The National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) is thrilled to present the 2019 Digital Publishing Awards nominees. The DPAs—now in their fourth year—recognize and promote the excellent work of Canadian digital publications and creators.
NOMINATIONS SITE
GALA INFO & TICKETS
For 2019, 118 submissions, from 50 various publications, have been nominated. These nominations are the result of a collaborative and rigorous judging process, made possible by our dedicated roster of 80 volunteer judges.
“The Digital Publishing Awards program was launched four years ago, and since, the number of participating publications has more than doubled. An impressive total of 127 publications submitted entries in 2019. It is thrilling to see the enthusiasm for these awards, and exciting to witness the outstanding work of Canadian creators being celebrated by their peers. The NMAF is immensely proud to present the 4th annual DPAs, and look forward to welcoming you all at the Awards Soirée on May 29.” – Julie Cailliau, NMAF President.
On May 29th, the Gold, Silver, and Honourable Mention winners will be revealed at the Soiree, with Gold winners in select categories receiving a $500 cash prize. The Soiree will be held in Toronto at One King West and hosted by award-winning journalist and editor Eternity Martis. Purchase a ticket through digitalpublishingawards.ca to join us for the celebration.
EMERGING EXCELLENCE AWARD
The emerging excellence award—which honours an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing demonstrates the utmost degree of craft and promise—nominees for 2019 are: Sofia Misenheimer of Art/iculation, Natalie Vineberg of The Walrus, and Erin Valois of the National Post.
GENERAL EXCELLENCE IN DIGITAL PUBLISHING AWARDS
The General Excellence awards recognize the publications that maximize the possibilities of digital publishing; these are the publications that succeed in fulfilling their editorial mandate and represent the highest of journalistic standards. These awards are presented in three divisions: small, medium, and large.
The Logic, The Sprawl, and unpointcinq.ca are finalists in the small division.
Hakai Magazine, The Kit, and Maclean’s are finalists in the medium division.
In the large division, CBC News and Le Devoir are the nominees.
FIRST-TIME NOMINEES
A number of publications are first time DPA nominees, including: Art/iculation, BBC News, Ha-Shilth-Sa, LocalLove.ca, Magazine web 100 degrés, Mic Drop, Moneysense, National Post, Calgary Herald, Pastime, Peterborough Currents, QUB radio, Report on Business, Saskatoon StarPhoenix/Regina Leader-Post, SooToday, The Logic, The Narwhal, Unpointcinq.ca, and Yorkregion.com / Markham Economist Sun.
TOP NOMINEES
For 2019, the top nominated publications are CBC News with 18 nominations across various divisions, and The Globe and Mail with 16 nominations.
Hakai earned an impressive 6 nominations, while Maclean’s and Radio-Canada each earned five nominations. Other top-nominated publications include:
| Publication | Nominations |
| Global News | 4 |
| Hazlitt | 4 |
| VICE Canada | 4 |
| Le Devoir | 3 |
| Sportsnet | 3 |
| The Narwhal | 3 |
| The Walrus | 3 |
| VICE Québec | 3 |
INDIVIDUAL NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS
“Hustle in the oil patch: Inside a looming financial and environmental crisis” by Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Chen Wang, Renata D’Aliesio, Christopher Manza, Matthew French, John Sopinski, Murat Yükselir, Melissa Tait, Todd Korol, Brennan Higginbotham, and Theresa Suzuki (published in The Globe and Mail) is a finalist in both Best News Coverage and Best Digital Editorial Package.
Air Canada enRoute’s “Canada’s Best News Restaurants” guide is nominated for the fourth year in a row for Best Digital Editorial Package. The guide is also a nominee in the Best Online Video: Short category.
“Follow the Money”—a product of collaboration between the National Post and Calgary Herald teams and led by Zane Schwartz, Brice Hall, and Julie Traves—is nominated for Innovation in Digital Storytelling and Best News Coverage.
