The University of King’s College School of Journalism’s 2012 investigative workshop and faculty advisor Fred Vallance-Jones have been named as finalists for a prestigious National Newspaper Award in the Investigations category. King’s is the first student group ever to be named a finalist in this category. King’s is also the only student group on the list this year, which has 22 categories overall and which received 1,430 entries. 72 finalists were announced on 13 March 2013.
King’s is nominated together with the Huffington Post, which was the publication partner on the project. They received their nomination for Cashing In, a project that explored a failed immigration scheme in Prince Edward Island. The other nominees in the category are The Toronto Star, The Hamilton Spectator, and La Presse.
“Journalists work their entire lives without being named an NNA finalist, and they are rewarded greatly when they do achieve that distinction,” says Kelly Toughilll, director of the journalism school.”We are tremendously proud of the work that these students did on this important subject, and of the work that all of our students to illuminate stories that matter in Atlantic Canada and across the country.”
The students in the group nominated are:
Laura Armstrong
Laura Bain
Niko Bell
Catherine Burgess
Jane Caulfield
Elsa Chang
Andrew Davies
Iris Estrada
Kelly Graham
Geoff Lowe
Vanessa MacKinnon
Matt MacNeil
Bill McEwen
Andrew Miller
Jordan Parker
Jessica Piche
GinaBeth Roberts
Harley Rustad
Adam Scotti
Two King’s alumni are also up for National Newspaper Awards. Stephanie Nolen (BJH ’93, DCL ’09) is nominated in the Arts and Entertainment category for a story about a Canadian adult entertainment star’s success in Bollywood, and Stephen Maher (BA ’88) is nominated in the Politics category for a look at robocalls and their impact on voting.
A full list of the nominations is available. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Ottawa at the Canadian War Museum on Friday, 3 May 2013.
