Canadian papers dominate awards

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Canadian Native newspapers tool more than their share of awards at the annual presentation of awards to newspapers and journalists in Indian country.

All the Canadian awards went to newspapers in Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Windspeaker took seven awards, Kainai News at Stand Off, Alberta took three while Native Press in Yellowknife won two awards.

Mary Weasel Fat, editor of Kainai News, was overjoyed her paper won the coveted first place award for general excellence in a weekly.

"The hard work and dedication of my small staff" helped put the paper on the pedestal this year, she said, but she added Kainai still needs improvement. The management and staff hope to win the award again next year.

"We need to concentrate more on community news, increase our circulation and work on increasing our advertising revenue," said Weasel Fat. "We have been given a lot of incentive to try harder and work harder."

Kainai faced six months of grace before it loses all federal government funding. It is currently conducting a marketing study, which it hopes to use to become self-sufficient. The findings will be known April 3.

The paper is 22 years old and Weasel Fat is in her seventh year at the newspaper.

"We don't want the ship to go down," she said.

Kainai also won the second place award for best feature story and second as well for best photograph.

Meanwhile, Lee Selleck, who edits Native Press, said the puny budgets of many Native newspapers in the United States prevents them from publishing award-winning newspapers.

Canadian papers captured a lot of the awards at the sixth annual convention of the Native American Press Association simply because most Native newspapers are run by individual tribes on "shoestring" budgets, he said.

"It will be interesting to see what happens next year," said Selleck, referring to federal budget cutbacks. He wondered how that will affect the operations and quality of Canadian aboriginal newspapers.

Native Press garnered the first place award for general excellence in a bi-weekly and the third place spot for best feature story.

Meanwhile, Native Press, Windspeaker and some other Native newspapers due to lose federal funding at the end of March have been given three months grace by secretary of state.

The department also intends to examine a joint-funding arrangement with the provinces and the territories for Native media. The government of the Northwest Territories has already given $21,000 in interim funding to Native Press.

Native Press' award shows the efficiency of the small staff at the newspaper, said Selleck. Eight people, six of them Native, are employed by the paper. The paper has a circulation of 5,000; it's published every two weeks and is distributed to 26 communities in the western Arctic, serving a population consisting of the Dogrib, Slavey, Metis, Chipewyan, Cree and non-Native peoples.

Despite the award, Selleck still thinks the paper can improve.

"I'd like to see more feature material," he stated. "Right now I'd like to see our community news beefed up, and obviously sports is something we have to do a little more of."

The type and design can use some finishing touches, he added, but it will not change much.