The Northern View honoured with general excellence award

The Northern View has been honoured provincially for general excellence in the annual Ma Murray Better Newspapers Awards.

The General Excellence category recognizes all aspects of a newspaper from the quality and diversity of content to the layout to the design of ads compared to all the other similar circulation papers in B.C. and Yukon.

The Prince Rupert paper was up against the Salmon Arm Observer and the 100 Mile Free Press in Category B for newspapers with a circulation of 1,600 to 4,000 and came away with gold at the BCYCNA (BC-Yukon Community Newspaper Association) gala in Vancouver April 20.

After Melissa Ash was appointed publisher of The Northern View in February 2022, she, along with then-editor K-J Millar set about redesigning the paper giving it a fresh, modern new look and a bold, contemporary logo. She also set her sights on ensuring it had wide variety of content reflecting all aspects the Prince Rupert community.

The Northern View has never been nominated before in the general excellence category and Ash was thrilled with the achievement in just her second year as publisher.

“All of my Ma Murrays are special, but this is the big one,” she said. “This one means we are succeeding on all levels.”

Ash has previously won Ma Murrays for Community Service in 2020 and for Best Special Section in 2023 for her National Indigenous People’s Day feature.

Mary Kemmis, Black Press president of BC North accepted the award on behalf of The Northern View.

“I’m incredibly proud of the work our team at the Northern View does to tell the stories that matter to Prince Rupert,” Kemmis said. “Community journalism continues to be one of the cornerstones of thriving community and it’s wonderful to see their efforts recognized and rewarded by our peers.

The Northern View’s Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Seth Forward also took home a Ma Murray in the Business Writing Excellence category for his three-part series “How will cruises impact Prince Rupert’s future?” They ran in the Dec. 14, 2023, Dec. 21, 2023 and Dec. 28, 2023 editions of The Northern View.

The feature was an in-depth, investigative examination of the cruise ship industry in Prince Rupert from its rapid growth to the current negative and positive impacts tens of thousands of passengers have on the city to the projected growth and challenges that will bring.

“Seth is a very good, determined young reporter who demonstrates a lot of insight into issues and the ability to dig into all aspects of a story,” said Thom Barker, regional editor for Black Press Media in northwest B.C.

“He showed a lot of initiative in identifying this as a major issue, pitching the story and bringing it to fruition with a full range of voices and solid research. He definitely deserves recognition for this work.”