Police officers direct traffic under a cloud of smoke from a wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alta., on Friday, May 6, 2016. Jason Franson won a National Newspaper Award in the News Feature Photo category for this photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

TORONTO - The Globe and Mail won 11 of the 21 categories at the National Newspaper Awards on Friday, and the newspaper's Mark MacKinnon was named 2016 Journalist of the Year.

MacKinnon was chosen for his report on the Syrian teenagers who sparked the Syrian war, Britain's referendum on the European Union, the attempted coup in Turkey, and the period of instability that is gripping the world.

A release from the National Newspaper Awards said the judges found MacKinnon "weaved a narrative that details the interdependence of world events today - in Europe, the United States, Russia, Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world. They called the result "an incredible piece of writing that combines context with storytelling and dogged reporting."

The Toronto Star won two awards, and eight other news organizations — The Canadian Press, the Kingston Whig-Standard, the National Observer, the Winnipeg Free Press, La Presse, the Toronto Sun, the Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun, and Fort McMurray Today/Edmonton Journal/Edmonton Sun — won one each.

The Globe and Mail won in a variety of categories, including Beat Reporting, International, Investigations, Long Feature, and Editorial Cartooning.

The winners were announced at a gala dinner Friday in Toronto.

Here are the winners, as released by the National Newspaper Awards:

-Arts and Entertainment: Murray Whyte of the Toronto Star for coverage of indigenous artist Alex Janvier, curator Wanda Nanibush, and coverage of Canadian-made musical "Come From Away."

-Beat Reporting: Patrick White of the Globe and Mail for coverage of Canada's prisons.

-Breaking News: Fort McMurray Today/Edmonton Journal/Edmonton Sun for coverage of the Alberta wildfire and the evacuation of Fort McMurray.

-Business: Bruce Livesey of the National Observer for coverage of the Irving family dominance in New Brunswick.

-Columns: Melissa Martin of the Winnipeg Free Press for columns on Gord Downie, the right to die and a small-town Pride parade.

-Editorial Cartooning: Brian Gable, of the Globe and Mail.

-Editorials: Tony Keller of the Globe and Mail.

-Explanatory Work: Grant Robertson and Karen Howlett of the Globe and Mail for reporting on the deadly opioid crisis.

-Feature Photo: Leah Hennel of the Calgary Herald/Calgary Sun for a photo of a horseback rider out on the range.

-International: Mark MacKinnon of the Globe and Mail for reporting on Syria, Brexit and Turkey.

-Investigations: Kathy Tomlinson of the Globe and Mail for her exposé of unsavoury practices fuelling the Lower Mainland real estate boom in B.C.

-Local Reporting: Paul Schliesmann of the Kingston Whig-Standard for reporting on the plight of marginalized people and their shocking living standards.

-Long Feature: Christina Frangou of the Globe and Mail for a gut-wrenching and sometimes disturbing story of a young widow's life in the aftermath of her husband's death.

-News Feature Photo: Jason Franson of The Canadian Press for his photo of police directing traffic at the Fort McMurray wildfire.

-News Photo: Stan Behal of the Toronto Sun for a photo of a grieving father whose daughter was killed in an automobile accident.

-Politics: the Globe and Mail team for coverage of "cash for access" fundraisers that bring together Liberal politicians and those lobbying the government.

-Presentation: Christopher Manza of the Globe and Mail for crafting story designs specifically for digital platforms.

-Project of the Year: the Globe and Mail team for stories on soldiers and veterans who died by suicide after serving in Afghanistan.

-Short Feature: Hugo Pilon-Larose of La Presse for a story on the sexual abuse of a young boy by film director Claude Jutra.

-Sports: Marty Klinkenberg of the Globe and Mail for a profile of the first indigenous player in the NHL.

-Sports Photo: Lucas Oleniuk of the Toronto Star for a shot of personal triumph at the finish line of an Olympic track event.

All category winners received cheques for $1,000 and a certificate of award. Other finalists received citations of merit. The Journalist of the Year is awarded $2,500.

The National Newspaper Awards are open to daily newspapers, news agencies and online news sites approved for entry by the NNA Board of Governors. Seventy finalists were nominated in the 21 categories, selected from 959 entries published in 2016. Of 54 newspapers and online news sites to submit entries, 25 organizations had nominations in the 68th year of the awards.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2017