Most of us in Canada may not have heard of the late Audrey Mackiewicz, but she is a towering figure in the world of agricultural journalism.
Mackiewicz was an Ohio newswoman, the first female president of the North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) and its long-time executive secretary treasurer.
In her honour, the NAAJ established an award presented to independent newspapers, magazines and wire services that have expanded their coverage of agriculture over the previous year.
Previous winners of this award include DTN/The Progressive Farmer, American Agriculturalist and Feed-Stuffs, the High Plains Journal, the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg. This year it was the Western Producer.
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None of us have any buttons left on our shirts; they’ve all popped off from puffing up with pride.
In our industry, these awards are the most similar to the Pulitzers in that the winning publications are chosen by their journalist peers. The Audrey Mac award is the final award given. It’s the big surprise of the ceremony, the crowning touch on the night.
Needless to say, we are thrilled.
We assume the NAAJ judge chose the Producer because, in 2010, we:
• redesigned the newspaper to improve content and user-friendliness;
• redesigned producer.com, adding more content, better interface and new features;
• created producermobile.com, allowing farmers to receive news, markets and weather on the go;
• invested in a new news bureau in Lethbridge, headed by former editor Barb Glen, who took third place in the columns and analysis category at NAAJ;
• revived the position of managing editor, held by Michael Raine;
• added the Producer Daily e-mail newsletter to the product mix;
• improved our markets and production coverage.
Robert Arnason from our Brandon bureau was in Washington April 11 to receive the award on behalf of the Western Producer.
It was quite the night. Robert told me the award was presented at the National Press Club, a few blocks from the White House. The attending crowd included ag journalists, foreign embassy agricultural liasions, U.S. politicians and lobbyists.
But I am so proud to say you are reading a major award-winning newspaper.
Thanks for doing so.
