The Valley Echo walked away with a gold, silver and bronze in three different categories at the 2013 B.C. and Yukon Community Newspaper Awards held at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond on Saturday, April 20th.
The gala event attracted hundreds of people from all aspects of the newspaper industry, and The Valley Echo was represented by former editor Nicole Trigg and graphic designer Jess de Groot.
Ms. de Groot earned third place in the Ad Design Award (for the circulation under 25,000 category) for ‘The Good, the Bad and the Derby,’ an advertisement which inspired the following comments by the judge:Â “Very fun and interesting ad. I like the photo treatment. It’s eye catching and has a great sense of attitude. Nice work.”
The Valley Echo placed second out of nine
newspapers in Category B of the Newspaper Excellence Award.
“Here is a paper that takes its design, appearance and readability seriously,” wrote one of the judges. “It may be a small paper, but it is concise; quality over quantity. A fine example of a little newspaper keeping up with the times.”
Former Valley Echo reporter Steve Jessel received top honours in the Environmental Initiative Award category for his five-part series on the protection of Lot 48, beating out Victoria’s Monday Magazine and the Vancouver Courier for first place in this category.
“Although small in size, Lot 48 is huge in significance for environmental and cultural reasons,” stated the judge. “Steve Jessel’s story tells us why it was important to protect this land and how it was saved through the efforts of local communities, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Ktunaxa Nation.”