And the Nominees Are…

The National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) is proud to present the nominees for the 7th annual Digital Publishing Awards. Our roster of 80 judges generously volunteered their time and expertise to evaluate hundreds of entries to help us recognize excellence in the content and creation of Canadian digital media. From the judges’ deliberations, more than 160 impressive finalists have emerged. Join us in congratulating all of this year’s nominees!

Top Nominees

Leading with an impressive 23 nominations is Radio-Canada, followed by The Globe and Mail with 14 nominations, and Toronto Star and The Local, both with nine nominations. Other top nominees include Le Devoir and The Tyee with seven nominations each, and The Walrus and Hakai Magazine with five nominations each.

Nomination Highlights


Categories / Catégories


Best Digital Editorial Package / Meilleur dossier thématique

Dossier Eat, Love, Experiment
BESIDE
Contributors: Linda Besner, journalist; Kari Medig, photographer; Aaron Wynia, photographer; Catherine Métayer, editor-in-chief; Mark Mann, associate editor-in-chief; Catherine Fortin, project manager; Eliane Cadieux, chief creative officer & co-founder; Gabrielle Deronde, graphic designer; Mélody Beaudin, social media manager

Black on the Prairies
CBC
Contributors: Omayra Issa, producer; Ify Chiwetelu, producer; Melissa Fundira, associate producer; Andrew McManus, digital designer; Dwight Friesen, digital developer; CBC Interactives Team

Couverture de la COVID-19
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Naël Shiab, journaliste de données; Daniel Blanchette Pelletier, journaliste; Charlie Debons-Ricard, designer; Francis Lamontagne, designer; Santiago Salcido, designer; Melanie Julien, chef de pupitre; André Guimaraes, développeur; Mathieu St-Laurent, développeur; Martine Roy, coordonnatrice; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef

Power Gap
The Globe and Mail
Contributors: Globe and Mail team

L6P
The Globe and Mail
Contributors: Globe and Mail team

The Big Melt
The Tyee
Contributors: Christopher Pollon, reporter; David Beers, editor; Andrew Munroe, design and development; David Marino, art and development

The Last Orca
Toronto Star
Contributors: Jenna Moon, reporter; Sarmishta Subramanian, editor; Priya Ramanujam, editor; McKenna Deighton and Andres Plana, design and web development; Tania Pereira, digital producer; Cameron Tulk, graphics editor

Hidden Influence: Several of Doug Ford’s key pandemic decisions were swayed by business interests, Star analysis suggests
Toronto Star
Contributors: Richard Warnica, reporter; Andrew Bailey, data analyst; Duncan Hood, editor; Andres Plana, graphics; Cameron Tulk, illustrations and graphics editor

BREAKING THE SILENCE: Dancers accuse some of Break the Floor’s famous choreographers of sexual harassment and grooming
Toronto Star
Contributors: Morgan Bocknek, reporter; David Bruser, editor; McKenna Deighton, design; Tania Pereira, digital producer; Cameron Tulk, graphics editor.

Kids’ Graves Exposed the Horror of Canada’s Residential Schools. Outrage Isn’t Enough.
VICE World News
Contributors: Anya Zoledziowski, reporter; Natasha Grzincic, editor; Dan Ming, host; Amanda Pisetzner, producer


Best Column / Meilleure chronique

Max Fawcett
Canada’s National Observer
Max Fawcett

Sandy Garossino
Canada’s National Observer
Sandy Garossino

Queeries
CBC Arts
Peter Knegt
Contributor: Eleanor Knowles, editor

British Columbia’s pandemic response
CBC British Columbia
Justin McElroy

Paul Wells
Maclean’s
Paul Wells

Éditorial
Québec Science
Marie Lambert-Chan
Collaborateurs : Mélissa Guillemette, journaliste-réviseure ; Marine Corniou, journaliste-réviseure ; Sophie Cazanave, réviseure-correctrice

What’s Good
Refinery29 Canada
Kathleen Newman-Bremang
Contributor: Yaz Butcher, Art Director

Tanya Talaga
The Globe and Mail
Tanya Talaga

The Listener
The Sprawl
Sam Hester

Protest and Pleasure
Xtra Magazine
Chanelle Gallant
Contributors: Rachel Giese, editor; Gordon Bowness, editor; Allison Baker, copy editor and fact-checker; Paterson Hodgson, illustrator


Best News Coverage (Community Publication) / Meilleur couverture de l’actualité (publication communautaire)

Videos capture tornado, emotional return to damaged home
BarrieToday.com
Contributors: Bob Bruton, reporter, Shawn Gibson, reporter, Nikki Cole, reporter, Marg. Bruineman, reporter, Raymond Bowe, community editor

After the Fire
IndigiNews
Contributors: Kelsie Kilawna, Athena Bonneau

Coverage of Housing and Homelessness in Peterborough
Peterborough Currents
Contributors: Ayesha Barmania, Will Pearson, Brett Throop

Coverage of the Opioid Crisis in Peterborough
Peterborough Currents
Contributors: Ayesha Barmania, Will Pearson, Brett Throop

Gambling with Nova Scotia’s future
The Coast
Contributors: Rob Csernyik, writer; Christine Oreskovich, design

Vaccinating Toronto
The Local
Contributors: Tai Huynh, Different Schools, Different Risks; Nicholas Hune-Brown, The Vaccine Rollout is Leaving Toronto’s Hardest-Hit Postal Codes Behind; Tai Huynh, Hot Spot Tracker; Yader Guzman, Nicholas Hune-Brown, Bringing the Vaccine to Where it’s Needed; Fatima Syed, “You Can’t Stop the Spread of the Virus if You Don’t Stop it in Peel”

The Municipal Election Edition
The Sprawl
Contributors: Jeremy Appel, Anmarie Bailey, Ximena González, Joel Hart, Sam Hester, Hamdi Issawi, Doug Johnson, Jeremy Klaszus, Taylor Lambert, Miranda Martini, Chris Pecora

Sexual violence at Western University
The Western Gazette
Contributors: Hope Mahood, Lucas Arender, Liam Afonso, Ashley Goveas, Rebekah Rodrigues, Sheetal Vemannagari, Liam McInnis, Kirat Walia, Sarah Wallace, Aaron Greenspan

La pédagogie en plein air en plein essor
100°
Collaborateurs : Marianne Boire, rédactrice en chef; François Grenier, journaliste; Françoise Ruby, journaliste; Marie-Josée Cardinal, journaliste


Best News Coverage / Meilleur couverture de l’actualité

BC Flooding — local and national team coverage
CBC British Columbia and CBC News
Contributors: CBC News Digital team

Inside Ontario’s deadliest COVID-19 LTC outbreak and a broken inspection system
Global News
Contributors: Carolyn Jarvis , Andrew Russell, Emanuela Campanella, Jigar Patel

Les élections fédérales 2021
Le Devoir
Collaborateurs : Guillaume Levasseur, journaliste multimédia; Cédric Gagnon, motion designer; Matt Joycey, journaliste vidéaste; Jasmine Legendre, journaliste vidéo; Sandrine Vieira, journaliste de données; Boris Proulx, correspondant parlementaire; Olivia Gélinas, développeuse en visualisation de données

Élections fédérales 2021
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Naël Shiab, journaliste de données; Daniel Blanchette Pelletier, journaliste; Melanie Meloche-Holubovski, journaliste; Charlie Debons-Ricard, designer; Francis Lamontagne, designer; Santiago Salcido, designer; Melanie Julien, chef de pupitre; André Guimaraes, développeur; Mathieu St-Laurent, développeur; Martine Roy, coordonnatrice; Danielle Jazzar, réviseure linguistique; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; Valérie Ouellet, journaliste de données CBC; Sylvène Gilchrist, réalisatrice CBC

