2022/2023 MEDIA AWARD WINNERS
Amnesty International Canada is thrilled to announce the winners of its 28th annual Media Awards, a celebration of the best human rights reporting by Canada-based journalists and Canadian journalists working abroad.
Among the winners are richly reported, expertly told stories digging into the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s struggle to defend its rights and territory, the heartrending plight of a Hazara Afghani family dreaming of freedom and safety in Canada, and the bewildering disappearance and death, and growing legacy, of human rights defender Karima Baloch.
Every year we invite reporters, editors, student journalists and media outlets across Canada to send their best human-rights-focused work.
Amnesty International Canada will hand out the honours on Thursday, October 19 in Toronto at the organisation’s first in-person Media Awards ceremony since 2019.
Local/Alternative Media
“The last of the untamed: Wedzin Kwa and the Wet’suwet’en fight to save her,” Brandi Morin, with photographs by Amber Bracken, Ricochet.
Long-Form Audio
Ep. 1, “The death of an icon,” The Kill List, Mary Lynk, Ilina Ghosh, and the team at CBC Podcasts.
Mixed Media
“The complicated truth about pipelines crossing Wet’suwet’en territory,” Matt Simmons, with maps by Shawn Parkinson, The Narwhal.
National Written News
“Children of former guard at Canadian embassy in Kabul attacked in Pakistan as family waits for help from Ottawa,” Janice Dickson, The Globe and Mail.
Post-Secondary Youth
“Transforming Indigenous healthcare, one person at a time,” Anne Fu, The Queen’s Journal.
Short-Form Video
“You can say ‘Hockey is for everyone.’ Or you can join the fight to ensure that’s true,” Donnovan Bennett, with cinematography by David Zelikovitz, Sportsnet.
MEDIA AWARDS JUDGES
Our distinguished panel of judges evaluates the submissions. Entries are assessed on the quality and depth of the reporting and storytelling, how they centre the voices and agency of the people and communities at the heart of the issue, and how they present possible solutions.
MEDIA AWARD CATEGORIES
Our judges consider the following award categories.
*Alternative publications often have mandates to highlight stories and perspectives that are overlooked or underrepresented in the mainstream press.
2021-2022 AWARD WINNERS
- Local/Alternative Media: “Indigenous women still live in fear 50 years after murder of Helen Betty Osborne,” Shari Narine, Windspeaker.com
- Long-Form Podcast: Season Two of CBC Podcasts’s The Village, Justin Ling, Jennifer Fowler, Julia Wittmann, Eunice Kim, Arif Noorani, Chris Oke, Cesil Fernandes, Fabiola Melendez Carletti, Alex V Green, and Faith Fundal
- Long–Form Radio: “Reconciliation reality check with Murray Sinclair,” Rosanna Deerchild, Kim Kaschor, and Erin Noel, CBC Radio’s Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild
- Long-Form Video: “Food Shock: Undercover inside the global tomato trade,” Eric Szeto, Caitlin Taylor, Asha Tomlinson, Matteo Civillini, Zorayda Gallegos Valle, and Winston Szeto, CBC TV’s Marketplace
- Mixed Media: “Toxic legacy: The fight to end environmental racism in Canada,” Megan O’Toole and Jillian Kestler-D’Amours, Al Jazeera
- National Written News: “Houses of Hate: How Canada’s prison system is broken,” Justin Ling, Maclean’s
- Short-Form Video: “Trudeau government backpedals on investigating human rights complaints against mining companies,” Jasmine Pazzano, Global News
- Post-Secondary Youth: “UBC says it’s divesting its endowment from fossil fuels by 2030. Will it be enough?” Matthew Asuncion, The Ubyssey
For more information about the Amnesty Media Awards, please contact Cory Ruf, Media Officer, Amnesty International Canadian Section (English-Speaking), 416-363-9933 x 344, mediaawards@amnesty.ca.
