The Guardian won the Atlantic Journalism Award for Breaking/Spot News Reporting: Print and Online Category on Saturday night for its coverage of the province-wide school evacuation in Sept. 2016.
On Wed. Sept. 21, more than 19,000 students in Prince Edward Island were evacuated from the province’s schools after RCMP in Ottawa received a threat by fax.
The Guardian’s managing editor Wayne Thibodeau accepted the award during a gala reception and awards show at the St. John’s Convention Centre in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Thibodeau said it was an honour to accept the award on behalf of the entire team.
He said that on the day, while every school in the province was being evacuated, every person in the newsroom was working hard to ensure students, parents and the people of P.E.I. had the information they needed as quickly as possible.
"What an incredible team of journalists we have at The Guardian," said Thibodeau. "They work very hard everyday to produce award-winning journalism. And while we don't do it for the awards - we do it for our readers - it is still nice to be recognized and to be recognized in a room full of some of the top journalists in the country."
The other two finalists in the category were Heather Desveaux of the Chronicle Herald for “the Hannah collection,” and Tim Jaques of The Tribune in Campellton, N.B., for “Chopper crash kills two.”
The Guardian's award is not the only hardware returning to P.E.I. from the gala.
The event also honoured former managing editor of The Guardian Gary MacDougall with a lifetime achievement award after working in journalism for 47 years.
Journal Pioneer reporter Millicent McKay received the 2017 student award for prize of excellence during the event.
The Eastern Graphic's Paul MacNeill also won the Best Community Newspaper News Story Award for "A place to call home."
Thibodeau said he looks forward to producing even more award-winning journalism, now as part of the SaltWire Network.
"We now have a partner who wants to once again invest in journalism in Prince Edward Island. We're excited. That puts The Guardian on solid footing for our future and that is very good news for our readers on all platforms, for our province and for journalism overall and that is what we were celebrating here in St. John's Saturday night."