Escape from Afghanistan
The Globe and Mail
Contributors: Mark MacKinnon and The Globe and Mail team

Hidden Influence: Several of Doug Ford’s key pandemic decisions were swayed by business interests, Star analysis suggests
Toronto Star
Contributors: Richard Warnica, reporter; Andrew Bailey, data analyst; Duncan Hood, editor; Andres Plana, graphics; Cameron Tulk, illustrations and graphics editor

The untold story of gun violence in Toronto’s hardest hit communities
Toronto Star
Contributors: Gilbert Ngabo, reporter; Andres Plana, digital designer; Ed Tubb, assigning editor; Doug Cudmore, senior editor


Best Feature Article / Meilleur article de fond

Black History Month: The Self-Education Of Bee Quammie
Chatelaine
Bee Quammie
Contributor: Nashid Chroma, Artist

The Ingenious Ancient Technology Concealed in the Shallows
Hakai Magazine
Brian Payton
Contributor: Jude Isabella, editor

Where Now Grizzly Bear?
Hakai Magazine
Brian Payton
Contributor: Jude Isabella, editor

Le biologiste qui a renversé Hydro-Québec
Radio-Canada Empreintes
Guillaume Piedboeuf
Collaborateurs : Olivia Laperrière-Roy, photographe; Justine de l’Église, éditrice; Kathleen Lavoie, éditrice; Martin Labbé, graphiste; Mykael Adam, programmeur; Christine Beaudet, cheffe de projet

How the Laws Make Sex Work Less Safe
The Local
Samantha Edwards

The Labour of Immigrant Women
The Local
Fatima Syed

When Chinese in Canada Were Numbered, Interrogated, Excluded
The Tyee
Christopher Cheung
Contributor: Robyn Smith, editor

Cases of missing trans people are rarely solved. A married pair of forensic genealogists is hoping to change that
Xtra Magazine
Erica Lenti
Contributors: Michael Harris, editor; Gordon Bowness, executive editor; Rachel Giese, editorial director; Allyson Baker; copy editor


Best Feature Article (Short) / Meilleur article court

There’s Room For Everyone In The Church Of Brandi Carlile
BuzzFeed News
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Contributor: Tomi Obaro, Editor

The long wait
CBC Hamilton
Bobby Hristova
Contributors: Eva Salinas, executive producer; Conrad Collaco, producer; Marlene Habib, editor; Steven Silcox, news graphics

A family divided: When parents, kids disagree on COVID-19 vaccines
Global News
Jasmine Pazzano
Contributor: Craig Offman, Managing Editor, Investigations and Enterprise

Freeing Oysters from a Parasite’s Hold
Hakai Magazine
Karen Pinchin
Contributor: Shanna Baker, editor

Saying Goodbye on Facetime
Healthy Debate
Max Binks-Collier
Contributors: Jack Romanelli, editor; Mark Kirkpatrick, illustrator

Getting Vaccinated in the Holy Month
The Local
Furqan Mohamed

The Last 25 Percent
The Local
Danielle Groen


Best Feature Article (Long) / Meilleur article de fond — long

Jason Isbell Is Tired Of Country’s Love Affair With White Nostalgia
BuzzFeed News
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Contributor: Tomi Obaro, editor

« C’est notre seule arme » Ils ont braqué leur caméra sur les abus policiers
Radio-Canada
Justine de L’Église, Mélanie Holubowski
Collaborateurs : Bernard Leduc, pupitre; Martin Labbé, designer; Mykael Adam, développeur

Pour l’amour du père et de la terre
Radio-Canada
Ariane Labrèche

Sombrer en amour
Radio-Canada
Marie-Maude Denis, Michael Deetjens
Collaborateurs : Ivanoh Demers, photographe; Paul-Éric Dumontier, chef de pupitre

Escape from Afghanistan
The Globe and Mail
Mark MacKinnon

A Legacy of Mistrust: Can Indigenous Health Care in BC’s North Turn a Corner?
The Tyee
Amanda Follett Hosgood, Moira Wyton
Contributor: Paul Willcocks, editor

The Campus Mental Health Crisis
The Walrus
Simon Lewsen
Contributors: Chloë Ellingson, photographer; Carine Abouseif, editor

Fire in the Sky
Toronto Star
Francine Kopun
Contributors: Doug Cudmore, senior editor; Sarmishta Subramanian, executive features editor; Andrew Meeson, editor; Nathan Pilla, digital designer; Kelsey Wilson, video producer; Tania Pereira, digital producer; Cameron Tulk, graphics editor


Best Personal Essay / Meilleur essai personnel

Public Safety at the City’s Core
Azure
Jay Pitter
Contributors: Stefan Novakovic, editor; Elizabeth Pagliacolo, editor

Reclaiming Audre Lorde’s Radical Self-Care
Refinery29 Canada
Kathleen Newman-Bremang

Between the Cones
Sportsnet
Hadiya Roderique
Contributor: Evan Rosser, editor

Into the Deep
The Tyee
andrea bennett
Contributor: David Beers, editor

Winter Is for Regeneration. The Garden’s — and Yours, Too
The Tyee
’Cúagilákv (Jess Housty)
Contributor: andrea bennett, editor

Don’t Be a Prude: The Benefits of Public Nudity
The Walrus
Nicole Schmidt
Contributors: Sydney Hamilton, fact-checker; Mariana Yatsuda Ikuta, illustrator; Carine Abouseif, handling editor

Finding My Voice as My Mother Lost Hers
The Walrus
Minelle Mahtani
Contributors: Connor Garel, fact-checker; Sarah Gonzales, illustrator; Carine Abouseif, handling editor

Suicidal ideation, my intrusive visitor
Xtra Magazine
Niko Stratis
Contributors: Erica Lenti, senior editor; Gordon Bowness, executive editor; Allyson Baker, copy editor


Best Arts & Culture Storytelling / Meilleur reportage : arts et culture

Jason Isbell Is Tired Of Country’s Love Affair With White Nostalgia
BuzzFeed News
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Contributor: Tomi Obaro, editor

Revitalizing Vancouver Island’s Indigenous languages
CBC British Columbia
Kathryn Marlow
Contributors: Tamara Baluja, Andrea Ross, Mary Vallis, Meghan Sardesai, William Wolfe-Wylie, Richard Grasley, Rob Easton, Duk Han Lee, Darcy Hunter, Pete Scobie, Wawmeesh Hamilton, Megan Thomas, Rohit Joseph, Adam van der Zwan

Rothko at the Inauguration
Hazlitt
Richard Warnica
Contributors: Haley Cullingham, editor; Naomi Skwarna, copy editor

Giving Up the Ghost
Hazlitt
Brin-Jonathan Butler

Finding Mr. Q
Hazlitt
Michael Rancic
Contributors: Haley Cullingham, editor; Arden Taylor, illustrator

Ramener les morts à la vie
ICI Acadie
Caroline Levesque
Collaborateurs : Emmanuelle Robinson et Marc-Samuel Larocque, édimestres

Listening Conditions
Musicworks
Sara Constant
Contributors: Jennie Punter, editor; Thang Vu, designer — print

Le salon de Plaquie
Radio-Canada Empreintes
Eugénie Emond
Collaborateurs : Olivia Laperriere-Roy, Justine de L’Église, Kathleen Lavoie

Adding Colour to the Romance Genre
The Walrus
Zeahaa Rehman

Peterborough to Gaza: How a chance talk led to a 30-year friendship
TVO
Marsha McLeod
Contributor: Serene Husni, Arabic translator


Best Science & Technology Storytelling / Meilleur reportage : science et technologie

