J-School student, alumni nominated for National Newspaper Awards

One current student and six J-School alumni are among those named the 2024 finalists for the National Newspaper Awards (NNA).

Sammy Kogan, a fourth-year journalism student, is a finalist for the News Photo category. His photo, taken for The Globe and Mail as a part of his apprenticeship, captured a moment of intense grief as Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw held Sophia Dunn, the mother-in-law of Seymour Gibbs who was killed in a Toronto shooting, as she fell to her knees.

“What surprised me, what I had never experienced, to that day, was the absolute devastation and emotion of a mother who lost her son-in-law. The agony, the emotion - the love Sophia Dunn expressed to her son-in-law was a sobering reminder of the very real effects of gun violence,” Kogan wrote in his NNA submission.

Kogan previously won the Student Photojournalist of the Year Award at the JHM awards.

“I’m thrilled to be nominated as one of the finalists for a National Newspaper Award in the News Photo category,” he said. Kogan also thanked the visuals team at The Globe and Mail for their support.

Six J-School alumni were also nominated:

For the business award, Max Binks-Collier (‘19), Masih Khalatbari (‘22), Charlie Buckley (‘20) were nominated for their reporting on Canada’s “exploitative” clinical trial industry for the Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau collaboration.

For the George Brown Award for Investigations, Declan Keogh (‘18) was nominated as a part of the Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau team that reported on a program meant to fund mental health care for First Nations and Inuit people—but instead, it was failing them.

For the William Southam Award for Long Feature, Emma McIntosh (‘18) was nominated with The Narwhal for her vivid storytelling on Canada’s endangered southernmost caribou herd.

For Presentation/Design, Tania Pereira (‘01) was nominated for her work designing the Toronto Star’s pages on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Toronto’s top influencers of 2024 and the struggles of TTC riders.

Congratulations to all of the J-School finalists!