The Hamilton Spectator Wins National Newspaper Prize

October 11, 2002

The Council for Business and the Arts in Canada announced today that The Hamilton Spectator has won the fifth annual John P. Fisher Award for Media Support of the Arts, the national newspaper prize that recognizes exemplary arts journalism and sponsorship.

The John P. Fisher Award was created by The Council for Business and the Arts in Canada (CBAC), with support from Southam Inc., in tribute to the late John P. Fisher. A former Chair of CBAC and CEO of Southam, Fisher believed that newspapers and the arts serve to enhance the quality of life in our communities, providing new ways of seeing ourselves as Canadian.

The Award is one of the ways that CBAC, the national association of business patrons and arts sponsors, encourages increased, effective, private sector support of the arts.

"By recognizing the best, this award sets the standard for effective coverage and media sponsorship of the arts. That's important because Canadians get the majority of their information on the arts from their daily newspapers," says CBAC President & CEO, Sarah Iley. "What the jury looks for is a mixture of quality arts journalism and significant contributions of advertising, in-kind and volunteer support."

Nominations were submitted by arts organizations for newspapers serving communities across the country. They were adjudicated by an expert panel chaired by Jim McCormack, Publisher of The Windsor Star, and winner of the 2001 John Fisher Award. He was joined by Connie MacDonald, Director of Communications at The Banff Centre, and by Lise Bissonnette, President and Director-General of the Bibliothèque nationale Québec, and former Editor and Publisher of Le Devoir.

"The Hamilton Spectator was a clear winner," said Jury Chair Jim McCormack. "It's a good-sized paper that has not only provided a lot of in-kind support to the arts through event sponsorship and management volunteers, but it has also given money - you don't see that very often in this business."

Lise Bissonnette agreed, adding, "It is sometimes dangerous when papers are so involved in the community, the arts groups can begin to expect complicity instead of useful criticism, but The Spectator maintains a high level of editorial quality. I was particularly impressed by the range of coverage for small groups - and the number of local book reviewers."

The paper's creation of a music scholarship in honour of long-time columnist Hugh Fraser was another feature that impressed the jury. "You could just tell from all the letters of support that this newspaper really believes the arts are important in its community," said Connie MacDonald.

The John P. Fisher Award, a specially-commissioned ceramic sculpture by Canadian artists Dan & Nisha Ferguson, will be presented to The Hamilton Spectator on Monday, November 4th at Theatre Aquarius, which put together the award-winning nomination. Following the reception, guests will see a performance of the theatre's latest production - Michel Tremblay's For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again.

For more information: Sarah Iley or Eileen Love: 416 869-3016