Columnist of the Year

21 ENTRIES

1

MINdEN TIMES jIM pOLING SR.

Excellent selection of columns that make a reader think deeply. Well written, with elegant prose. A pleasure to read.

2

THE INdEpENdENT SERVING pETROLIA ANd CENTRAL LAMBTON HEATHER wRIGHT

The columns are well written, and the subject matters should resonate with readers as they are subjects with which many can identify. It’s like sitting next to friend at the pub and having a conversation.

3

EGANVILLE LEAdER jOHANNA zOMERS

Well written and informative. The columns have a natural, confident pace, with the underlying reminder of the simpler things in life.

GENERAL COMMENT

I like the fact there was a great diversity of subject matter in the columns submitted. The columns that always resonate more with me are the ones in which the writer is focused on an issue as local as possible – with, of course, creativity, wit, passion, and flair. That is not to say columns touching on broader issues cannot also be well done at a local level. Many columns connected with the reader by making it easy to understand their viewpoint or plight. Overall, I’d say the column submissions were strong and it was very difficult to choose the top three placements. Columns and the opinion/letters pages in general are the glue that keeps community papers together. We should be looking at ways to expand those pages as they, more than any other section of the paper/website, truly reflect a community.

Judge

Chris Foulds

Editor Kamloops This Week Kamloops, BC

Christopher Foulds is editor of Kamloops This Week, a twice-weekly newspaper published in Kamloops, B.C., a city of 95,000 in the province’s Interior. Foulds has been editor for 15 years and spent 13 years before that as assistant editor and reporter at the Abbotsford News.