The pathos in the two photos that bookend this column seem to have struck a chord with judges in the 2007 Canadian Farm Writers Federation writers and broadcasters awards.
The photo above, by Saskatoon reporter Michael Raine, recently won gold in the news photograph category. The photo below, by Camrose reporter Mary MacArthur, won gold in the feature photo category.
Above, Metro Ostapoeich watches firefighters put out a fire at the grain elevator annex across the street in Foam Lake, Sask., in July 2006. It was the second major fire for the town in as many months. A number of downtown businesses had been lost to fire in late June.
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Below, Ed Lefsrud is shown with the carcasses of cattle owned by Leif Erickson, a cattle producer from Viking, Alta. The cattle fell through the ice on a dugout last winter and perished.
Loss of property through fire and sad happenstance is nothing short of tragic, and our photographers successfully captured the feelings of those close to the events.
You can’t do that without feeling some of the same emotions yourself. As journalist Mignon McLaughlin once said, “the best work is done with the heart breaking or overflowing.” Such was the case with these two special photographs.
Raine also won bronze in the feature photo category for a striking shot of researcher Lynn Weber holding a pig. (See inset for a partial view.) That one just makes a person smile.
Your newspaper can also report success in the writing categories of the awards. Karen Briere, our Regina-based reporter, won gold in the weekly press reporting competition for a story about last summer’s anthrax outbreak. Saskatoon reporter Sean Pratt won silver in the same category for a story about biobutanol.
Farm management editor D’Arce McMillan won gold in the press editorial category for a piece on the food versus fuel debate. I followed his lead with a bronze in the same class.
Our website, orchestrated by Paul Yanko and others, won bronze in the website category.
As well, a column I wrote for this spot last October won gold for press column.
