The Lake Report has again been honoured for its journalism excellence, earning a “phenomenal” 27 awards from the Ontario Community Newspapers Association.
The association on Wednesday unveiled the finalists in its annual Better Newspapers Competition.
The Lake Report is a finalist in 26 categories in addition to receiving one honourable mention award — more accolades than any paper in the province for the fourth consecutive year.
The first, second and third-place winners from among the finalists in each category will be announced in the spring.
Since 2020, the newspaper has received 96 provincial and national awards, more than any publication in the country.
“This is phenomenal news,” said Richard Harley, the founder and editor-in-chief of The Lake Report and its news website, niagaranow.com. “Once again, we are flattered and grateful for the recognition from our peers.”
“It has been disheartening in the past year to see so many print publications and broadcasters close across the country,” he said.
But the residents and advertisers in Niagara-on-the-Lake continue to embrace the high-quality journalism that The Lake Report provides in its weekly print edition and daily online, he noted.
“Succeeding as a print newspaper and sustaining that success is challenging in the online news era, but thanks to our loyal readers and advertisers, The Lake Report has defied the odds and flourished over the past six years.”
“And we owe a great debt to the people of NOTL who regularly allow us into their lives and trust us to tell their stories,” Harley added.
These provincial awards are for pieces published between October 2022 and Sept. 30, 2023.
Harley and former reporter Somer Slobodian were honoured in six categories, reporter Evan Loree was named in four categories, and reporter Julia Sacco and photographer Dave Van de Laar received two finalist nominations each.
The Lake Report has many community contributors and one of them, Frank Hayes, was nominated for a feature photo and for a guest column he submitted.
As well, Rene Bertschi’s online video of our International Women’s Day celebration last March was a key component of the paper’s submission for best online experience.
And artist Alperen Albayrak, a high school student who spent a semester at The Lake Report as part of a District School Board of Niagara internship program, received a finalist nomination for one of his editorial cartoons.
In Wednesday’s announcement, one other area publication, the NOTL Local, received five award nominations.
See next week’s edition for full details of The Lake Report’s awards.
