Aura of Power takes top CAJ Awards prize

HALIFAX, June 6, 2015 /CNW/ - It was reporting that initiated a series of changes whose impacts are still resonating throughout Alberta.

The CBC Edmonton team of Jennie Russell and Charles Rusnell are the recipient of the 2014 Don McGillivray Award, given to the top investigative entry into the annual CAJ Awards program. Rusnell and Russell's entry dug deep into the fractious and freewheeling spending of former premier Alison Redford during her short term in office.

Down came Redford as the revelations led to significant pressure inside and outside cabinet for her ouster. Frustrated with both the excesses of her tenure and the inadequacy of her successor to clearly show there had been enough change in the premier's office, voters enacted their own at the ballot box.

The entry had been named the recipient in the Community Broadcast category earlier on Saturday, one of 14 categories awarded in the annual program. The winning entry in most categories received a $500 cash prize.

The recipients of all categories are listed below.

Please note that the media outlet listed is where the finalist worked at the time their entry was broadcast/published or where the particular entry was broadcast/published. Finalists are listed alphabetically by media outlet. Links, where available, have been provided in the titles of the finalists' entries.

The recipient in the OPEN MEDIA category is:

Jon Wells
Remorseless
The Hamilton Spectator

The recipient in the COMMUNITY MEDIA category is:

Hilary Beaumont
The always-on stalker
Freelancer / The Coast, Halifax, N.S.

The recipients in the OPEN BROADCAST FEATURE category are:

Ric Esther Bienstock, Felix Golubev, Simcha Jacobovici
Tales from the Organ Trade
Associated Producers Ltd. / Shaw Media

The recipients in the OPEN BROADCAST NEWS category are:

Kathy Tomlinson, Enza Uda, Robb Douglas
Foreign workers McJobs
CBC News – The National

The recipients in the COMMUNITY BROADCAST category are:

Charles Rusnell, Jennie Russell
Aura of Power
CBC News Edmonton

The recipient in the CAJ / MARKETWIRED DATA JOURNALISM AWARD is:

Teri Pecoskie
Keeping Score
The Hamilton Spectator

The recipients in the ONLINE MEDIA category are:

Umbreen Butt, Britney Dennison, Allison Griner, Emma Smith, Aurora Tejeida, Jimmy Thomson, Carlos Tello, Mike Wallberg, Leif Zapf-Gilje, Peter Klein, David Rummel, Kathryn Gretsinger, Daniel McKinney, Kim Frank, Chantelle Bellrichard, Travis North, Peter Herford, Yujuan Xie, Zhenzhen Zhang, Haiyan Wu, Xiaoqing Yang, Xiaohong Lin, Yonglin Yao, Yacong Luo
China's Generation Green
University of British Columbia International Reporting Program

The recipient in the PHOTOJOURNALISM category is:

John Lehman
Portfolio entry
The Globe and Mail

The recipients in the SCOOP category are:

Andrew MacIntosh, Félix Séguin
Nouvelles Révélations Troublantes sur le Policier Ripou Ian Davidson
Le Journal de Montreal / Agence QMI - Quebecor Media

The recipient in the DAILY EXCELLENCE category is:

Janis Mackey Frayer
They would bury the children last
CTV News

The recipient in the TEXT FEATURE category is:

Jesse McLean
A daughter's disappearing silhouette
Toronto Star

The recipient in the JHR / CAJ AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTING is:

Trina Roache
Outside the circle
APTN National News

The recipients in the CWA CANADA / CAJ AWARD FOR LABOUR REPORTING are:

Dave Seglins, Gord Westmacott, John Nicol, Heather Evans, Carla Turner, Jeremy MacDonald
Rail fatigue in Canada – A silent peril
CBC Radio One – The Current / CBC News

The recipients in the CAJ / CNW GROUP STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE are:

Danielle Semrau, Hannah Kost
The Vanishing Point
Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alta. / The Calgary Journal

Consistent with information in the entry package instructions, judges had the discretion to name between one and five finalists in each award category. There were a total 235 entries for the 2014 awards program.

Congratulations to all recipients. Your work has been outstanding – it caused change, embraced it and clearly demonstrates that Canadian journalists are successfully managing the change that is the constant in our industry.

The Canadian Association of Journalists is a professional organization with over 600 members across Canada. The CAJ's primary roles are public-interest advocacy work and professional development for its members.

SOURCE Canadian Association of Journalists

For further information: Hugo Rodrigues, CAJ president - 613-330-8396 cell, [e-mail]; www.caj.ca | www.facebook.com/CdnAssocJournalists | http://www.twitter.com/CAJ