Two Black Press journalists from the South Okanagan Similkameen have been honoured at the 2024 Ma Murray Awards.
Brennan Phillips, a journalist with the Penticton Western News, won bronze in the Spot News Photo Award category for papers with a circulation of more than 11,000.
His photo, Penticton to mark Overdose Awareness Day after 13 deaths so far in 2023, was published in the Aug. 10, 2023 print edition of the paper and also online.
“I’m honoured to have been selected as a finalist, and I congratulate the winner and my fellow finalist,” Phillips said. “Both put out pieces that captured moments and stories in vivid fashion, and I am proud to have been considered alongside them.”
John Arendt, editor of the Summerland Review, won gold in the Columnist Award category.
His column, Evacuation was on my mind during the 2003 fire season, was published in the Aug. 10, 2023 issue of the paper, around two decades after the Okanagan Mountain Park Fire of 2003.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts and reflections with readers,” Arendt said, adding that writing about the 2003 fire season brought back some vivid memories.
“It also means a lot to be able to work with the amazing team we have in the South Okanagan and Similkameen. Andrea DeMeer in Princeton, Brennan Phillips and Logan Lockhart in Penticton and I work well together. What we do is the result of all of us working together.”
The awards are presented annually by the B.C. and Yukon Community News Media Association to recognize the work done by the association’s more than 90 member newspapers in British Columbia and the Yukon. There are awards in 45 categories, covering all aspects of the newspaper industry.