Finalists named for BC's Annual Journalism Awards

VANCOUVER, Sept. 7, 2016 /CNW/ - Finalists have been named for the 2016 Jack Webster Awards, with category winners to be announced at the 30th annual Jack Webster Awards dinner on October 20 at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.

CBC's Chief Correspondent and Host of The National, Peter Mansbridge is the featured speaker at the awards dinner and CTV's News at Six anchors Tamara Taggart and Mike Killeen take on this year's emcee duties. The 2016 Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Shelley Fralic recently retired after 41 years with The Vancouver Sun.

The Jack Webster Foundation was established in 1986 to recognize excellence in British Columbia journalism in honour of legendary BC reporter Jack Webster.

FINALISTS FOR THE 2016 WEBSTER AWARDS
Best News Reporting of the Year – Print

• Laura Kane, The Canadian Press: Campus Sex Assaults
• Kathy Tomlinson, The Globe and Mail: Real Estate Wild West
• Sarah Petrescu, Carla Wilson, Katherine Dedyna, Bill Cleverley, Louise Dickson, Richard Watts, Lindsay Kines, Jeff Bell, Les Leyne, Jack Knox, Cindy E. Harnett, Bruce Stotesbury and Darren Stone. Times Colonist: Victoria's Tent City

Best News Reporting of the Year – Radio

• Bob Keating, CBC Nelson: Season of Fire
• Megan Thomas, CBC Radio News: Tragedy off Tofino
• Wil Fundal, Stephanie Mercier, Robert Doane, Chris Corday, CBC/Radio-Canada: When Mountains Move

Best News Reporting of the Year – Television
Presented in memory of Keith Bradbury

• Eric Rankin, Yvette Brend, CBC Vancouver News: Métis Adoption
• Belle Puri, Chris Brown, Chis Corday, Dan Burritt, Eric Rankin, Glen Kugelstadt, Johanna Wagstaffe, Mike McArthur, Richard Zussman, Susana da Silva, CBC Vancouver News: Tofino Leviathan II sinking
• St. John Alexander and Mi-Jung Lee, CTV Vancouver: Westjet Harassment Investigation

Best Feature Story – Print

• Justine Hunter, The Globe and Mail: Greenpeace, a history
• J.B. MacKinnon, Hakai Magazine: The Whale Dying on the Mountain
• Jane Seyd, North Shore News: The New Gold Rush

Best Feature Story – Radio

• Catherine Rolfsen, Bal Brach, Alison Broddle, Rick Cluff, Stephen Quinn, Theresa Duvall, Shiral Tobin, Lee Rosevere, CBC Vancouver: Finding Refuge
• Jean Paetkau, Robyn Burns, Kirstie Hudson, CBC Radio Victoria: A Loss of Innocence
• Elaine Chau, Manusha Janakiram, Lee Rosevere, CBC Radio One: Wui Gwai: Hong Kong Homecoming

Best Feature Story – Television

• Adam Sawatsky and Brendan Strain, CTV News Vancouver Island: Bus Boy
• Duncan McCue, Doug Trent, Denis Grenier, CBC TV: Hooker Monologues
• Sonia Deol, Tony Clark, Ted Anhorn, Global News: Remembering Maple Batalia

Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Digital Journalism

• Andrea Woo, The Globe and Mail: Fentanyl's Deadly Path
• Alison Broddle, Tamara Baluja, Catherine Rolfsen, Bal Brach and the CBC.ca/BC web team, CBC News: Finding Refugee: Meet some of the Syrian Refugees
• Jon Woodward, Kendra Mangione, CTV Vancouver: Where the kids are

Jack Webster Business, Industry and Economics Award
Endowed by Jean Cormier

• Travis Lupick, The Georgia Straight: Confidential documents reveal B.C.'s new minimum wage was one big mistake
• Jeremy Allingham, CBC Radio / cbc.ca: Hopped Up: Competition, challenges and change in B.C.'s craft beer industry
• Mike Hager, The Globe and Mail: Medical Marijuana

Best Reporting - Chinese Language

• Clement Tang, Fairchild Television Magazine 26: BC Drug Overdose
• Jose Ng, Kelvin Chung, Aiken Lau, Edward Liu, Andy Cheung, Edward Chun, CHMB AM1320: Home Affordability
• Spencer Gall, Fairchild Television Magazine 26: How Can I Let Go?

Jack Webster Award for Community Reporting

• Don Descoteau, Dan Ebenal, Pamela Roth, Arnold Lim, Don Denton, Goldstream News Gazette: Sewage in the CRD
• Jessica Klymchuk, Kamloops This Week: Transcendent: When Darrin became Deanna
• Tim Petruk, Kamloops This Week: Triumph & Tragedy: The Rudy Poeschek Story

Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Legal Journalism
Sponsored by the Law Society of BC

• Kim Bolan, The Vancouver Sun: Jail Violence on the Rise
• Tamsyn Burgmann, The Canadian Press: Not Criminally Responsible
• Stephen Hume, The Vancouver Sun: Province Failed The Public By Withholding Water Test Data

Jack Webster Award for Science, Technology, Health and Environment
Sponsored by Genome British Columbia

• Duncan McCue, James Roberts, Glen Kugelstadt, CBC TV: Bill's Place
• Francis Plourde, Pierre Beaudoin, Harold Dupuis, Le Semaine Verte, Radio-Canada/The National, CBC: How the high demand for almonds is affecting California
• Alberto Mendoza-Galina, Keith Rozendal, Clea Machold, Katelyn Verstraten, Peter Klein, Gary Marcuse, Global Reporting Centre: Milliondollarmeds Rare Diseases in Canada

Bill Good Award
The 2016 recipient will be announced 2015 Jack Webster Awards Dinner.

Commentator of the Year
Presented in memory of Linda Webster
The winner will be announced at the Jack Webster Awards Dinner.

The 30^th Annual Jack Webster Awards Dinner will be held October 20, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.  Tickets are $185 per person and can be reserved at jackwebster.com/dinner or by calling 604-261-6184.

The work of the Foundation is made possible by the generous sponsorship of CN, Fortis BC, HSBC Bank Canada, Labatt Breweries, Port of Vancouver, TELUS and Wazuku Advisory Group.

CNW distributes Webster releases as part of its support of the Jack Webster Foundation.

SOURCE Jack Webster Foundation

For further information: Jack Webster Foundation, Nora Newlands, Executive Director, 604-261-3348, info@jackwebster.com, www.jackwebster.com