The house that plastic built
Global Reporting Centre
Andrew Munroe
Contributors: Britney Dennison, reporter/editor; Andrea Crossan, editor; Katarina Sabados, reporter; Pallavi Rao, researcher; Jane Lister, researcher; Ridge Zhang, data viz; Esther Cheung, design/illustration; Peter Klein, executive editor

What To Do with Fish When the River Runs Dry
Hakai Magazine
Laura Trethewey
Contributor: Jude Isabella, editor

Les déchets de la pandémie
Le Devoir
Paul Fontaine
Collaborateurs : Olivia Gélinas, développeuse en visualisation de données; Simon-Olivier Laperrière, développeur en visualisation de données; Cédric Gagnon, motion designer

Black in science: The legacy of racism in science and how Black scientists are moving the dial
Quirks & Quarks — CBC Radio
Amanda Buckiewicz, Nicole Mortillaro

Comment fonctionnent les vaccins contre le SRAS-CoV-2 (et ses variants)
Radio-Canada
Daniel Blanchette Pelletier
Collaborateurs : Daniel Blanchette Pelletier, journaliste; Charlie Debons-Ricard, designer; Francis Lamontagne, designer; Melanie Julien, chef de pupitre; André Guimaraes, développeur; Martine Roy, coordonnatrice; Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski, traduction; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef

Un empire montréalais de l’arnaque en ligne
Radio-Canada
Nicholas De Rosa, Jeff Yates, Brigitte Noël
Collaborateur : Roberto Rocha; Sophie Leclerc, illustrator

Gambling with Nova Scotia’s future
The Coast
Rob Csernyik
Contributors: Kyle Shaw, Handling Editor; Christine Oreskovich, Design

What Happens to Our Brains When We Get Depressed?
The Walrus
Simon Lewsen
Contributor: Carine Abouseif, editor


Best Service Feature / Journalisme de service

Chasing Icebergs Off Canada’s East Coast
Air Canada enRoute
Sydney Loney
Contributors: Tom Cochrane, photographer; Ben Smith, photographer; Adam Hefferman, photographer; Angel Sanz Correa, illustrator; Jessie Brinkman Evans, photographer

How to protect your home against climate change
All Things Home
Patrick Langston

How To Talk To Kids About The National Day For Truth And Reconciliation
CBC Parents
David Robertson
Contributors: Hallae Khosravi, producer; Kevin Naulls, producer

Canada’s Kitchen
The Globe and Mail
Julie Van Rosendaal, Maryam Siddiqi, Benjamin MacDonald, Christopher Manza

Rad présente Cobaye : Soins de la peau
Rad / Radio-Canada
Nicolas Pham
Collaborateurs : Sébastien Gaudet, Thomas Christopherson, vidéastes; Jean-Philippe Gagnon, montage et réalisation; Mathieu Waddell, réalisateur; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; Melanie Julien, chef de pupitre; Carolina Cabral, coordonnatrice de production; Gigi Huynh, stratège; Charles Fortier, chef design et contenus numérique; Charles Desmarais, motion design; Emile Lord Ayotte, design graphique; Catherine Legault, édimestre; Laurence Beaudoin-Masse, conceptrice/rédactrice

Revive
UBC Journalism
Serena Renner


Best Online Video: Short / Meilleure vidéo en ligne — format court

Laura’s Gift: An organ donor’s story
CBC New Brunswick
Contributors: Maria Jose Burgos, producer; Hailley Furkalo, senior designer

Mon père ne me reconnaît plus
Le Devoir
Collaborateurs : Jasmine Legendre, journaliste vidéo; Matt Joycey, journaliste vidéaste

L’aspic testé par des enfants
Radio-Canada
Collaborateur : Bruno Florin, réalisateur et monteur

Le budget carbone illustré
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Marianne Desautels-Marissal, journaliste; François Dubuc, motion designer; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; Hélène Leroux, rédactrice en chef; Pierre-André Desautels, conception sonore; Catherine Marineau-Dufresne, réalisatrice-coordonnatrice


Best Online Video: Feature / Meilleure vidéo en ligne — format long

Les mirages de la chirurgie esthétique
Le Devoir
Collaborateurs : Jasmine Legendre, journaliste vidéo; Guillaume Levasseur, journaliste multimédia

Des jeunes redonnent un 2e souffle à Murdochville
24 heures
Collaborateurs : Jean Balthazard, producteur de contenu; Olivier Gélinas-Richard, vidéaste; Julien Schmidt, monteur; Charles D’Amboise, directeur de contenu


Best Online Video: Mini-Doc / Meilleure vidéo en ligne — mini-documentaire

Comment des policiers tirent-ils sur des personnes en crise?
Le Devoir
Collaborateurs : Améli Pineda, journaliste; Stéphanie Vallet, journaliste; Guillaume Levasseur, journaliste multimédia; Matt Joycey, journaliste vidéaste; Cédric Gagnon, motion designer

Convictions : Incursion chez les opposants aux mesures sanitaires
Rad / Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Simon Coutu, journaliste ; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; Frédéric Lacelle, Mathieu Waddell, Florence Pelletier, vidéastes; Jean-Philippe Gagnon, monteur; Frédéric Lacelle, réalisateur; Sara Barrière-Brunet, chef de pupitre; Carolina Cabral, coordonnatrice de production; Gigi Huynh, Stratège; Charles Fortier, chef design et contenus numérique; Victor Kurc, Charles Desmarais, motion design; Catherine Legault, édimestre; Justine Grenier, conceptrice/rédactrice ; Laurent K Blais, recherche

Le vieil homme et ses squelettes
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Marianne Desautels-Marissal, journaliste; Quentin Fabiani, réalisateur; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; Hélène Leroux, rédactrice en chef; François Dubuc, motion designer; Catherine Marineau-Dufresne, réalisatrice-coordonnatrice

Sugar Baby : du glam au drame
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Marie-Eve Tremblay, réalisatrice et animatrice; Alain Loiselle, co-réalisateur et vidéaste; Martin Labbé, designer et photographe; Mykael Adam, développeur numérique

Free Heroin, Cocaine & Meth Are Being Distributed to Stop Overdoses
VICE World News
Contributors: Manisha Krishnan, host and producer; Justin Silverman, senior producer; Natasha Grzincic, deputy editor; Courtney Brooks, executive producer; Alex Craig, director of photography; Dan Ferry, editor; Jarrel Lynch, editor


Best Podcast: Current Affairs / Meilleur balado : questions d’actualité

CANADALAND
Canadaland
Contributors: Jesse Brown, host; Sarah Lawrynuik and Kasia Mychajlowycz, senior producers; Damilola Onime, producer; Tristan Capacchione and Jeremy Kessler, audio editors; Cherise Seucharan, reporter; Andréa Schmidt and Kieran Oudshoorn, managing editors; Jonathan Goldsbie, news editor

Life Jolt
CBC Podcasts
Contributors: Rosemary Green, host; John Chipman, producer; Danielle Carr, associate producer; Glory Omotayo, coordinating producer; Graham MacDonald, mixer; Chris Oke, story editor; Geoff Turner, senior producer; Arif Noorani, executive producer

White Hot Hate
CBC Podcasts
Contributors: Michelle Shephard, host; Ryan Thorpe, reporter; Ashley Mak, producer; Kim Kaschor, associate producer; Sarah Melton, associate producer; Danelle Cloutier, mixer; Julia Whitman, mixer; Emilie Quesnel, digital producer; Emily Mathieu, fact-checker; Sean Moreman, legal; Chris Oke, senior producer; Arif Noorani, executive producer

Convictions Saison 2: QAnon
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Brigitte Noël, Jeff Yates, Raed Hammoud

The Sound Aquatic
Hakai Magazine
Contributors: Elin Kelsey, host and producer; Katrina Pyne, producer; Amorina Kingdon, producer

