The Globe and Mail leads the pack of finalists with 13 nominations in the running for the 2008 National Newspaper Awards, to be announced May 22 in Montreal.

The Toronto Star has 10 nominations, followed by Montreal's La Presse with eight. The Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald and Hamilton Spectator each collected four. The Canadian Press earned three nominations and the London Free Press, Montreal Gazette and Winnipeg Free Press had two each.

The Barrie Examiner, Brantford Expositor, Edmonton Journal, Lethbridge Herald, North Bay Nugget, Prince George Citizen, Reuters, New Brunswick (Saint John) Telegraph-Journal, Simcoe Reformer, Toronto Sun, Vancouver Sun, Victoria Times-Colonist, Record of Waterloo Region and Windsor Star have one each.

The 66 finalists in the 22 categories were announced Thursday from the National Newspaper Awards office in Toronto. There were 1,385 entries in this year's competition for work that appeared in 2008, resulting in 66 finalists in 21 categories.

In all, 24 news organizations have been nominated. Winners will receive $1,000 and a certificate of award. Runners-up receive citations of merit.

This year's nominees are:

Multimedia Feature: The Globe and Mail for its Talking to the Taliban multimedia project; La Presse in Montreal for a podcast of Saint-Laurent Boulevard that featured a self-guided tour and galleries of music, pictures and text; the Ottawa Citizen for marking the 70th anniversary of Superman's debut with a multi-media presentation.

News Feature Photography: Bernard Brault of La Presse in Montreal for a snowstorm photo; Lucas Oleniuk of the Toronto Star for a photo of a young female at a refugee camp in Kenya during morning prayers; Chris Wattie of Reuters for a photo of former Liberal leader Stephane Dion staring at Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Beat Reporting: Michelle Lang, Calgary Herald, for health and medicine coverage; Rob Shaw, Victoria Times-Colonist, for reporting on policing issues; Jane Sims, London Free Press, for justice coverage.

Explanatory Work: Carolyn Abraham, the Globe and Mail, on diagnosing bipolar disorder in children; Martin Mittlestaedt, the Globe and Mail, for a scientific look at the Vitamin D phenomenon; and Catherine Porter, Toronto Star, on how we're defacing coal country to keep electricity flowing.

Politics: Linda Diebel, Toronto Star, for political insider stories, including power politics; Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press, for stories about the listeriosis crisis; and Jeffrey Simpson, Brian Laghi, the Globe and Mail, for a study of Harper.

Short Features: Fabienne Couturier, La Presse, Montreal, for an intimate feature on the sights and sounds of a street in Bruges, Belgium; Linda Gyulai, the Montreal Gazette, for an amusing story on road cones; and Kenneth Kidd, Toronto Star, for a story on a magical Toronto park.

Local Reporting: Gordon Hoekstra, Prince George Citizen, for stories about the state of the forest industry in B.C.; North Bay Nugget team for coverage of an e-coli outbreak at a local hamburger fast food outlet; Monte Sonnenberg, Simcoe Reformer, for stories about the Ontario government's home owner employee relocation plan that led to changes.

Presentation: Julien Chung, La Presse, Montreal; France Dupont, La Presse, Montreal; Catherine Farley, Sharis Shahmiryan, Toronto Star.

Special Project: The Globe and Mail for a series about mental health issues in Canada; the Hamilton Spectator for following a pig from birth to a meal to illustrate agriculture, economic and environmental problems facing farmers; Toronto Star for the financial and social costs associated with tougher penalties on crime.

Sports Photography: Tony Bock, Toronto Star, for a photo of a Canadian women's soccer player giving the one-finger salute to a Brazilian opponent in a friendly soccer match; J.T. McVeigh, the Barrie Examiner, for an amusing shot of a defender holding on to an opponent's undergear in a high school football game; Derek Ruttan, London Free Press, for a close-up shot of a high school football player fumbling the ball.

