Everyone loves a storyteller, and we at the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) are no different. So each year’s Northern Lights awards luncheon, part of Canada Media Marketplace, is greeted with great anticipation. The Northern Lights Awards pay tribute to media peeps who have given Canada an extra shine on its buttons either in words, images or video.

Canada Media Marketplace celebrated its 25^th birthday in San Francisco April 2-4 at The Fairmont San Francisco. This year’s keynote speaker at the lunch was Valerie Fortney, columnist at The Calgary Herald. There was also a musical performance by Wil, whose song “Ride” was picked as the TV theme song for the Calgary Stampede centennial.

The Northern Lights Awards for excellence in travel journalism is a popular part of CTC’s US media relations work. The Missouri School of Journalism and Associate Professor John Fennell had the tricky job of sifting through dozens of entries and making the final judgment calls on the online/print submissions, while CTV judged the broadcast and JMB Post Production judged the online video.

Without further ado: the winners:

Photography
Winner: Lester Picker, The Baltimore Sun
"Yukon Gold"

2) Bhaskar Krishnamurthy, India Magazine
“The Polar Effect”

Print
Winner: Drew Pogge, Backcountry
“Stone Cold”

2) Leslie Anthony, Canadian Geographic
“Snake River”

Online
Winner: David McGimpsey, enRoute
“North by Northwest Territories”

2) Joe Pappalardo, American Way
“The Enduring Island”

Broadcast
Winner:  Anthony Bourdain: The Layover: Montréal
Produced by Zero Point Zero Production Inc, aired on Travel Channel

2) Travelscope: the Acadian Festival, New Brunswick
Written, directed and hosted by Joseph Rosendo

Online video
Silk Road Tea Company Victoria
John Lee, Westworldmagazine

2) Ice Gold in Ontario
Steve Dolinsky, SteveDolinsky.com

Keep an eye on CTC News for a full report later this month from Canada Media Marketplace 2012.