WCR best regional paper

The WCR won the Canadian Church Press award for general excellence among regional newspapers at the CCP meeting in Toronto May 7.

It is the fifth time in the past seven years that the WCR has won the award. On the other two occasions, the newspaper placed second.

The judges for the contest said of the WCR: "The newspaper is a pleasure to read, in all senses of the word. It is visually appealing with excellent use of colour and photos. . . .

"This particular diocesan newspaper is a cut above the crowd when it comes to editing, writing, layout and excellent local coverage. . . . This is a regional Catholic publication whose professionalism at least equals many larger and higher circulation newspapers."

An honourable mention in the regional newspapers category went to the B.C. Christian News.

WCR News Editor Lasha Morningstar received honourable mention for feature layout and design for her layout of an excerpt from Senator Douglas Roche's book The Human Right to Peace. The judges described the two-page spread as having "a clean simple layout that serves to echo the tenor of the story."

First prize in that category went to The Anglican Journal and another honourable mention went to The B.C. Catholic.

A local pastor, Father Leo Hofmann, also won an award from the CCP. Hofmann, pastor of Edmonton's St. Matthew Parish, won first prize in the category for doctrinal theological reflections for his article, "From the babe in the manger to the incarnation of God."

It was published in the journal Celebrate!.

Other awards for general excellence went to:

• National newspapers: The Anglican Journal.
• Denominational and inter-denominational magazines: Faith Today.
• Specialized magazines: The Link & Visitor.
• A.C. Forrest Award for excellence in socially conscious religious journalism: Michael Swan of The Catholic Register.

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