LEADERSHIP AWARD
The NMAF is delighted to present Kathy Vey, TVO’s Executive Producer of Digital, with the prestigious 2019 Digital Publishing Leadership Award. Vey’s 37-year career in Canadian journalism spans pivotal roles at media outlets including the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Sun, Queen’s Park Briefing, OpenFile, and TVO.org.
CATEGORIES
Best News Coverage
Toronto Van Attack
William Wolfe-Wylie, Dwight Friesen, Richard Grasley, Hannah Wise, Sannah Choi, Kate Cornick, Farrah Merali, Andre Mayer, Paul Borkwood, David Donnelly, Albert Leung, Martin Trainor, Diana Swain, Ioanna Roumeliotis, Melissa Mancini, and the CBC Toronto digital team
CBC Toronto/CBC News
Fentanyl: Making a killing
Sam Cooper, Andrew Russell, Stewart Bell, Brent Rose, Carolyn Jarvis, Ben Jonah, James Armstrong, Online Video team, Network News Desk, Global News Graphics Department, Global News Copy Desk, Global News Social Desk
Global News
Campagne électorale québécoise 2018
La rédaction
Le Devoir
Follow the Money
Zane Schwartz, Brice Hall, Julie Traves
Postmedia
Hustle in the oil patch: Inside a looming financial and environmental crisis
Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Chen Wang, Renata D’Aliesio, Christopher Manza, Matthew French, John Sopinski, Murat Yükselir, Melissa Tait, Todd Korol, Brennan Higginbotham, Theresa Suzuki
The Globe and Mail
Best News Coverage (Small Newsroom)
Who was Maggie Sutlej? Humanitarian aid group reaches out to Ahousaht 150 years after wartime abduction of child
Denise Titian
Ha-Shilth-Sa
Réimaginer nos aménagements
Marianne Boire, François Grenier, Françoise Ruby
Magazine web 100 degrés
2018 Sault Ste. Marie Municipal Election Coverage
David Helwig
SooToday
Bankruptcy protection for Sault’s main employer sparks fight over port
David Helwig
SooToday
The Yellow Brick Road to Mount Everest
Sarah Staples, Richard Vandentillaart
Yorkregion.com / Markham Economist Sun
Best Personal Essay
The Waiting Room
Christian Allaire
Hazlitt
The Agony of Intimacy
Chelsea Murray
Hazlitt
A Body Like a Home
Gwen Benaway
Hazlitt
What are land acknowledgements and why do they matter?
Selena Mills, Kat Tancock, Stacy Lee Kon, Chief Lady Bird
LocalLove.ca
I tried to live according to Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life. Here’s what happened
Jessica Leeder, Winnie T. Frick, Bryan Gee, Lisan Jutras
National Post
A dad’s discovery: Raising a child is thankless work
Tim Kiladze, Lisan Jutras
The Globe and Mail
A Dog’s Life
Shawna Richer, Deb Baic
The Globe and Mail
I wanted an abortion in Nova Scotia, but all around, barriers still remained
Jessica Leeder, Winnie T. Frick, Bryan Gee, Lisan Jutras
The Globe and Mail
Mon manège à moi
Anick Lemay
URBANIA
How to Have “the Talk” as a Muslim Father
Yasir Khan, Lauren McKeon, Samia Madwar
The Walrus
Best Column
Queeries
Peter Knegt
CBC Arts
Science
Valérie Borde
L’actualité
Anne Kingston, columns
Anne Kingston
Maclean’s magazine
Jennifer Ditchburn columns
Jennifer Ditchburn
Policy Options
Dorothy Woodend, culture columnist
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee
Chantal Braganza
Chantal Braganza, Sarah Sweet
TVO.org
Best Feature Article: Short
The Water Carriers
Alannah Campbell, Karen Levine, Pauline Holdsworth, Ruby Buiza, Andre Mayer, Lakshine Sathiyanathan
CBC Radio – The Sunday Edition
“My whole life taken away”: Ontario father questions why 24-year-old wife died post-childbirth
Arti Patel, Caryn Lieberman, Beatrice Politi, James Armstrong, Sarah Kelsey, Peter Hadzipetros
Global News
In rural New Brunswick, a transgender woman charts a new path
Lindsay Jones, Matt Brown, Timothy Moore, Scott Munn
The Globe and Mail
The lost summer
Sharon J. Riley, Emma Gilchrist, Carol Linnitt
The Narwhal
Et si on jetait les camions dans le fleuve ?
