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National Newspaper Awards add Photo Story category to 2023 competition

Wednesday 18 October 2023

Appoint Jeff Smith as Director of Sponsorships

TORONTO, Oct. 18, 2023 – The National Newspaper Awards will include a new category for photographers in 2023: Photo Story.

The award was approved by the Board of Governors at a meeting on Sept. 28.

The new award will recognize a multiple-picture story or visual essay showcasing exceptional photography on a single subject or theme. Photographers may enter up to 10 photos published on a single day or throughout the calendar year.

It is one of four photo categories in the 2023 competition. The Feature Photo and Sports Photo categories remain unchanged from 2022, while the Breaking News Photo and General News Photo categories have been combined into a single News Photo category.

The Board of Governors also updated eligibility rules to open the contest to more journalists. Modifications include:

  • Photo-journalists who work regularly in Canada and who provide work to an ineligible news agency on a freelance or contract basis are now eligible to enter the contest, provided their work was distributed to and published by an eligible news organization.

  • Smaller Canadian non-daily newspapers that typically publish at least five days a week online — but may not always meet that threshold — are now eligible for the competition.

For the second year, the NNAs will welcome submissions in one category from Canadian journalists or organizations who would otherwise be ineligible for the competition. The Special Recognition Citation is designed to recognize exceptional journalism that does not fit into any of the existing categories. All types of journalism will be considered for the citation, including text, video, audio, photos, graphics, newsletters and social media. All types of news organizations are eligible. The citation is meant to open the door to experimentation in journalism: transcending categories, newsrooms and the industry. 

Last year’s Citation winner, Room Up Front, is a volunteer-run mentorship program seeking to combat inequality in the Canadian photo-journalism community. 

The Special Topic Award, also created in 2022, will be offered again this year. The topic will be announced Dec. 1.

In keeping with longstanding practice, any changes approved by NNA Governors are in effect for the 2023 competition, which covers work published between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2023.

The cost to enter this year’s competition, which opens on Dec. 1, will stay at $30 per submission. Award winners will be named at an in-person gala on April 26 in Toronto. Tickets will be available for purchase.

The Board of Governors was also pleased to welcome a Director of Sponsorships and a new board member at its September meeting. 

Jeff Smith has joined the organization as Director of Sponsorships and will be responsible for securing sponsors for the contest and gala. Based in Toronto, he is a digital marketing and media executive with more than 20 years of experience with some of Canada’s top brands, including Hudson’s Bay Company and TD Bank. He oversaw Torstar’s daily commuter publication, Metro News, and has worked with Narrowcontent, the Ontario Community Newspaper Association and WWF-Canada. 

Darren Calabrese, a documentary and editorial photojournalist based in Halifax, has joined the board after previously working with the NNAs at the committee level. Calabrese’s work has been recognized by World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, News Photographers Association of Canada and more.

Sponsorship opportunities remain available for the gala and for named awards. For information on either opportunity, contact Jeff Smith at promotion@nna-ccj.ca.

This is the 75th year for the awards program, and the 35th under the current administrative structure. The awards were established by the Toronto Press Club in 1949 to encourage excellence and reward achievement in daily newspaper work in Canada. The competition is now open to newspapers, news agencies and online news sites approved for entry by the NNA Board of Governors.

For more information, contact:

Bev Wake
Executive Director
National Newspaper Awards
exec@nna-ccj.ca
604-220-7254 

Andria Samis
Program Director
National Newspaper Awards
info@nna-ccj.ca
416-738-3654



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View the 2024 Winners and Finalists
View the 2023 Presentation

Key Dates

December 1 - Entries open
January 15 - Entries close
March 15 - Judges' deadline

Thanks to our Sponsors and Benefactors

Postmedia
The Globe and Mail
Torstar
La Presse
FP Newspapers Inc.
The Canadian Press
Glacier Media
Cision
Toronto Press Club

Named Awards

John Honderich Award for Project of the Year
Sponsored by the Honderich family

George Brown Award for Investigations
Sponsored by The Globe and Mail

John Wesley Dafoe Award for Politics
Sponsored by Ron Stern

E. Cora Hind Award for Local Reporting

Bob Levin Award for Short Feature
Sponsored by The Globe and Mail

Joan Hollobon Award for Beat Reporting
Sponsored by The Globe and Mail

Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing
Sponsored by Le Devoir

Mary Ann Shadd Cary Award for Columns

William Southam Award for Long Feature
Sponsored by the Fisher, Bowen and Balfour families

Norman Webster Award for International Reporting
Sponsored by the Webster family

Stuart M. Robertson Award for Breaking News
Sponsored by Paul and Lauraine Woods

Geoffrey Stevens Award for Sustained News Coverage
Sponsored by the family and friends of Geoffrey Stevens

Contact Us

Executive Director: Anne Marie Owens
exec@nna-ccj.ca

Program Director: Mariana Soares
info@nna-ccj.ca
438-366-1201

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  • Mariana Soares to join National Newspaper Awards as program director
    Thursday 12 June 2025
  • Toronto Star wins Project of the Year for Alice Munro coverage
    Saturday 26 April 2025
  • Anne Marie Owens named next executive director of the National Newspaper Awards
    Wednesday 16 April 2025
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