Excellence in religious journalism
Associate editor Debra Fieguth’s value to ChristianWeek was very evident when the Awards of Merit were presented at the Canadian Church Press convention earlier this month.
ChristianWeek came away with six certificates, including a first place in the News category. Commenting on Debra’s reporting about how a denomination was coming to terms with its history of abuse of missionary kids, the judges said: "This is an excellent story. We hear from the victims and the C&MA hierarchy in a full and balanced manner."
CW received honorable mention for General Excellence among national newspapers, the third year in a row the paper has either won or been runner-up for the top prize. The Catholic Register placed first this time around. And, for the second year in a row, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s Faith Today was judged top among magazines. To determine general excellence, judges examine three consecutive editions with a critical eye on both editorial content and design.
CW also received an honorable mention certificate for Debra’s feature article on multi-level marketing, and another for her editorial on "Why Bishop Spong is wrong." Freelance writer Denyse O’Leary’s Faith and Science column was similarly honored, as was the front page of the September 22 edition, which pictured a memorial service for families of the Swissair Flight 111 victims.
In a separate presentation, Catholic New Times was presented with the A.C. Forrest Memorial Award for "excellence in religious journalism with a social conscience," which comes with a $1,000 prize. Writers Mary Janet MacDonell and Betsy Mary Flynn described "The story of how peace came to Fortaleza."
–Doug Koop