Rémy Bourdillon
Unpointcinq
Best Digital Editorial Package
Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2018
Gabrielle Simpson, Stephanie Mercier-Voyer, Yvonne Miou, Stefanie Sosiak, Danielle Groen, Sarah Musgrave, Nancy Matsumoto
Air Canada enRoute
Stuck
Sophie Gray, Alexander Kim, Emma Loy, Holly McKenzie-Sutter, Alexander Migdal, Sharon Nadeem, Andrew Seal, Aryn Strickland, Peter Klein, Kathryn Gretsinger, Saranaz Barforoush, Dan McKinney, Britney Dennison, Andrew Munroe, Zak Vescera, David Murawsky, Amanda De Souza, Paul Trundle, Andrew Yates, Andree Lau, Louise Roug
International Reporting Program and HuffPost Canada
Lines of Fire
Leader-Post Team/StarPhoenix Team
Saskatoon StarPhoenix/Regina Leader-Post
Hustle in the oil patch
Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Renata D’Aliesio, Chen Wang, Melissa Tait, Christopher Manza, Matt French, John Sopinski, Todd Korol, Brennan Higginbotham
The Globe and Mail
Sex Ed: Beyond the Classroom
Lauren McKeon, Natalie Vineberg, Judy Ziyi Gu, Viviane Fairbank, Samia Madwar, Angela Misri, Dmitry Beniaminov, Sharon Nadeem, Jackson Weaver, Tajja Isen, Danielle Kinahan, Sebastian Leck, Amy van den Berg, Daina Goldfinger, Allison Baker, Sydney Hamilton, Seila Rizvic, Daniel Viola, Erin Sylvester, Anna Fitzpatrick, Lauren Vogel, Erica Lenti, Yasir Khan, Lindsay Nixon, Sue Carter, Eliza Robertson, Anubha Momin, Kate Sloan
The Walrus
Best Feature Article: Long
Jo Aubin
Shannon Proudfoot
Maclean’s magazine
Croisière, bikinis et cocaïne
Julie Dufresne, Luc Tremblay, Chantal Cauchy, Gaétan Poulio, Éric Larouche, André Guimaraes, Santiago Salcido, Sophie Leclerc
Radio-Canada
Homeland (Parts 1 & 2)
Matthew Halliday, Chelsea Murray
The Deep
Murder on the Prairies
Jana Pruden, Laura Blenkinsop, Danielle Webb, Chris Manza, Victor Dwyer
The Globe and Mail
The Road
Stephanie Nolen, Aaron Vincent Elkaim, Laura Blenkinsop, Christopher Manza, Angela Murphy, Rachel Wine
The Globe and Mail
Fiction
The Shadows
Kaitlin Prest, CBC Podcasts, Phoebe Wang, Sharon Mashihi, Shani Aviram, Yasmine Mathurin, Olivia Pasquarelli, Adriana Komura, Marina Lee Koslock
CBC Podcasts
The Stunt
Michael LaPointe
Hazlitt
Best Service Feature
Back to the land
Andre Mayer, Dave Pizer, Evan Mitsui
CBC News
As a person of colour, it’s a struggle to find therapists who look like you
Arti Patel, Sarah Kelsey, Lina Toyoda
Global News
Hidden Canada
The Globe and Mail, Maryam Siddiqi, Christopher Manza, Rachel Wine, Benjamin MacDonald, Alanna Cavangh
The Globe and Mail
Best Science and Technology Storytelling
Apps Installed On Millions Of Android Phones Tracked User Behavior To Execute A Multimillion-Dollar Ad Fraud Scheme
Craig Silverman
BuzzFeed Canada
The million-dollar drug
Kelly Crowe, Dave Pizer, Craig Chivers
CBC News
The Cavernous World under the Woods
Bruce Grierson, Jude Isabella
