Winners of the 2021 Webster Awards - plus, two new awards to debut in 2022 announced
VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - The winners in the 16 categories for the 2021 Webster Awards, Western Canada's preeminent journalism awards, were announced today during the Online Webster Awards show which can be viewed, for those who missed it, at https://www.ohboy.ca/websterawards2021. The awards recognize excellence in journalism in B.C. and all winners' submissions, plus the finalists', can be read/watched/listened to at https://jackwebster.com/2021-webster-awards-winners/.
Submissions were encouraged from print, radio/podcasts, television and online media sources that cover news, sports, the arts, business, community issues, and more.
2021 Webster Awards Winners
Best Feature/Enterprise Reporting – TV/Video
-Allison Hurst, Ben Miljure, David Molko, Bhinder Sajan, Nafeesa Karim, Mary Cranston, Maria Weisgarber, Alissa Thibault, Scott Hurst, Melanie Nagy, Gary Barndt, Jim Fong, Michelle Scott, Sabrina Gans, CTV News Vancouver for Unmarked Graves: Canada's Reckoning
Best Feature/Enterprise Reporting – Radio/Podcast
-Laura Palmer, Rogers Frequency Network for Gone Boys: Island Crime Season 2
Best Feature/Enterprise Reporting – Print/Online
-Kathy Tomlinson, The Globe and Mail for WCB's Opioid Addiction
Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Reporting
-Christopher Cheung, The Tyee for Left behind in a pandemic
Excellence in Business, Industry, Labour & Economics Reporting
Endowed by Jean Cormier
-Andrew MacLeod, The Tyee for The Corporate Push into B.C.'s Primary Care System: A Tyee Series
Excellence in Legal Journalism
Sponsored by the Law Society of British Columbia
-Dan Fumano, The Vancouver Sun for The Police and City Hall
Excellence in Technology Reporting
-Bryan Carney, The Tyee for You Have Zero Privacy Says an Internal RCMP Presentation. Inside the Force's Web Spying Program
Excellence in Health Reporting
-Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun & Province for Overdoses, B.C.'s original health crisis, worsen during COVID pandemic
Excellence in Environment Reporting
-Russ Francis, Focus Magazine for Fossil fuels and the coronavirus
Best Reporting in a Language other than English
-Francis Plourde, Radio-Canada for Out of province travels in Whistler during the pandemic
Best Community Reporting
-Jessica Wallace, Kamloops This Week for Spending spree at the Thompson-Nicola Regional District?
Excellence in Multimedia Journalism
-Serena Renner, UBC Journalism for Revive
Commentator of the Year – City Mike Award
Presented in memory of Linda Webster
-Les Leyne, Victoria Times Colonist
Best Breaking News Reporting– TV
Presented in memory of Keith Bradbury
-Paul Johnson, Jim Helgason, Catherine Urquhart, Alex Sumner, Darren Twiss, Global BC for Unmarked Graves Discovery
Best Breaking News Reporting– Radio
-Yvette Brend, Drew Kerekes, CBC News Vancouver for Pier Park Fire
Best Breaking News Reporting– Print/Online
-Chelsea Powrie, Casey Richardson, Colin Dacre, Nich Johansen, Rob Gibson, Jon Manchester, Wayne Moore, Sarita Patel, Laura Brookes, Castanet News for Christie Mountain Wildfire grows, destroys home
Also, during the awards broadcast two new awards that will debut in 2022 were announced.
The Shelley Fralic Award will honour the legacy of the award's namesake, a trustee of the Jack Webster Foundation, a journalist, and a champion of the media. She was a mentor to young journalists, and a newsroom leader whose commitment to social justice for the most vulnerable has made a difference to the lives of many impoverished children. The award will celebrate a B.C. journalist, who identifies as a woman, and exemplifies Shelley's legacy as a journalist concerned with making her community a better place. In choosing the recipient of the Fralic Award, judges will consider the impact the nominee has, both through their commitment to journalism, and their commitment to their communities. A call for nominations for the award will be announced in the spring of 2022 with more details to be found on the Foundation's website at https://jackwebster.com/shelley-fralic-award/.
The second new award to debut in 2022 was announced during the 2021 Webster Awards by the Honourable Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. This award, called the Lieutenant Governor's B.C. Journalism Fellowship, has been made possible with the support of the Government House Foundation and in partnership with the Jack Webster Foundation. The Lieutenant Governor's B.C. Journalism Fellowship will provide funding to journalists so they can invest the time and other resources in producing in-depth coverage to better inform the citizens of British Columbia. Each year, for three years, journalists from various stages of their careers (emerging, returning or experienced) will receive a monetary award to spend up to 4 months to research, produce and publish their project supported by a committed publishing partner. Applications will start to be accepted in January of 2022 for this fellowship with more details to be found at https://jackwebster.com/lieutenant-governors-bc-journalism-fellowship/.
Also during the 2021 Webster Awards broadcast, the 2021 Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Shushma Datt and the 2021 Bill Good Award was presented to The Tyee. The broadcast was hosted by Chris Gailus, and Sophie Lui, both anchors with Global BC.
This year's Webster Awards are made possible by Presenting Sponsors: BCGEU, FortisBC, Global Container Terminals Inc., Google, LNG Canada, Port of Vancouver; Supporting Sponsors: BCIT, Langara, Jim Pattison Group, UDI and West Coast Reduction. Webster Award partners are Oh Boy Productions, Glacier Media, and the Vancouver Sun and Province. Cision is the exclusive distribution partner of the Jack Webster Foundation.
The Jack Webster Foundation was established in 1986, upon the retirement of its namesake, who was Western Canada's best-known and most influential reporter, in order to foster and celebrate excellence in journalism, protect the public interest for British Columbian's, and create a community where trusted outstanding journalism thrives.
SOURCE Jack Webster Foundation
Janet Mitchell, Executive Director, Jack Webster Foundation, T 604-603-4218, E [email protected] W www.jackwebster.com
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