University Affairs magazine received five nominations in the business-to-business division of the Canadian Online Publishing Awards, which foster digital publishing excellence in Canada. The five nominations are for Best Media Website; Best News Coverage; Best Blog; and Best Article or Series of Articles, for which UA received two nominations.
In the news coverage category, the nomination is based on three news stories from the last year. These included two stories by regular contributor Rosanna Tamburri, Controversy over historians’ role in case involving tobacco industry and University staff face new restrictions on how they advise foreign students. The third story was by UA’s in-house digital journalist, Natalie Samson, for Quebec ruling supports confidentiality of researchers’ interviews.
Last year’s winner of the Best Blog category, UA blogger Melonie Fullick, is again a nominee in this category for Speculative Diction, her blog about higher education policy and practice in Canada. The nomination was based on three of her posts: War of attrition – Asking why PhD students leave, Beyond puppies and yoga, and Priorities and “Productivity”.
In the category of Best Article or Series, David Hayes’ feature article on the Trent University wildlife lab is one of the five nominees. Another is Moira MacDonald’s feature on the plight of the unpaid intern.
Several university websites and newsletters also received nominations this year, including the McGill News Alumni Magazine; McGill Monthly, a newsletter; and The Ryersonian, a website produced by students in Ryerson University’s school of journalism, which had five nominations.
The winners will be announced November 20, 2014 in Toronto. The media competition, now in its sixth year, is sponsored by Masthead Online, a website for and about the magazine industry, and it is judged by peers in the media business.