The game was not fixed, but my column The Game Fixer scored top honours at the Ontario Community Newspaper Association‘s Better Newspaper Awards.
On April 27 my name was called for the 2011 Columnist of the Year accolade. The column in question is the Game Fixer for the Toronto Today. Admittedly I was a little stunned once they failed to mention Toronto Today for third and second places.
Three columns were submitted to the OCNAs back in November: Respect is due volunteers, Fight the power and Context is the message. I was named a finalist out of three newspapers that also included Markham Economist & Sun’s Bernie O’Neill and Oshawa This Week’s Brian McNair.
Algonquin College professor and journalist, Julie McCann wrote, “Whether he is writing about a misunderstood ad campaign or street hockey bylaws gone wrong, he owns his material — and his reader”.
My former colleagues at the Town Crier, Toronto Today and Vaughan Today also took home hardware, pulling in a record-best 10 awards in seven categories.