Business: Sophie Cousineau, La Presse, Montreal, for a story about how residents in an isolated Quebec community are dealing with layoffs in the forest industry; Sinclair Stewart, Paul Waldie, the Globe and Mail, for an analysis of the causes and consequences of the sub-prime mortgage crisis; and the Record of Waterloo Region for a probe into a pyramid scheme that involved raising pigeons for profit.

Columns: Christopher Hume, Toronto Star; Eric Reguly, the Globe and Mail; Doug Speirs, Winnipeg Free Press.

Investigations: Sue Bailey and Jim Bronskill of The Canadian Press for an investigation, with the CBC, into the increasing use of Taser guns by police forces; David Bruser, Moira Welsh and Andrew Bailey of the Toronto Star for a probe into workplace safety and the role of the WCB; David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen, for insight into a helicopter crash that killed three and injured four others.

Arts and Entertainment: Marty Klinkenberg, New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, for profiles on two of Canada's last living war artists, the Fredericton-based Bruno Bobak and Molly Lamb Bobak; Jennifer Wells, the Globe and Mail, for a portrait of the head of CBC's English radio and TV services; and Elizabeth Withey, Edmonton Journal, for stories of three Canadian artists, two in music and one author.

Sports: Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette for a critical feature on former Canadiens' goaltender Patrick Roy who had his number retired; Steve Milton of the Hamilton Spectator for story on the near-fatal hockey incident when Florida Panthers' Richard Zednik's throat was slashed by a skate blade; and Randy Turner, Winnipeg Free Press, for a study of the premature deaths and long-term injuries of professional football players.

Feature Photography: John Lehmann, the Globe and Mail, for a photo of naked members of a skinnydipping club bowling; Ian Martens, Lethbridge Herald, for a shot of a full moon as a backdrop for a wedding photograph being taken by another photographer; Steve Russell, Toronto Star, for a photo of the reflection caused by balloons after a rainstorm during Toronto's Luminato Festival.

International Reporting: Stephanie Nolen, the Globe and Mail, for coverage of Kenya's disputed elections; Michele Ouimet, La Presse, Montreal, for stories from the dangerous Peshawar region of Pakistan; Graeme Smith, the Globe and Mail, for investigations, while embedded, from Afghanistan, including the Taliban's growing grip on Kabul.

Editorials: Andre Pratte, La Presse, Montreal; Phil Tank, Brantford Expositor; John Geiger, Adam Radwanski, Edward Greenspon, the Globe and Mail.

Editorial Cartooning: Cameron Cardow, Ottawa Citizen; Brian Gable, the Globe and Mail; John B. Larter, Calgary Herald.

Long Features: Andrew Duffy, Ottawa Citizen, for a story of a sad one-sided love affair between a disabled man and a female swindler; Denise Ryan, Vancouver Sun, for the tale of a First Nations treasure that finds its way home; Jon Wells, the Hamilton Spectator, for a unique account of the rich life and tragic death of a good man.

News Photography: Dave Abel, the Toronto Sun, for a photo of a takedown of a young bank robber by an off-duty officer; Dan Janisse, Windsor Star, for a photo of firefighters cutting the roof off a car to rescue a man and woman trapped in the car; Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald, for a photo of a distraught woman who has just learned her son was the victim of a murder.

Breaking News: Calgary Herald's team coverage of the Lall family murders; Hamilton Spectator's team for coverage of the C-difficile outbreaks in Ontario; Chris Morris of the Canadian Press for stories on a New Brunswick minibus crash that killed seven high school basketball players.

This is the 20th year for the NNAs under a board of governors that includes editors, publishers and the public from across Canada as well as representatives from the Toronto Press Club. Prior to 1989, the NNAs had been sponsored by the Toronto Press Club. The awards are administered from the National Newspaper Awards office at the Canadian Newspaper Association in Toronto.

The National Newspaper Awards were founded by The Toronto Press Club in 1949.