Interprètes afghans : partir ou mourir
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Michèle Ouimet, animatrice; Cédric Chabuel, réalisateur; Corinne Fréchette-Lessard, cheffe de projet de contenu; Catherine Vidal, directrice développement et production audionumérique; Natacha Mercure, première directrice audionumérique; Caroline Jamet, directrice générale radio, audio et Grand Montréal

Pire idée de ma vie : sugar baby
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Marie-Eve Tremblay, animatrice et réalisatrice; Alain Loiselle, appui à la réalisation; Jo-Annie Larue, cheffe de projet de contenu; Catherine Vidal, directrice développement et production audionumérique; Annie Reeves, directrice développement et production audionumérique ; Natacha Mercure, première directrice audionumérique; Caroline Jamet, directrice générale radio, audio et Grand Montréal

Unascertained
TVO
Contributors: Yusuf Zine, host, writer and producer; Kevin Young, writer, producer and audio engineer; Michelle Shephard, story editor; Katie O’Connor, senior producer, TVO; Laurie Few, executive producer — digital, TVO


Best Podcast: Arts, Culture, & Society / Meilleur balado : arts, culture et société

Commons
Canadaland
Contributors: Arshy Mann, host/producer; Jordan Cornish, producer; Damilola Onime, associate producer; Tristan Capacchione, additional reporting; Andréa Schmidt and Kieran Oudshoorn, managing editors; Kevin Sexton, executive producer; Nathan Burley, music

The Dose
CBC Podcasts
Contributors: Dr. Brian Goldman, host; Rachel Sanders, producer; Willow Smith, producer; Colleen Ross, Dawna Dingwall, senior producer; Austin Pomeroy, technician, Billy Heaton, technician

Strong and Free
Historica Canada
Contributors: Historica Canada & Media Girlfriends, producers; Garvia Bailey, host

Garde-Manger
QUB Radio
Collaborateur : Anne-Sophie Carpentier, recherche, montage et réalisation

D’où je viens : le rap d’ici
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Olivier Arbour-Masse, animateur; Olivier Boisvert-Magnen, animateur; Cédric Chabuel, réalisateur; Kapois Lamort, recherchiste; Marieme, recherchiste; Jo-Annie Larue, cheffe de projet de contenu; Annie Reeves, directrice développement et production audionumérique; Catherine Vidal, directrice développement et production audionumérique ; Natacha Mercure, première directrice audionumérique; Caroline Jamet, directrice générale radio, audio et Grand Montréal

Telling our Twisted Histories
Terre Innue
Ossie Michelin, director; Kahnietiio Horn, host; Karine Lanoie-Brien, concept; Ian Boyd and Reginald Vollant, original idea; Isabelle Picard, researcher; Karine Lanoie-Brien, Brad Gros-Louis and Ossie Michelin, interviewers; Benoit Dame, editor and sound designer; Anik Magny, production supervisor; Élodie Pollet, producer; Francine Allaire, executive producer and producer; music courtesy of Musique Nomade; musical theme The Crow Hop by Tee Cloud


Best Digital Design / Meilleur conception numérique

21 Black Futures
CBC Arts
Jeff Hume
Contributors: Chinedu Ukabam, creative director; Yung Yemi, logo design; Gloria Asse Elogo, graphic design

Seeing Dad through his lens
CBC News
Andrew McManus
Contributors: Matt Crider and Adam Foord, developers; Elizabeth Haggarty, senior producer

Nos projets interactifs et nos visualisations de données 2021 / Radio-Canada Info
Radio-Canada
Charlie Debons-Ricard, Francis Lamontagne, Santiago Salcido
Collaborateurs : Naël Shiab, journaliste de données; Daniel Blanchette Pelletier, journaliste; Charlie Debons-Ricard, designer; Francis Lamontagne, designer; Santiago Salcido, designer; Melanie Julien, chef de pupitre; André Guimaraes, développeur; Mathieu St-Laurent, développeur; Martine Roy, coordonnatrice; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; Valérie Ouellet, journaliste de données CBC; Sylvène Gilchrist, réalisatrice CBC

The Skyluck Journals
The Doc Project
Andrew Nguyen, Ben Shannon, Geoff Isaac, Althea Manasan
Contributors: Jonathan Ore, copy editor; Tamara Baluja, copy editor; Anh Thang Dao, translations; Althea Manasan, lead digital producer; Ben Shannon, artwork, graphics and animation; Geoff Isaac, senior developer; Andrew Nguyen, writer, animations, documentary producer; Alison Cook, documentary producer

Fear along the Nile
The Globe and Mail
Christopher Manza
Contributors: Clare Vander Meersch, John Sopinski, Patrick Dell

The void in Calgary
The Globe and Mail
Jeremy Agius

Fire in the Sky
Toronto Star
Nathan Pilla
Contributors: Kelsey Wilson, video producer; Tania Pereira, digital producer

The Last Orca
Toronto Star
McKenna Deighton, Andres Plana
Contributor: Tania Pereira, digital producer


Best Photo Storytelling / Meilleur récit photo

The mothers’ days: Two friends comfort each other through pandemic parenthood
The Globe and Mail
Michelle Siu, Chloë Ellingson
Contributors: Clare Vander Meersch, Evan Annett, Ming Wong

‘They care about their plants and not us’: for migrant farmworkers in Ontario, COVID-19 made a bad situation worse
The Narwhal
Christopher Katsarov Luna
Contributors: Carol Linnitt, editor; Denise Balkissoon, editor; Mike De Souza, editor; Arik Ligeti, editor; Emma Gilchrist, editor


Best Social Storytelling / Meilleur récit sur les médias sociaux

Social Coverage of Canada’s Best New Restaurants
Air Canada enRoute
Contributors: Davina Sinnatamby, social media strategist; Jennifer Foden, senior editor; Nicolas Venturelli, senior digital graphic designer; Ian Gamache, digital product manager

COP26 coverage
CBC News
Contributors: Avneet Dhillon, host/producer; Marielle Torrefranca, MJ Burgos, Brock Wilson, producers; Kit Kolbegger, Kajal Pawar, associate producers; Charles Fogel, editor; Allison Cake, graphic designer; Amara McLaughlin, senior producer

Calendrier de l’Avent sur Instagram
Le Devoir
Collaborateurs : Sarah Boumedda, pupitreure numérique; Sandrine Vieira, journaliste de données

Couverture des élections fédérales 2021
Rad / Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Renée Joseph, Haroun Aramis, Nicolas Pham, Marie-Eve Maheu, Guillaume Lepage, Catherine Legault, Mathieu Papillon, Angie Landry, Olivier Arbour-Masse, journalistes; Frédéric Lacelle, Thomas Christopherson, Jean-Philippe Gagnon, Florence Pelletier; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; Sara Barrière-Brunet, Melanie Julien, chef de pupitre; Caroline L. Couture, coordonnatrice de production; Gigi Huynh, stratège; Charles Fortier, chef design et contenus numérique; Charles Desmarais, Victor Kurc, motion design; Catherine Legault, édimestre ; Justine Grenier et Laurence Beaudoin-Masse, conceptrice/rédactrice


Best Editorial Newsletter / Meilleure infolettre éditoriale

City Hall Watcher
City Hall Watcher
Contributors: Matt Elliott, publisher & editor; Neville Park, contributor

Friday Things
Friday Things
Contributors: Stacy Lee Kong, founder and editor; Nhi Tran, art director

Infolettre Quatre95
Quatre95
Collaborateurs : Jean-Pierre Bastien, chef de contenu; David Mongeau-Petitpas, directeur des technologies; Marc-Antoine Jacques, directeur de création; Théo Gjini, développeur web

The Supplement Newsletter
The Supplement
Contributors: Samantha McCabe, Alex Nguyen, Sierra Bein


