Two Chronicle Herald journalists are finalists for 2019 National Newspaper Awards.
Multimedia journalist Aaron Beswick has been nominated for the first time, in the local reporting category, for his four-part series that addressed the environmental, economic and political considerations that the Nova Scotia provincial government faced in deciding whether to shut down the Northern Pulp mill in Pictou County. The mill, a chronic polluter that generated hundreds of jobs, was eventually closed.
Cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon will be chasing a record-tying eighth NNA for a compilation of five cartoons submitted to the three-judge panel.
“It’s nice to get a bit of validation,” Beswick said. “I put a fair amount of work into that series and it’s nice to see that somebody thinks I did a decent job.”
Beswick said the series that ran more than a year ago was intended to provide an objective and unemotional look at the issues and background to a very emotionally driven topic.
“It was a big issue for the province and that’s the job of a newspaper, to host an educated discussion based on the facts so that people can make their own decisions on what they think is best. That’s the role I was trying to fill with the series. Some people liked it, some people didn’t like it but that’s to be expected.”
For MacKinnon, it’s his 12th finalist nod in the editorial cartooning category.
“It was nice to get some good news yesterday amid all this bleakness,” MacKinnon said of learning of being a finalist during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MacKinnon will be up against Brian Gable of the Globe and Mail, a finalist for the 18th time, and Serge Capleau of La Presse, who is a finalist for the 15th time. The three finalists have each won seven times and this year’s winner will join Jacquie McNish as all-time individual NNA record-holders with eight.
MacKinnon seemed more excited for his editorial colleague.
“It was really nice to hear Aaron got nominated, too,” MacKinnon said. “Obviously, there are a lot more writers in the country then there are cartoonists, so that was a big plus and a big accomplishment for a Herald writer.”
MacKinnon submitted five cartoons, including a Toronto Raptors’ drawing that had the NBA trophy crossing the U.S.-Canada border on the back of a flatbed truck and meeting the Stanley Cup going in the opposite direction, an environmental statement depicting a beaver dragging a blue bag behind him while his neck was caught in a plastic six-pack ring, a Justin Trudeau-Jody Wilson-Raybould cartoon and a depiction of Donald Trump pulling a dove of peace with an olive branch in its mouth from a bucket of KFC.
“It’s always a surprise,” MacKinnon said of being a finalist. “You’re being recognized by your peers on a national level. The National Newspaper Awards has always been something that seemed like a special one for most of us in the Canadian association. There was a time that you used to measure your heroes by how many of those they won. It’s always an honour.”
MacKinnon said being a finalist means even more with the newspaper behind a paywall that truncates his audience.
“Things get quiet really fast and you’re a lot less certain of how people are reacting to the cartoons and how well they are doing, what the quality is because you only have a very small fraction of the people responding to them, a local Nova Scotia audience versus a worldwide audience,” MacKinnon said. “It’s actually quite reassuring to hear from your peers that you might still be doing all right, you might still be relevant and you might be saying a few things that matter to people. That’s a good shot in the arm.”
Beswick is up against Nick Dunne of the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, who dug into the story of code talkers’ assistance for the allies in the Second World War, and Randy Richmond of the London Free Press whose series exposed how a police officer punched, kicked, stomped and choked a woman while his fellow officers failed to stop the abuse.
“I don’t expect to win,” Beswick said. “I saw the other pieces and there is some really good work. The fact that I got nominated is feather enough in my cap. I’m pretty happy with that. I’ve never been nominated for one of those before.”
The winners from the 63 finalists and 774 entries in 21 categories will be notified of their awards, along with the 2019 Journalist of the Year announcement. The regular May ceremony has been cancelled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“No, I don’t get a free trip,” Beswick joked. “That’s the only (disappointment).”
MacKinnon can live without the gala.
“As much as it’s nice to go up and clink glasses with your peers, I’ve never been a comfortable public speaker so I’m happy to stay in my hovel and lurk around and let the mail bring in the document or what have you,” he said.
