Ottawa, ON, June 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nominations for Amnesty International Canada’s 28th annual Media Awards are now open.
The Media Awards — which will be handed out in person for the first time since 2019 — celebrate excellence in human-rights storytelling by Canada-based journalists and Canadian journalists reporting abroad.
We invite reporters, editors, student journalists and media outlets across Canada to send in their best human-rights-focused work. Please review the categories below as you prepare your submissions.
To be eligible for consideration, entries must have been published or broadcast in Canada between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022.
Contributors may nominate more than one work or make submissions for more than one category. One may submit their own work or nominate a piece on the creator’s behalf (please get the person’s or group’s express and written permission before nominating them for an Amnesty International Canada Media Award).
Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 16, 2023.
A distinguished panel of judges will evaluate the submissions. Entries will be 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.
Amnesty International Canada will announce the winners in September. We will present the honours at our first in-person Media Awards ceremony in four years, to be held in Toronto in October. More details will be announced soon.
Categories for 2022-2023:
National Written News Story: A written story of approximately 3,500 words or less on a current or breaking news story relating to a human rights issue.
Local/Alternative Media Story: A written story of approximately 3,500 or less on a current or breaking news story relating to a human rights issue. (Usually, alternative publications or outlets have a mandate to highlight stories and perspectives that are overlooked or underrepresented in the mainstream press.)
Mixed Media: A web or social media-based story that features at least three of the following elements: text, photography, video, audio, animation, data visualization. The text of the story should be no longer than 3,500 words.
Short-Form Video: A filmed news story of no longer than 10 minutes relating to a human rights issue.
Long-Form Video: A filmed documentary or current affairs segment with a runtime of more than 10 minutes relating to a human rights issue. The total runtime should not exceed 80 minutes.
Long-Form Radio: A radio documentary or current affairs program with a maximum runtime of approximately 80 minutes highlighting a human rights issue.
Long-Form Podcast: A podcast episode with a maximum runtime of approximately 80 minutes highlighting a human rights issue.
Post-Secondary Youth Award: A text, audio, video or mixed media story about a human rights issue created by a student attending a post-secondary school in Canada. The piece must have been published or broadcast by a media outlet associated with a post-secondary institution.
Entries must be submitted at www.amnesty.ca/media-awards using the electronic form, making sure all the required fields are filled out. Please ensure you have URLs for your media work and to give permission for your work to be reviewed by the judges and highlighted in Amnesty’s communications
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
