotsford News won the 2012 gold award for newspaper excellence at the B.C. Yukon Community Newspapers Association (BCYCNA) annual awards presentation Saturday in Richmond.
The News finished ahead of two of its Black Press sister publications, the Surrey/North Delta Leader and the Kelowna Capital News, in the largest circulation category.
The judges said The News offers “comprehensive community coverage, great editorial and op-ed pages and lots of strong local features as well as an excellent sports section and superior photography.”
The general excellence award was one of two gold finishes for The News, along with three silver and three bronze.
“I am extremely pleased that The Abbotsford News was recognized as the best community newspaper in British Columbia and Yukon,” said News publisher Andrew Franklin. “I am honoured to work with such a dynamic group of people at The News, and even happier that we have received such an accolade in our 90th year of publishing.
“I personally would like to thank each and every member of staff at The News, including our incredible distribution and carrier staff for their outstanding excellence in everything they do.”
Abbotsford’s second gold award went to Linda Clark and Claire Petherick in the Collaborative Ad Campaign category for the “Smile campaign,” a series of ads for local dentist Dr. Peter Dueckman.
The three silver awards were won in the categories of Sports Writing (Dan Kinvig – for the story Picking Up The Pieces); Best Special Section (Dan Kinvig, Cristine MacDonald and Anne Williams – for Faceoff, the Abbotsford Heat supplement); and Web and Online Innovation (Don Barbeau and Cristine MacDonald – for My Ride).
Bronze awards were won for Best Columnist (News editor Andrew Holota); Ad Design (Cristine MacDonald and Don Barbeau – for Appollo Athletic Club); and Newspaper Promotion (Cristine MacDonald – for the My BFF campaign).