Western Wheel receives five awards at the 2025 Canadian Community Newsmedia Awards, including Best All-Round Newspaper.

For the second straight year, the Western Wheel has been named the top newspaper in Canada in its circulation class.

The 2025 Canadian Community Newsmedia Awards included more than 1,000 entries in 30 unique categories recognizing outstanding editorial, photography, multimedia and overall excellence in community newsmedia publishing from 2024.

In the General Excellence category, the Wheel was first in Best All-Round Newspaper, second in Best Editorial Page and third in Best Front Page. It was the only newspaper to earn placings in all three categories.

Wheel cartoonist Phil Irwin finished in second place for Best Local Cartoon for ‘Bad Gas,’ which offered a humourous take on how, amid all the agricultural smells, radon, an odourless gas, is the most concerning.

Former reporter/photographer Amir Said received a third place award for Best Sports Photo for his image of a cowboy getting thrown from his mount at the Longview Memorial Ranch Scramble & Ranch Broncs.