The Vancouver Province and the Calgary Herald have been awarded first place in the CPU's Words & Images competition for their joint investigation of abandoned brides in India.
The CPU/Rolls Royce Words & Images Award honours the complementary crafts of writing and photojournalism in a single prize.
"It is very gratifying to see that this strong example of advocacy journalism is receiving international recognition," said Province acting editor Ros Guggi. "Our team put a tremendous effort into this series, and we are very proud of it."
The project, Abandoned Brides: Canada's Shame, India's Sorrow, was a joint public-service investigation by the two Canwest newspapers about Indian-born brides being duped of their dowries by Canadians.
The series ran over five days in October 2005 and triggered international debate and a religious decree in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar. It also sparked community and government action in India and Canada.
Province deputy editor Fabian Dawson led the team, which was made up of Province feature writer Mike Roberts, Calgary Herald columnist Valerie Fortney and photographer Ted Rhodes. The Province package was edited by Alan Ferguson and designed by Nick Murphy.
"We have many people to thank who helped us with the series -- none more than the brave women in India who stepped forward to tell us their stories," said Dawson.
In July, the series won the Daniel Pearl Award for 2005's outstanding story about South Asia, or South Asians in North America, beating entries from the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times and Business Week.
The series has also received citations of merit from the National Newspaper Awards, the Canadian Association of Journalists and the Society of Newspaper Design.
The award carries a cash prize of £750. All prize money has been donated by the team to a legal-aid clinic set up in India to help abandoned brides.
