Black Press reporters, photographers and editors work hard to present an interesting combination of news, community events and personalities and information that is relevant to readers.

At the recent Canadian and B.C. community newspapers awards galas, that commitment to community was noted, as Greater Victoria publications captured 11 medals, including three for overall excellence.

B次元官网网址淭he newspaper excellence awards are a real tribute to the hard work of our entire staff, from ad design and classified to editorial and circulation,B次元官网网址� said Black Press group publisher Penny Sakamoto.

At the B.C. and Yukon Community B次元官网网址papers AssociationB次元官网网址檚 Ma Murray Awards gala Saturday in Richmond, the Victoria B次元官网网址, serving Victoria and Esquimalt, captured gold in Category E (30,501 to 53,000 circulation) ahead of 13 other papers.

Judges commented: B次元官网网址淕reat front pages that entice the reader to see what else is inside; itB次元官网网址檚 thorough news coverage and attractive design certainly qualifies it as a paper that knows its community and serves it extremely well.B次元官网网址�

The Peninsula B次元官网网址 Review, which serves Central Saanich, Sidney and North Saanich, won Category D (11,201 to 30,500 circ.) while the Oak Bay B次元官网网址 finished third.

The awards of excellence are judged by peers in the industry, with marks based on front page, community news content, editorial and op-ed pages, photography, advertising content and design and classified listings.

Individually, photographer Sharon Tiffin scored a double win at the B.C. awards. Her gold-medal shot for the Victoria B次元官网网址 of two women singing to a dog (black-and-white, 25,000 circulation and over) prompted judges to say, B次元官网网址淲ell done in picking out a humorous moment from the crowd. Isolating the trio makes the image more effective.B次元官网网址�

Tiffin also earned a silver medal (best sports photo, under 25,000) for her colour picture of a rugby tackle that appeared in the Oak Bay B次元官网网址.

Sooke B次元官网网址 Mirror staffer Jim Sinclair captured gold (colour, under-25,000) for his shot of a beached grey whale.

Former Victoria B次元官网网址 reporter Lisa Weighton also placed third, for her feature series on aboriginal rebirth by reburial.

At the previous nightB次元官网网址檚 Canadian Community B次元官网网址papers Association awards, the Goldstream B次元官网网址 Gazette, serving the West Shore, took third for best photo essay.

Regional photographer Don Denton collected a national silver for his colour shot of a timid woman trying to feed seagulls at Clover Point.

Victoria B次元官网网址 reporter Roszan Holmen took bronze for her historical story (12,500 and over) on DB次元官网网址橝rcy Island, a former leper colony that housed early Chinese immigrants.

Black Press editorial director and Victoria B次元官网网址 editor Kevin Laird said he is proud of the results, but pointed to the companyB次元官网网址檚 overall goal.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 all about readership B次元官网网址� we do this all for our readers,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭his is what strong newspapers have to do; always remember who weB次元官网网址檙e writing for.B次元官网网址�

editor@saanichnews.com