Innovation in Digital Storytelling / Innovation de l’année

Clean Water, Broken Promises
Clean Water, Broken Promises collaborative
Contributors

Hot Spot Tracker
The Local
Contributor: Tai Huynh

The void in Calgary
The Globe and Mail
Contributor: Jeremy Agius

Visualisations de données en 3D
Radio-Canada
Collaborateurs : Naël Shiab, journaliste de données; Daniel Blanchette Pelletier, journaliste; Charlie Debons-Ricard, designer; Francis Lamontagne, designer; Santiago Salcido, designer; Melanie Julien, chef de pupitre; André Guimaraes, développeur; Mathieu St-Laurent, développeur; Martine Roy, coordonnatrice; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; Valérie Ouellet, journaliste de données CBC; Sylvène Gilchrist, productrice CBC


Emerging Excellence Award / Prix d’excellence : talent émergent

Award Sponsored by The Reader’s Digest Foundation of Canada

The Emerging Excellence Award honours an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing shows the highest degree of craft and promise. This award may recognize a writer, visual creator, designer, developer, publisher or other young professional who has demonstrated excellence and potential in one or more areas of Canadian digital publishing. This award is open to any individual under the age of 30.

Michelle Gamage
The Tyee

Alex Migdal
CBC Vancouver

Inori Roy
The Local

General Excellence in Digital Publishing: Small, Medium, and Large / Excellence générale en publication numérique : petite, moyenne, et grande

The General Excellence awards recognize the publications that maximize the possibilities of digital publishing; these are the publications that succeed in fulfilling their editorial mandate and represent the highest of journalistic standards. The award is presented in three divisions: small, medium, and large. 

In the small division, the nominees are Healthy Debate, The Local, and Xtra Magazine

In the medium division, the nominees are Canadaland, Le Devoir, and The Tyee.

In the large division, the nominees are CBC News Digital, The Globe and Mail, and Toronto Star.


Credit Changes & Additions

To request any credit changes, corrections, or additions, please send details to info@digitalpublishingawards.ca with “DPA Credit Change” in the subject line. The deadline for credit changes and additions is May 16. 

About the Winners’ Celebration

We’ll be announcing the winners of the 2022 Digital Publishing Awards on Twitter on May 31 beginning at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The full list of winners will be posted on our website, as well as on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter on May 31 at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

As acceptance speeches are the highlight of any awards presentation, we encourage all winners to record and send an acceptance speech in real time and we will retweet your reaction — just be sure to tag us @DPAwards. All nominees are also welcome to email a short, pre-recorded acceptance speech prior to May 31, which will be posted on our website and social media feeds if you win.

While there will not be a formal virtual awards ceremony this year, we are looking forward to hosting an in-person event for the industry in September

Acknowledgements

The National Media Awards Foundation is extremely grateful for the support from the Government of Canada and The Reader’s Digest Foundation of Canada. Special thanks also to Natalie Vineberg for creating this year’s visuals, and to Vesselin Stroumsky for developing our online submissions and judging platforms.

Announcing the Finalists of the 6th Annual Digital Publishing Awards

The National Media Awards Foundation congratulates the 165 finalists of the 6th annual Digital Publishing Awards. 163 publications across Canada participated in the 2020 competition, and entries were evaluated by over 70 dedicated, volunteer judges

The Foundation will host a virtual celebration on June 11th at 4 PM ET, live-streaming the winners reveal on Facebook and on our website. Gold winners in creator-focused categories receive a $500 prize, in addition to their award. 

A detailed list of all finalists is included below—our congratulations to all of the nominees! 

Top Nominees

  • The Globe and Mail is a finalist in 17 various categories, ranging from Best Personal Essay to Innovation in Digital Storytelling. 
  • CBC News received an impressive total of eight nominations across various categories.
  • CBC Podcasts dominated Best Podcast: News & Politics, picking up four nominations in that category and a fifth nomination for Best Online Video: Mini-Doc. 
  • Radio-Canada received 11 nominations, including nominations in each of the three Best Online Video categories.
  • The Narwhal dominated the Best Photo Storytelling category as a three-time finalist. In total, the publication received 10 nominations. 
  • The Walrus is a seven-time nominee, with one of those nominations for General Excellence in Digital publishing. 
  • The National Film Board of Canada is nominated for Best Digital Design, and Best Online Video: Short, and twice for both Best Online Video: Feature and Innovation in Digital Storytelling. 
  • Le Devoir, The Local, The Tyee, URBANIA, and Xtra Magazine each received five nominations.

Nomination Highlights 

  • CBC Music’s “60 Years of Indigenous Music Game Changers” is a finalist in both Best Arts & Culture Storytelling and Best Digital Editorial Package. 
  • Hadiya Roderique’s “Can I be a Black mother in a world so dangerous to Black children?,” published in The Globe and Mail, is a two-time finalist in the categories of Best Feature Article: Long and Best Personal Essay. 
  • CANADALAND is nominated for Best Podcast: News & Politics and is a nominee for the prestigious General Excellence in Digital Publishing category. 
  • “Far Away from Far Away,” an interactive story produced by the National Film Board of Canada, received recognition in the Best Digital Design category and the Innovation in Digital Storytelling category. 
  • The Globe and Mails “Gone” is nominated for Best Digital Design and Innovation in Digital Storytelling. 
  • Nominated for both Best Feature Article: Long and Best Photo Storytelling is “Pollinisation extrême,” published in BESIDE
  • The winners of last year’s General Excellence in Digital Publishing awards have all gone on to receive nominations in this year’s competition. The Tyee (winner in the small division) has received five nominations this year, in various categories. Hakai Magazine (winner in the medium division), this year received two nominations, both in the category of Best Science & technology Storytelling. Le Devoir (winner of the large division) is nominated five times, with two nominations in both Best Editorial Newsletter and Best Online: Video: Short.

Nominees by Category

BEST DIGITAL EDITORIAL PACKAGE / MEILLEUR DOSSIER THÉMATIQUE

Vies noires, espaces verts – Black Lives, Green Spaces
BESIDE
Catherine Métayer, Caroline R. Paquette, Mark Mann, Casey Beal, Eliane Cadieux, Gabrielle Deronde, Olivier Mercier-Chan Kane, Phillip Dwight Morgan, Gaelle Elma, Carolyn Finney, Naima Green, Ricardo Lamour, Nzingha Millar, Fabrice Vil, Florence Rivest, et al. 

60 Years of Indigenous Music Game Changers
CBC Music
Jesse Kinos-Goodin, producer; Ossie Michelin, Rhiannon Johnson, Andrea Warner, Holly Gordon, Melody Lau, Jesse Kinos-Goodin, writers; Mer Young, David J. Cutler, Mishiikenh Kwe, Samantha Leigh Smith, Ben Shannon, art; Geoff Isaac, Ben Shannon, website design; Vivian Tabar, video

COVID-19
CBC News
CBC News Digital Team

Future of Cities
The Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail team

Carbon Cache
The Narwhal
Stephanie Wood, Sarah Cox, Lindsay Jones, Darren Calabrese, Amber Bracken, Emma Gilchrist

BEST COLUMN / MEILLEURE CHRONIQUE

Black Light
CBC Arts
Amanda Parris 
Contributors: Leah Collins, Editor

Ramadan 2020
Chatelaine
Radiyah Chowdhury

Chronique Société
L’actualité
Noémi Mercier

Jennifer Ditchburn’s columns
Policy Options
Jennifer Ditchburn

André Picard
The Globe and Mail
André Picard

The Listener
The Sprawl
Sam Hester

Michael Harris
The Tyee
Michael Harris

Does talking about racism make you uncomfortable? You Should Ask Yourself Why.
TVO
Nam Kiwanuka
Contributors: Sarah Sweet, deputy editor; Graeme Bayliss, editor-in-chief

