1949 -fireman holding child. National Newspaper award winner. Photo credit: Jack DeLorme, Calgary Herald

With a promissory note in 1948 from Toronto publisher George McCullagh that guaranteed financial support for five years, The Toronto Men’s Press Club established the National Newspaper Awards for excellence in both journalism and photojournalism.

Jack DeLorme was the first winner of an NNA for photography, winning the $400 prize money for Spot News in 1949 and in another first, John Lehmann won the first News Feature NNA in 2007, the first year of the category.

Fifty-nine years after DeLorme won his NNA, the awards are administered by an independent Board of Governors, the prize has grown five-fold and the NNA is the highest award of its kind in Canada. There are now four awards for excellence in photography including one for Spot News, News Feature, Sports and Feature.