The Mission Record was honoured on the weekend with a gold award at the annual British Columbia and Yukon Community Newspaper Association’s Ma Murray Awards.
Record editor Kevin Mills won the first-place honour in the Spot News Photo category for publications with a circulation of less than 25,000.
The photo, titled Overdose Emergency, showed paramedics and other emergency personnel attempting to revive a man suffering from a drug overdose on First Avenue.
The judges called the photo a “powerful image,” adding that it shows the “tragic impact of drug overdoses on the community.”
The silver award went to the Smithers Interior News, while bronze went to the Yukon News.
Record publisher Karen Murtagh said she was thrilled when the announcement was made.
“Kevin Mills not only has the words to craft a story vividly, but has the eye to convey it in an instant. I am very proud of his accolade – well-deserved,” Murtagh said.
Mills has been a journalist for more than 30 years. He career began in Mission in 1989 and he has gone on to work as a reporter at the Abbotsford News and editor of both the Nelson Star and Castlegar News before returning to Mission in 2015.
“It’s always an honour to be recognized by your peers for the work that you do,” said Mills about the award. “When I saw the first responders trying to save this man, I almost didn’t take the photo, but then thought it could raise more awareness to the tragedy of drug addiction.”
The Mission Record also had a small part in another award.
The Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows News received a silver award in the Special Publications Award (circulation over 25,000) for the Bijou Lifestyle Magazine, a new special quarterly magazine serving the North Fraser – Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, and Mission.