Should I?
VICE Canada
Manisha Krishnan
Contributors: Josh Visser, Natasha Grzincic

My Queer Kitchen with Jennifer E. Crawford: Pandemic Edition
Xtra Magazine
Jennifer E. Crawford
Contributors: Marissa Leon-John, co-writer of one column; Gordon Bowness, editor; Erica Lenti, editor; Corey Misquita, video producer; Riley Sparks, producer/story editor; Chelle Turingen, managing producer; Rachel Giese, editorial director; Allison Baker, copy editor

BEST NEWS COVERAGE (COMMUNITY PUBLICATION) / MEILLEURE COUVERTURE DE L’ACTUALITÉ (PUBLICATION COMMUNAUTAIRE) 

MTL Blog
MTL Blog
Thomas MacDonald, senior editor; Alanna Moore, associate editor; Ilana Belfer, associate editor; Lea Sabbah, staff writer; Teddy Elliot, staff writer; Gabi Sandler, writer; Katina Goulakos, writer; Ezra Black, writer

KPMG report: Dr. Barker knew Rothberg was Rootenberg before she hired him
SooToday.com
David Helwig

Sydney’s Casino at 25
The Cape Breton Spectator
Rob Csernyik; Mary Campbell, editor

The Casino Crapshoot
The Halifax Examiner
Rob Csernyik; Tim Bousquet, editor; Philip Moscovitch, editor

Where the Pandemic Hit the Hardest
The Local
Aparita Bhandari

The 35 Jane
The Local
Tai Huynh

BEST NEWS COVERAGE / MEILLEURE COUVERTURE DE L’ACTUALITÉ

WE Charity
Canadaland
Jesse Brown, Jaren Kerr, Shannon Kari, Jonathan Goldsbie, Andréa Schmidt, Kasia Mychajlowycz, John-Allan Namu

Nova Scotia Mass Shooting
CBC News
Elizabeth McMillan, Aly Thomson, Shaina Luck, Preston Mulligan, Haley Ryan, Anjuli Patil, Cassidy Chisholm, Brett Ruskin, Kayla Hounsell, Eric Woolliscroft, Brian MacKay, Monty Mosher, Steve Lawrence, Dave Irish, Angela MacIvor, Jennifer MacMillan, et al. 

Couverture de la COVID-19
Radio-Canada
Naël Shiab, Daniel Blanchette Pelletier, Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski, Francis Lamontagne, Santiago Salcido, Charlie Debons, André Guimaraes, Mathieu St-Laurent, Melanie Julien, Martine Roy

Reporting on China’s Xinjiang region and Uyghur minority
The Globe and Mail
Nathan VanderKlippe, Patrick Dell, Evan Annett

Bias Behind Bars
The Globe and Mail
Tom Cardoso, Dawn Calleja, Ming Wong, Galit Rodan, Evan Annett, Randy Velocci, Murat Yükselir, Christopher Manza

Wet’suwet’en coverage
The Narwhal
Carol Linnitt, Amber Bracken, Stephanie Wood, Emma Gilchrist, Martin Lukacs, Shiri Pasternak

Crisis in Care
Toronto Star
Kenyon Wallace

COVID-19 risk and you
Toronto Star
Patty Winsa, May Warren, Kenyon Wallace, Ed Tubb, Cameron Tulk, Nathan Pilla, Andres Plana

BEST FEATURE ARTICLE / MEILLEUR ARTICLE DE FOND

Programme énergétique national : l’est l’a oublié, l’ouest le hait toujours
Radio-Canada Alberta
Tiphanie Roquette, Audrey Neveu
Contributeur: Mylène Briand

Sexe, handicap et pandémie
Radio-Canada
Justine de l’Église

Two metres and a world apart: Life in lockdown for me and my disabled son
The Globe and Mail
Ian Brown
Contributors: Chloë Ellingson, Lisan Jutras, Clare Vander Meersch

Teaching Indigenous Star Stories
The Walrus
Kelly Boutsalis
Contributors: Brit Ellis, illustrator; Allison Baker, fact-checker; Viviane Fairbank, handling editor

‘For our children’: How families are passing down Indigenous languages
TVO.org
Shelby Lisk
Contributors: Sarah Sweet, Graeme Bayliss, Tehatsistahawi Kennedy, Wilhelmina Beauvais, Karen Mosko, Ian McCallum, Jason Jones, Shirley Andy, Debbie Parliament, Marsha Ireland

BEST FEATURE ARTICLE (SHORT) / MEILLEUR ARTICLE COURT 

Moka Dawkins Says Toronto Jail Experience Violated Her Human Rights
HuffPost Canada
Denio Lourenco
Contributors: Andree Lau, editor; Andrew Yates, editor

In full bloom: Toronto’s cherry blossoms are off limits in High Park – but you can still see them here
The Globe and Mail
Marty Klinkenberg, Carlos Osorio, Melissa Tait
Contributors: Christopher Manza, Theresa Suzuki

Tuesday in Allan Gardens, Where the Police Guard the Benches
The Local
Kat Eschner

StatsCan Releases Survey to Assess Diversity on Nonprofit Boards
The Philanthropist Journal
Fatima Syed

I’m the Virus You Named COVID-19. Glad to Meet You
The Tyee
Andrew Nikiforuk

BEST FEATURE ARTICLE (LONG) / MEILLEUR ARTICLE DE FOND (LONG)

Pollinisation extrême
BESIDE
Eugénie Emond
Contributors: Catherine Métayer, Caroline R. Paquette, équipe éditoriale; Eliane Cadieux, Gabrielle Deronde, Olivier Mercier-Chan Kane, équipe design; Drowster, Eliane Cadieux, Nicolas Gouin, photographes; Guillaume Rivest, vérification des faits

Life, death and being a man in Medicine Hat
CBC Calgary
Robson Fletcher
Contributors: Colleen Underwood, Monty Kruger, Rachel Maclean

Elliot, an alcoholic, asked his parole officer for help. She sent him back to prison
Global News
Jane Gerster
Contributors: Jasmine Pazzano, Laura Whelan, Max Hartshorn

Can I be a Black mother in a world so dangerous to Black children?
The Globe and Mail
Hadiya Roderique
Contributors: Mark Medley, editor; Lisan Jutras, editor

He said, they said: inside the trial of Matthew McKnight
The Globe and Mail
Jana Pruden
Contributors: Amber Bracken, Dawn Calleja, Evan Annett, Patrick Dell, Jason Lin

A Long-Term Tragedy
The Local
Simon Lewsen

‘Them plants are killing us’: inside a cross-border battle against cancer in Ontario’s rust belt
The Narwhal
Hilary Beaumont
Contributors: Carol Linnitt, Christopher Katsarov Luna, Brian Bienkowski

Objectivity Is a Privilege Afforded to White Journalists
The Walrus
Pacinthe Mattar
Contributors:  Nicole Schmidt, fact-checker; Samia Madwar, handling editor

Journal d’une vidange – Un mois dans les caps d’un éboueur (*article publié en 5 parties)
URBANIA
Jean Bourbeau

Inside the second wave of the HIV epidemic in the Philippines
Xtra Magazine
Arvin Joaquin
Contributors: Eternity Martis, handling editor; Rachel Giese and Gordon Bowness, editors; Allison Baker, copy editor/fact-checker; Jade Zhang, artist

BEST PERSONAL ESSAY / MEILLEUR ESSAI PERSONNEL

I Tried To Talk To My Bosses About Racism At Work
Chatelaine
Denise Balkissoon

Dire adieu à sa grand-mère par facetime
RAD
Journaliste : Mathieu Papillon Monteur Texte et narration : Valérie Ouellet Illustrations : Victor Kurc Direction artistique : Charles Fortier : Florence Pelletier  Réalisateur : Mathieu Waddell Chef de pupitre : et al. 

