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| 1 - Stouffville (ON) Sun/Tribune |
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| 2 - Salt Spring Island (BC) Gulf Islands Driftwood |
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| 3 - Goderich (ON) Signal-Star |
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Judge's Comments
Such a difficult class to judge because no one paper pulled it all together into the perfect paper. A number of papers weren't in the top three for front page, for example, but their inside pages were packed full of great content and lots of it. There was a lot of excellent, well-presented material. My one general critique is that tighter writing is needed, including sharper, more compelling leads. Poor photo reproduction hampered some excellent papers, too. In the end, I used the criteria, "Is it a good read?" Even though I don't live in the community, does the paper still compel me to read it? Are the stories interesting, well written? Pictures appealing? Is the advertising clean and captivating? Is the page design well structured?
All-round: The Kentville Advertiser provided a good package of extensive news and feature coverage in clean, well-laid-out pages. Its front page wasn't in the top three but it was good. Same with its editorial page. Combined with a good to excellent job in other criteria, the sum of its parts gave it the title of Best All-Round.
Front Page: Each of the Gulf Islands Driftwood's stories and elements stood out from the page. They didn't fade into the background or into a jumbled mess. The page also had an easy-to-follow hierarchy from lead story to secondary, etc. Photos were clear, sharp and cropped tightly for impact.
Editorial Page: The Stouffville Sun-Tribune's editorial page had a nice, clean, simple layout. Its main editorial has a straightforward, get-to-the-point style with a local focus. Kudos to the local editorial cartoonist. Package is filled out with editor's column and letters. A good, locally oriented editorial page.
Blue Ribbon Recipients:
Carbonear (NL) The Compass
Collingwood (ON) Enterprise-Bulletin
Goderich (ON) Signal-Star
Haliburton (ON) County Echo
Kentville (NS) Advertiser
Salt Spring Island (BC) Gulf Islands Driftwood
Stouffville (ON) Sun/Tribune
Whitehorse/Yukon Territory (YT) Yukon News
Williams Lake (BC) Tribune
Yellowknife (NT) Yellowknifer
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