Hakai Magazine
The Noose Beneath the Waves
Sasha Chapman, Shanna Baker
Hakai Magazine
The Trees That Sail to Sea
Brian Payton, Jude Isabella
Hakai Magazine
Rio’s Killer Apps
Stephanie Nolen, Rhian John-Hankinson, Jeremy Agius, Laura Blenkinsop, Elisangela Mendonca, Patrick Dell, Angela Murphy, Affan Chowdhry, Rasha Mourtada
The Globe and Mail
Follow the Water: Hidden Cost of a B.C. Town’s Water
Joanne Pearce, Alfred Hermida, Hans Schreier
UBC School of Journalism
Best Online Video: Short
Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2018: Elena
Martin Laporte, Nik Mirus, Marine Créquer, Stefanie Sosiak, Danielle Groen, L’Éloi
Air Canada enRoute
The truth about SugarBearHair vitamins
Roxanna Woloshyn, Anne MacRae, Charlsie Agro, Stephanie Dudley, Dave MacIntosh
CBC News
Endometriosis
Ben Shannon, Danielle d’Entremont, Jeff Goodes, Bria John, Olsy Sorokina, Dawna Dingwall
CBC Radio – White Coat, Black Art
How can I afford a home?
Prajakta Dhopade, Micah Bond, Yan Rosa, Elizabeth Palmieri
MoneySense
L’histoire de la paille
Djavan Habel-Thurton, Francis Lamontagne, Mélanie Julien, Eric Larouche, Martine Roy
Radio-Canada
Mums who scrum
Melissa Tait
The Globe and Mail
Best Arts & Culture Storytelling
The Sexy Sadness Of Sufjan Stevens
Scaachi Koul
BuzzFeed Canada
The Oracle of Oyster River
Brian Payton
Hakai Magazine
Alex Janvier’s colourful life
Marty Klinkenberg, Amber Bracken
The Globe and Mail
The Magnetism of Sadness and Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison
Josh Visser
VICE Canada
Comment faire son chemin, quand on est trans et actrice
Justine de l’Église
VICE (Quebec)
Best Online Video: Feature
A day in the life of Raptors Photographer — Ron Turenne
David Zelikovitz, Donnovan Bennett
Sportsnet
Hockey is for Everyone: Jessica Platt
Donnovan Bennett, David Zelikovitz
Sportsnet
We the North Grandma
Donnovan Bennett, Graham Runciman, Maggie Naylor, Scott SimpsonSportsnet
In rural New Brunswick, a transgender woman charts a new path
Scott Munn, Lindsay Jones, Matt Brown, Michael Belyea, Timothy Moore
The Globe and Mail
The caribou guardians
Sarah Cox, Jayce Hawkins, Emma Gilchrist, Carol Linnitt
The Narwhal
Les sites de rencontre vus par une artiste trans
Brigitte Noël, Catherine Marineau-Dufresne, Jean-Pierre Bastien, Matt Joycey, Steve Martella
VICE (Québec)
What I didn’t learn in Ontario’s sex-ed curriculum
Corey Misquita, Riley Sparks
Xtra
Best Online Video: Mini-Doc
Canada’s peacekeeping mission in Mali: Who’s fighting and why
Krista Hessey
Maclean’s
Coal Valley: The story of B.C.’s quiet water contamination crisis
Carol Linnitt, Jayce Hawkins, Emma Gilchrist
The Narwhal
Fear and Loading: Meet the NRA’s Most Wanted Customer
Sofi Langis, Manisha Krishnan, Spencer Chumbley, Danny Patterson, Taylor Rivers, Heidi Besner
VICE Canada
Is this the next Standing Rock?
