Peak publisher Joyce Carlson was honoured among her peers at the annual Newspapers Canada convention on April 29 in Richmond. She is the fifth recipient of the Marg Hennigar Award. The association created the award to recognize the best within its industry.
In making the presentation, Hennigar’s daughter Lynn said it was for, “Those who stand out in small towns and big cities. Those who take a kernel of an idea and make it grow. Those who know that the power of a newspaper is not just about selling ads and writing stories, but about building communities better.”
Marg was not born into the industry, but she quickly came to love it after she and her husband Ralph purchased a printing operation that included a small weekly newspaper in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in 1968.
Recognized as one of Canada’s leading editorial writers, Marg died in December 2006. In 2001 she received the Eugene Cervi Award from the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors for lifetime achievement in courageous editorial writing.
Marg believed strongly in giving back. “She epitomized the important role our newspapers play in communities big and small across this country,” said Lynn. “It is a role that may not generate headlines but is vital nonetheless.”
In her presentation, Lynn spoke about Carlson’s contribution to her family, her community and her industry.
“Time and again our recipient has turned obstacles into opportunity. Time and again our recipient has used boundless energy and focus to achieve significant results personally, professionally and for community.
“There she was as a 16-year-old, pregnant, grade 10 dropout. She saw the importance of an education and worked her way through night school with a toddler at her feet.
“There she was as a young mother who became the first female president of a minor hockey association in her home province.
“There she was as a champion public speaker who used her skills to provide speech training for youth ambassadors.
“There she was as a member of Rotary who saw opportunity in the arts and convinced her club to become title sponsor of the successful Powell River Festival of Performing Arts.
“And there she was as a community activist who took the lead on any number of outstanding community efforts including: designation of Powell River as a Cultural Capital of Canada, president of the 2007 BC Disability Games and leading Powell River’s connection to the 2010 Winter Olympics.”
Carlson has spent 40 years in the newspaper industry. She started by writing reports on her brother’s hockey games and dropping them off anonymously at the Powell River News.
She worked her way through the ranks taking on progressively more challenging roles, all the while constantly embracing new ideas and technology.
She became publisher of The Gulf Island Driftwood in 1989. In 1995 she returned to her hometown to create the award-winning Powell River Peak. Carlson has served on the BC Yukon Community Newspapers Association for 25 years and spent nine years on the national board, including as president in 1994-95.
Carlson said she was pleased to accept the award, named for a woman she found inspiring.
In national and provincial competitions, the Peak picked up first-place finishes in Newspapers Canada competition for best website and best holiday edition. Alicia Newman came third in best photo essay.
In the BC and Yukon Ma Murray Awards, cartoonist Wendy Brown won gold and sales manager Debbie Galinski took silver for best ad design. Reporter Kyle Wells earned a silver for best feature photo colour and a bronze for black and white.