Can I be a Black mother in a world so dangerous to Black children?
The Globe and Mail
Hadiya Roderique
Contributors: Mark Medley, Lisan Justras, Jorian Charlton, Clare Vander Meersch, Melissa Tait, Evan Annett

IVF was my last hope to have a baby. All Canadians deserve that hope, too
The Globe and Mail
Melissa Stasiuk
Contributors: Carol Toller, Mark Medley, Fred Lum, Bryan Gee, Evan Annett

I donated my kidney to help a stranger. But what about the person I couldn’t help?
The Globe and Mail
Wency Leung
Contributors: Carol Toller, Mark Medley, Adam Cruft, Fred Lum, Bryan Gee, Evan Annett

Been Caught Stealing: Life Inside The Lorraine
The Sprawl
Heidi Klaassen

Hate Social Media but Love Nature? There’s an App for That
The Walrus
Emily Urquhart
Contributor: Nikky Manfredi, fact-checker
Handling Editor: Daniel Viola

The Author Who Shaped the Way We Represent Disability
The Walrus
Meagan Gillmore
Contributor: Ariella Garmaise, fact-checker
Handling Editor: Carine Abouseif

I Look for Ways to Blow Up My Life During the Pandemic
VICE Canada
Minelle Mahtani
Contributor: Natasha Grzincic

A transgender, bisexual, non-binary writer calls their future into being
Xtra Magazine
Dede Akolo
Contributors: Allison Baker, Brian Wong; Gordon Bowness, editor

Getting sober and coming out
Xtra Magazine
Niko Stratis
Contributors: Danielle Groen, Allison Baker, Brian Wong; Erica Lenti, editor

BEST ARTS & CULTURE STORYTELLING / MEILLEUR REPORTAGE : ARTS ET CULTURE

Give Us Permanence—Ending Anti-Black Racism in Canada’s Art Institutions
Canadian Art
Syrus Marcus Ware

60 Years of Indigenous Music Game Changers
CBC Music
Jesse Kinos-Goodin, producer; Ossie Michelin, Rhiannon Johnson, Andrea Warner, Holly Gordon, Melody Lau, Jesse Kinos-Goodin, writers; Mer Young, David J. Cutler, Mishiikenh Kwe, Samantha Leigh Smith, Ben Shannon, art; Geoff Isaac, Ben Shannon, website;  Vivian Tabar, video

The long, dark past behind the National Gallery’s latest acquisition
Macleans.ca
John Geddes

Le tailleur qui ravive la pierre de Saint-Marc
Radio-Canada Empreintes
Eugénie Emond
Contributeurs: Denis Wong, photos; Olivia Laperrière-Roy, design et photos; Émilie Larivée-Tourangeau, édition

The Fault, Dear Reader, Is Not in Our Stars
The Walrus
Carly Lewis
Contributors: Cienna Smith, illustrator; Sydney Hamilton, fact-checker; Daniel Viola, handling editor

When Male Writers Confront Toxic Masculinity
The Walrus
Philip Sayers
Contributors: Justin Dallaire, fact-checker; Carmine Starnino, handling editor

BEST SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY STORYTELLING / MEILLEUR REPORTAGE: SCIENCE ET TECHNOLOGIE

Disinformation For Hire: How A New Breed Of PR Firms Is Selling Lies Online
BuzzFeed News
Craig Silverman, Jane Lytvynenko

Coronavirus vaccine tracker
CBC News
Emily Chung
Contributors: Matt Crider, Andrew Ryan, Dwight Friesen, Richard Grasley, CBC News Labs, Elizabeth Haggarty

The Faux Fish Coming to a Restaurant Near You
Hakai Magazine
Brian Payton

Taking the Fish Out of Fish Feed
Hakai Magazine
Brian Payton

Vaccin contre le coronavirus: sprinter un marathon
Le Devoir
Alexis Riopel, Antoine Béland, Cédric Gagnon

Notifications: Prière de me déranger
Radio-Canada
Nicholas De Rosa

We are all plastic people now, in ways we can’t see – and can no longer ignore
The Globe and Mail
Rick Smith
Contributors: Mark Medley, Lisan Jutras, Deb Baic, Patrick Dell, Evan Annett, Fred Lum

British Columbia’s looming extinction crisis
The Narwhal
Sarah Cox
Contributors: Emma Gilchrist, Carol Linnitt, Sarah Hammond

The Gauntlet Fraser Salmon Must Travel, A Two-Part Package
The Tyee
Christopher Pollon and Andrew Walsh
Contributors: Hakai Institute

What Scientists Are Learning About Near-Death Experiences
Zoomer
Carolyn Abraham

BEST SERVICE FEATURE / JOURNALISME DE SERVICE

Day Tripping From Home: 12 Hours in Paris
Air Canada enRoute
Sydney Loney
Contributors:  Lori Morgan, photo editor; Photo Researcher: Thomas Bouquin, photo researcher; Gabrielle Simpson, senior graphic designer, digital; Nancy Kovacs, product and content manager; et al. 

How To De-Escalate A Mental Health Emergency Without Calling The Police
HuffPost Canada
Al Donato
Contributors: Chloe Tejada, Reporter

L’effet instagram : la retouche comme nouvel idéal de beauté?
Rad
Olivier Arbour-Masse, Pasquale Harrison-Julien, journalistes; Thomas Christopherson, vidéastes/monteurs; Mathieu Waddell, réalisateur; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; Pasquale Harrison-Julien, chef de pupitre; et al. 

Hidden Canada: Home and Away
The Globe and Mail
Jennifer Allford, Domini Clark, Jeremy Freed, Waheeda Harris, Johnny C.Y. Lam, Stacy Lee Kong, Gayle MacDonald, Benjamin MacDonald, Christopher Manza, Susan Nerberg, Amy Rosen, Maryam Siddiqi

Canada’s Kitchen
The Globe and Mail
Julie Van Rosendaal, Maryam Siddiqi, Benjamin MacDonald, Christopher Manza, Liam Mogan, Ashley Denton, Alanna Davey

Pandemic Academics: A parent’s guide to the COVID-19 classroom
Toronto Star
Kenyon Wallace, Patty Winsa, Andres Plana, Nathan Pilla

A Lack of Racial Understanding Can Ruin Relationships
VICE Canada
Manisha Krishnan
Contributors: Natasha Grzincic

BEST ONLINE VIDEO: SHORT / MEILLEURE VIDÉO EN LIGNE : FORMAT COURT

The Original Pandemic
CBC Arts
Lucius Dechausay, Des Mckenzie

Are you making these face mask mistakes?
CBC News
Amara McLaughlin, Roxanna Woloshyn, Anne MacRae, Scott Galley, Tashauna Reid

The race for a vaccine
CBC Toronto
Chris Glover, Paul Borkwood

Marion et les collages féministes
Le Devoir
Daphnée Hacker-B., Cédric Gagnon, Bénédicte Millaud

Cécile et la deuxième vague de COVID-19
Le Devoir
Jasmine Legendre, Matt Joycey, Bénédicte Millaud

Roundup
National Film Board of Canada
Nettie Wild, director; Produced by the National Film Board of Canada

Le choc des cultures
ONFR+
Andréanne Baribeau, Amine Beckoury, Aimé Majeau Beauchamp

Au front, aux soins intensifs de l’Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal
Radio-Canada
Simon Coutu, journaliste; Maryse Gagnon, rédactrice en chef; Frédéric Lacelle, réalisateur; Charlie Debons-Ricard, motion designer

