Congratulations to the winners of the third annual Canadian Hillman Awards for excellence in journalism. The award ceremony was held in Toronto last night.
Stephen Maher (Postmedia News) and Glen McGregor (The Ottawa Citizen) won for their story unveiling voter suppression and the use of “robocalls” during the 2011 federal election.
The Edmonton Journal’s Elise Stolte was honoured for reporting on the high numbers of Aboriginal children who do not go to school in Alberta, and the Victoria Times Colonist’s Katie DeRosa was honoured for exposing how expensive and damaging Canada’s plans to jail refugees and asylum seekers can be.
Winners stressed how difficult it is to find the time and the approval to do investigative journalism as media organizations are constantly cutting back staff and the kinds of resources needed to pay for the required work. Thanks to all our members who attended the event and support our efforts to make quality journalism count.
Annual awards
The Hillman is an annual award and you can find information on how to apply for the Hillman Prize at http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/
A reminder also that the CWA Canada / CAJ Award for Excellence in Labour Reporting is handed out every year to recognize excellence in journalism and to keep the spotlight on stories about Canadian workers. The deadline for submitting your 2013 stories is January 31, 2014. (The 2012 winner will be announced at the CAJ conference in Ottawa in May). More at www.caj.ca