The B.C. and Yukon Community Newspaper Association announced finalists for the 2015 Ma Murray community newspaper competition Feb. 24 and the Vancouver Courier is a finalist in 10 categories.
- Photographer Rebecca Blissett is a finalist for the Portrait/Personality Photo Award. She earned the nod for her work on Sandra Thomas' Elvis feature, The men who would be king.
- Wanyee Li, a former Vancouver Courier intern and a student in UBC's Graduate School of Journalism, is a finalist in the Business Writing category for her piece Young tenants energize Chinatown.
- Longtime Courier reporter Mike Howell is a finalist in the Feature Writing Series category for his pieces published during Vancouver's 2014 civic election, including Big spenders explain donations to Vancouver civic parties, Rent now, pray later: City has mixed success in creating affordable housing, and a feature called City's restrictive media policy 'attempt to manipulate public knowledge.'
- Howell is also a finalist for the John Collison Memorial Award for Investigative Journalism for his story on the Marguerite Ford apartments: Social housing project generates 729 police calls in first 16 months.
- Courier reporter Andrew Fleming is a finalist in the Outdoor Recreation category for his piece Journey into darkness on Vancouver Island.
- Former Courier intern Jennifer Thuncher, who now works for the Squamish Chief, is a finalist in the Sports writing category for her story Paralympic athletes face risky boost in competition.
- Geoff Olson is a finalist for the Cartoonist Award for his civic election-related editorial cartoon This isn't how it looks.
- Art director Adrian Cunningham and Tara Lalanne, director of sales & marketing, are finalists in the newspaper promotion category for Digital Dentists.
- Courier editor Barry Link and his editorial team are finalists for the Online Innovation Award for their work on Vancouver Votes during the civic election.
- Tara Lalanne, director of sales & marketing, and Keshav Sharma, special projects manager, are finalists in the Special Publications category for 17 Getaways from Vancouver.
The winners will be announced at the Ma Murray Awards Gala at River Rock Casino Resort April 25.