Hilary Beaumont, Alex Craig, Taylor Rivers, Heidi Besner, Rebecca LaFortune, Michelle Latimer, Alex Craig, Jessica Ford, Natalie Alcoba, Tania Natscheff, Josh Marr
VICE News Canada
Souldia : à double tranchant
Simon Coutu, Jean-Pierre Bastien, Zacharie Fay, David Valiquette, William Gignac, Maude M. Ouellet
VICE (Québec)
Where have all the spaces for queer women in Toronto gone?Corey Misquita, Riley Sparks, Lulu Wei, Eric Wright
Xtra
Best Podcast
Front Burner
Jayme Poisson, Chris Berube, Elaine Chau, Shannon Higgins, Derek Vanderwyk, Nick McCabe-Lokos
CBC News
Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo
Connie Walker, Marnie Luke, Jennifer Fowler, Mieke Anderson, Heather Evans
CBC News
Love Me
Mira Burt-Wintonick, Cristal Duhaime, Sarah Geis
CBC Podcasts
Uncover: Escaping NXIVM
Josh Bloch, Kathleen Goldhar, Anita Elash, Heather Evans, Mieke Anderson
CBC Podcasts
CBC Mic Drop
Shari Okeke, Carrie Haber, Cristal Duhaime, Jess Shane
Mic Drop
Peterborough Currents
Ayesha Barmania, Will Pearson
Peterborough Currents
En 5 minutes
Charles Trahan, Baptiste Zapirain, Benjamin Bourque, Hélène Laurin, Frédéric Guindon
QUB radio
Rap carcéral
Simon Coutu, Alain Loiselle, Dice B, Laurent K. Blais
Radio-Canada Première (produit par VICE)
Best Digital Design
Universités : payer plus pour avoir moins?
Naël Shiab, Santiago Salcido
CBC/Radio-Canada
On a redessiné le Québec
Marc Lajoie, Melanie Julien, Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski, Santiago Salcido, Martine Roy
Radio-Canada
Toronto Star’s Featured Projects Portfolio
Fadi Yaacoub, Cameron Tulk, David Schnitman, Nathan Pilla, Tania Pereira
The Toronto Star
Best Photo Storytelling
Black in Canada: 10 stories
Jalani Morgan, Robin Levinson King, Jessica MurphyBBC News – Canada bureau
Us Too
Geneviève Caron, Lindsay Siu, Tavia Grant, Dawn Calleja, Clare Vander Meersch, Jeremy Agius
Report on Business magazine
Living in limbo
Renaud Philippe, Jeremy Agius, Matt French, Theresa Suzuki, Patrick Dell, Michelle Zilio, Carol Toller, Carine Abouseif, Tu Thanh Ha
The Globe and Mail
Proms from coast to coast
Ming Wong, Jeremy Agius, Theresa Suzuki, Melissa Tait, Jackie Dives, Darren Calabrese, Todd Korol, Caroline Alphonso
The Globe and Mail
Best Social Storytelling
As It Happens 50th anniversary animations
Ben Shannon, Kate Swoger, Sheena Goodyear
CBC Radio – As It Happens
Escaping NXIVM
Megan Griffith-Greene, Charles Fogel, Anne MacRae, Micheline Parent, Irene Thomaidis, Evan Aagaard, Josh Bloch
CBC News
#FirstTimeIWasCalled
Farah Nasser, Erica Vella, Ben Jonah, Eric Mark Do, Dean Hayashi, Mike Lapalme, Chris MacDougall, Trevor Owens, Lacy Atalick, Michael Hutchinson, Samantha Turchan, Nida Omar, Jessica Maxwell, Drew Hasselback, Shauna Rempel, Simon Osler, Brian McKechnie, Mackay Taggart
Global News
Pay equity social sells
Elizabeth Palmieri, Jason Kirby, and Scott Simpson
Maclean’s
Weed did it.
