GUYSBOROUGH – The Guysborough-Antigonish Journal has earned four national honours in the 2026 Canadian Community Newsmedia Awards, including second-place finishes for Best All-Round Newspaper and Best Front Page.
Both honours came in the General Excellence category for newspapers with circulation of up to 1,499.
The Macleod Gazette of Fort Macleod, Alta., placed first in both categories. The Journal finished second for Best All-Round Newspaper, ahead of the third-place Claresholm Local Press, and second for Best Front Page, ahead of the Empire-Advance of Virden, Man.
Editor Alec Bruce was also recognized in two writing categories.
His “Moments in time: Old Guysborough revealed”, which turned a collection of old photographs into a community-wide effort to recover and preserve Guysborough County’s shared rural history, placed second in Excellence in Rural Reporting, an open competition for all members. Paige Seburn of The Lake Report in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., placed first, while Derek Kilbourn and Heather Menzies of the Gabriola Sounder finished third.
Bruce earned third place for Best National Editorial for “Straying out of the lane,” which used a Halifax bike-lane dispute to examine provincial power and local democratic governance. Connor Luczka of the Stratford Times placed first and Corey Larocque of Nunatsiaq News finished second.
“It’s particularly gratifying, and a terrific honour, for The Journal to receive two awards for general excellence in our circulation category,” Bruce said. “They recognize the newspaper’s growth and development, and its continuing commitment to local journalism and to the communities we serve. Just as importantly, those awards reflect the work of the entire news and design team. They show what a talented and devoted group of people can accomplish together.”
Publisher Allan Murphy agrees. “These awards recognize our commitment to putting journalism first,” he says. “We’ve assembled a very strong team of journalists to move The Journal forward and, as a result, we’re seeing significant growth in our paid readership.”
The Journal will be in a different circulation category for next year’s national community newspaper awards due to its recent growth. The paper’s paid circulation has increased more than 50 per cent since the start of 2026.
