Pique Newsmagazine is once again the best community newspaper in Canada in its circulation class.
Pique won big at the 2023 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards, taking first place in the Best All-Round Newspaper and Best Front Page categories (circulation 6,500 to 17,499).
“It's simply hard—perhaps impossible—to beat this publication for quality in almost all criteria areas of this competition,” read the judges’ comments. “I hesitated giving it top marks for the front page because it doesn't look like a typical community newspaper front page, but none of the others were so exceptional they could beat the impact and ‘pick-me-up’ factor of the Pique's front page.”
Reporter Megan Lalonde took first place in the Best Historical Story category, for her cover feature “They just vanished,” as well as a bronze in the Best News Story category for her coverage of the daylight double murder that rocked Whistler Village in July 2022.
Sports reporter David Song earned a second place in the Best Sports Coverage category, while reporter and features editor Brandon Barrett took third place in the Best Feature Story category for his cover feature “From the Sea to Sky to Kharkiv, a ray of hope.”
Lastly, reporter Robert Wisla took both first and second in the Excellence in Rural Reporting category, for his stories “The other battle,” and “The boom in Bridge River.”
“We’re humbled to be recognized as best in class amongst our peers across Canada in the general excellence category, as well as the many reporting honours for our journalists,” said publisher Sarah Strother. “It’s a tribute to Pique’s exceptionally talented and hard-working team."
