The Globe and Mail has won a gold medal for Best Interactive Story for No Safe Use, a months-long project delving into the deadly legacy of Canada's exposure to asbestos.
The Globe and Mail has won four Canadian Online Publishing Association awards for its digital journalism.
No Safe Use, a months-long project which delved into the deadly legacy of Canadians' exposure to asbestos, won a gold medal for Best Interactive Story and was also named winner of the Best Content award. No Safe Use was written by Tavia Grant and edited by Ted Mumford. It included photography and video by Louie Palu and Pawel Dwulit. Interactive design, development and production was by Christopher Manza and the multimedia editor was Laura Blenkinsop.
Globe reporters Grant Robertson and Jacquie McNish also won gold in Best News Coverage for their investigation into the increase in oil transported by rail leading up to the disastrous crash in Lac-Mégantic, Que.
Rob Carrick's e-mail newsletter Personal Finance Reader won a silver medal for design and engagement.
The prizes, awarded annually since 2009, celebrate excellence in online content that targets Canadian readers. Entrants in three divisions come from media publishers, corporations and advertising agencies.
"The strength of our journalism in core topics and in contemporary digital storytelling techniques was reflected by the fact that we were in competition with ourselves for Best Interactive Story" with two nominations in the category, Globe editor-in-chief David Walmsley says. "Interactive journalism that is immersive and participatory is the new normal and readers will be seeing a lot more of this quality in the days ahead. As the awards and the wider shortlist highlight, investigative and personally relevant journalism are the essentials for success."
In The Globe's other nominated entry for Best Interactive Story, a team of journalists detailed the behind-the-scenes story of how Canada weathered the financial crisis.
A Globe infographic detailing why food is so expensive in Canada's North, by Murat Yukselir, Josh Kerr and Rick Cash, also earned a finalist nod.
Last year, The Globe won two golds and two silvers at the COPAs, including a victory for an interactive oral history project looking back at the famed 1972 Summit Series hockey tournament.