CREDIT: ONTARIO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION
Interrobang has won second place for general excellence (college/university paper), first place for best college/university website, and former reporter Amy Simon won second place for student writing at the Better Newspapers Competition.

On April 14, Interrobang won three awards at the 2022 Better Newspapers Competition (BNC) of the Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA). The awards won were second place for general excellence (college/university paper), first place for best college/university newspaper, and second place for best student news writing for former Interrobang Reporter Amy Simon.

This marks the fourth year in a row Interrobang has placed in the top three for general excellence, and the second year in a row it has won first for best website. Award criteria included the front page, news, sports sections, opinion/culture, presentation, and advertising. Best website was based on content, presentation, social media outreach, and ease of navigation.

The OCNA stated that Interrobang won best website for showcasing “what’s possible in merging multimedia and social platforms for a full experience, capable of reaching a wide variety of users.”


“The Interrobang’s design is clean, with a minimalist look,” said Judge Megan Walchuk in the BNC Awards Booklet. “It engages with its readers, with contests and calls for submissions…It uses students, faculty, and alumni for sources for stories, and each story comes with a writer bio, giving the reader a personal connection to the site.”

Interrobang’s multimedia presence was also praised, specifically its podcast, video and online articles, and use of social media.

For general excellence, Judge Ted McFadden praised Interrobang’s local content, calling it “pages and pages of good stories that impact the student population.” The opinion section and advertising content of the paper was highlighted as well.

Finally, for the student writing award, the criteria included use of language, research, sources, and good use of data. Former Interrobang Reporter Amy Simon wrote a piece on two Fanshawe alumni who were honoured by the City of London after rescuing three women from a house fire. Judge Steve Warburton praised Simon’s use of detail and human drama in the story.

Interrobang thanks its team of creative designers and web developers who helped keep its website running for our second first place win. In addition, thank you to every writer, reporter, illustrator, graphic designer, videographer, and podcaster who contributed to Interrobang for its fourth general excellence win. Finally, a big congratulations to Amy Simon for her second-place win for student news writing.