Sasha Kalra, Daman Lamba, Jill Krajewski, Laura Lloyd, Kate McKerroll, Tyler Hughes, Victoria Pandeirada
VICE Canada
Best Editorial Newsletter
What on Earth?
Emily Chung, Andre Mayer, Nicole Mortillaro
CBC News
Hakai Magazine Weekly Newsletter
Adrienne Mason, Raina Delisle, David Garrison, Mark Garrison, Josh Silberg
Hakai Magazine
Le courrier électoral
Geneviève Tremblay, Stéphane Baillargeon, Cédric Gagnon, Jean-Philippe Corbeil, Simon Poirier
Le Devoir
Pastime, Season One
Nathaniel Basen, Adam Anshan, Cody Gault, Paul Thompson, Colin McGowan, Sam Riches, Josh Tucker, Mike Piellucci, Sarah Brown, Glenn Harvey, Kyle Scott, Alex Mathers, Joe Wolfond, Paul Kim
Pastime
Innovation in Digital Storytelling
Forever Changed
William Wolfe-Wylie, Dwight Friesen, Richard Grasley, Sannah Choi, Kate Cornick, Farrah Merali, Andre Mayer, Paul Borkwood, David Donnelly, Albert Leung, Martin Trainor
CBC News
Because News Alexa Game
Elizabeth Bowie, Gavin Crawford, Ian Cauthery
CBC Radio’s Because News
Toronto Votes
Victoria Valido, Chris Glover, Laura Green, David Allmark, T.J. Heideman, Bob Weiers, Julia Whalen, Lauren Pelley, Lisa Xing, Farrah Merali, Talia Ricci, Nick Boisvert, John Rieti, Matt Elliott
CBC Toronto
Follow the Money
Zane Schwartz, National Post & Calgary Herald teams
National Post and Calgary Herald
Olympics interactive graphics
Timothy Moore, Christopher Manza, Trish McAlaster
The Globe and Mail
CREDIT CHANGES: If you would like to make any credit changes, please send details to info@digitalpublishingawards.ca before May 9, 2019.
DIGITAL PUBLISHING AWARDS SOIRÉE
Join us on May 29th when we present the Gold, Silver, and Honourable Mention awards at the 4th annual Digital Publishing Awards Soiree. The Soiree will be held at One King West, and Eternity Martis will host. Martis’ work has helped shape the language used in newsrooms across Canada, is discussed in mainstream media, changed policies on racism and is taught on academic syllabuses at Western University, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.
Tickets on sale at digitalpublishingawards.ca.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The National Media Awards Foundation is incredibly grateful for the support of: Government of Canada, the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Creates, Reader’s Digest Foundation, and KCK Global. We are also thankful for the support of Cision, Magazines Canada, PUSH Media, Very Good Studios and Vividata.
Our sincerest thanks to this year’s judges, who graciously volunteered their time and expertise, evaluating the hundreds of entries submitted to this year’s competition.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIESFor sponsorship inquiries, please contact Barbara Gould, Executive Director, at info@digitalpublishingawards.ca.
The NMAF is pleased to present the 2018 Digital Publishing Leadership Award to Brodie Fenlon, Senior Director of Daily News and Bureaus for the 
The Digital Publishing Awards Soirée will be hosted by Adrian Lee. Adrian is the opinions editor for Maclean’s, a Polaris Prize jury member, a Digital Publishing Award winner, and karaoke champion, in order of least to most important facts about him. He is thrilled for the opportunity to attend a gala that allows him to wear a tuxedo, which he purchased in what he describes as “a good idea at the time.”