MANITOULIN—The winning tradition continues for your community newspaper. The Manitoulin Expositor learned last week (on Valentine’s Day) that it has been successful in two categories of the annual Better Newspapers Competition organized by the Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA). The tradition continues.
These are open competitions among community newspapers from all over Ontario.
The Expositor is a finalist in the design category ‘Best Retail Layout’. The entry is a horizontal, full colour, half page advertisement promoting the opening last spring of Little Current Veterinary Services, a new business in Little Current and a sister business to Island Animal Hospital in Mindemoya. The ad ran May 10, 2017.
The ad was created by Kendra Edwards of the Expositor’s production department. The paper will find out its placement (first, second or third place) at the OCNA’s annual convention on April 20.
As it happens, Ms. Edwards was creating another ad for Island Animal Hospital late last week and happened to mention as part of the email exchange relative to the current ad that the ad for the Little Current Veterinary Services practice had been recognized for an award. Steve Fisher responded “Congratulations! That’s amazing. I know there are a tremendous amount of local papers throughout Ontario so that’s very impressive. That was a wonderful ad you did for us, as are all the others you have helped with. The Expositor is such a great source of information with great articles for our wonderful community. Thanks for letting us know, I will tell Johanne as she will be thrilled.”
The paper already knows how it ranked in another category: Best Front Page. The Expositor has been awarded an honourable mention in this category for a front page that featured a full-width banner headline and an eye-catching photo and story (both by editor Alicia McCutcheon) announcing a new aquaculture initiative: fish-farming whitefish in Manitowaning Bay. The front page was the issue of July 12, 2017.