‘We’re still a neighbourhood’: A Toronto couple runs errands for their COVID-19 isolated community
The Globe and Mail
Timothy Moore

BEST ONLINE VIDEO: FEATURE / MEILLEURE VIDÉO EN LIGNE : FORMAT LONG

Lack of racial diversity in medical textbooks could put BIPOC patients at risk
Global News
Aalia Adam, Sumeet Kapila, John Hanley

60 Day Cycle
National Film Board of Canada
Colin Jones, Darcy Wittenburg, directors; Darcy Wittenburg, writer; Produced by the National Film Board of Canada

Perfumed Dreaming
National Film Board of Canada
Kathleen Hepburn, director; Produced by the National Film Board of Canada

Bibelot et bingo : la vieillesse vue autrement
Radio-Canada
Joannie Lafrenière

When fracking and hydro dams collide
The Narwhal
Ben Parfitt, Jayce Hawkins, Carol Linnitt

We Crack Open Dr. Henry’s Model for Taming the Pandemic
The Tyee
Jesse Lupini, Koby Michaels, Lucas Kavanagh, Jeanette Ageson, David Beers

BEST ONLINE VIDEO: MINI-DOC / MEILLEURE VIDÉO EN LIGNE : MINI-DOCUMENTAIRE

Canada’s a Drag: Mx. Wolverine, Toronto
CBC Arts
Lucius Dechausay, Peter Knegt, Mercedes Grundy

The Bomb Captain
CBC Podcasts
Craig Desson, Evan Aagaard, producers/editors; Evan Aagaard, camera/cinematography; Geoff Turner, Jessica Linzey, Francis Plourde, original reporting; Arif Noorani, executive producer; Emilie Quesnel, digital producer

Amachewespimawin: Shooting for the Cree way of life
CBC Saskatchewan
Madeline Kotzer, Heidi Atter, Matt Duguid, Trent Peppler

How the Nova Scotia mass shooting unfolded: 13 hours. 22 dead. 16 crime scenes.
Global News
Emanuela Campanella, James Hawkins, Julieta Tobon, Brian Royer, Christian Jeri

Fraude Organisée
Rad
Simon Coutu, journaliste; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice en chef; vidéaste Thomas Christopherson, Patrick André Perron, Carl Mondello, vidéaste; Jean-Philippe Gagnon, monteur; réalisateur Mathieu Waddell, réalisateur; Pasquale Harrison-Julien, chef de pupitre; et al. 

Agriculture : le Québec loin de l’autonomie alimentaire
Radio-Canada
Maxime Corneau, journaliste; Étienne Marcoux, réalisateur; François Dubuc, motion designer; Georges Sheehy, François Warnet, Marie-Andrée Cormier, preneurs de son; Catherine Marineau-Dufresne, réalisatrice-coordonnatrice; et al. 

Manhunt, Manitoba
The Globe and Mail
Timothy Moore, Melissa Tait

BEST PODCAST: NEWS & POLITICS / MEILLEUR BALADO : ACTUALITÉS ET POLITIQUE

CANADALAND
Canadaland
Jesse Brown, host; Kasia Mychajlowycz, senior producer; Roslyn Kufuor, senior producer; Andréa Schmidt, managing editor; Kevin Sexton, managing editor; Tiffany Lam, Karl Dockstader, Sean Vanderklis, and Justin Ling, contributing reporters

Recall: How to Start a Revolution
CBC Podcasts
Geoff Turner, Jessica Linzey, Francis Plourde, creators;  Geoff Turner, showrunner; Arif Noorani, executive producer; Jessica Linzey, Francis Plourde, associate producers; Geoff Turner, Jessica Linzey, Francis Plourde, writers; Emilie Quesnel, digital producer

Brainwashed
CBC Podcasts
Michelle Shephard, host/writer; Chris Oke & Lisa Ellenwood, writers/producers; Cesil Fernandes, sound design; Sarah Melton, associate producer; Emilie Quesnel, digital producer; Evan Aagaard, video producer; Ben Shannon, art director; et al. 

Satanic Panic
CBC Podcasts
Lisa Bryn Rundle, host; Lisa Bryn Rundle & Ilina Ghosh, script writers; Arif Noorani, executive producer; Tanya Springer, producer; Christopher Oke, editor; Olivia Pasquarelli, scoring and music supervision; Evan Kelly, sound engineer;  Emilie Quesnel, digital producer

Party Lines
CBC Podcasts & CBC News
Elamin Abdelmahmoud, Rosemary Barton, Emma Godmere, Kristin Nelson; Fabiola Melendez Carletti, digital producer

Le Casanova de Montréal
QUB radio Le Bureau d’enquête
Brigitte Noël, Anne-Sophie Carpentier, Étienne Roy, Ève Lévesque, Bastien Gagnon-Lafrance, Philippe Séguin

Dérives
Radio-Canada
Olivier Bernard, animateur et réalisateur; Jo-Annie Larue, chef de projet de contenu; Alain Kemeid, conseiller au contentu; Annie Reeves, directrice développement et production audionumérique; et al.

Laissez-nous raconter l’histoire crochie : Décoloniser l’Histoire un mot à la fois
Radio-Canada
Production Terre Innue en collaboration avec Radio- Canada OHdio; Marie Andrée Gill, animation; Brad Gros-Louis & Karine Lanoie-Brien, co-réalisateurs; Concept : Karine Lanoie-Brien, concept; Isabelle Picard, recherche; Lynne Trépanier, prise de son; et al. 

Spacing Radio
Spacing
Glyn Bowerman, Neil Hinchley, Matthew Blackett

The Big Story
The Big Story
Jordan-Heath Rawlings, Claire Brassard, Stefanie Phillips, Ryan Clarke

BEST PODCAST: ARTS & CULTURE / MEILLEUR BALADO : ARTS ET CULTURE

Cool Mules
Canadaland
Kasia Mychajlowycz, host/reporter/producer; Jesse Brown, producer/co-writer; Jonathan Goldsbie, research; Nathan Burley, music; Chandra Bulucon, sound design/mixing

The Hopeful
The Hopeful
Shayda Omidvar, Portia Larlee, Claire Brassard, Ryan Clarke

Les pires moments de l’Histoire avec Charles Beauchesne – Saison III
URBANIA
Charles Beauchesne, animation; Charles Beauchesne, Odrée Rousseau, François DeGranpré, texte et recherche; Barbara-Judith Caron, réalisation; Lucie Fournaison et Alexandre Sarkis, montage; Raphaëlle Huysmans et Philippe Lamarre, producteurs exécutifs

Off The Chart: Xtra’s L Word podcast
Xtra Magazine
Erica Lenti, Chelle Turingan, co-hosts; Chelle Turingan, producer/audio editor; Rachel Giese, executive producer; KidKulit, music

BEST DIGITAL DESIGN / MEILLEURE CONCEPTION NUMÉRIQUE 

America’s Medical Supply Crisis
Global Reporting Centre
Andrew Munroe & Britney Dennison
Contributors: Martha Mendoza, Juliet Linderman, Britney Dennison, Kate McCormick, Stephane Lavoie, Irena Hwang, Sharon Nadeem, writing/reporting; Britney Dennison, Andrew Munroe, digital producers; Peter Hamlin, illustration; Andrew Munroe, design/development; et al. 

Far Away From Far Away
National Film Board of Canada
Written by Michael Crummey from conversations with Zita Cobb; Bruce Alcock, Jeremy Mendes, creative directors; Produced by the National Film Board of Canada
Contributors: Intergalactic, interactive programming; Ruby Joy, narrator; Shawn Cole, sound design; Justin Simms, director of photography

Gone
The Globe and Mail
Stephanie Nolen, Laura Blenkinsop, Jeremy Agius, Timothy Moore
International Contributor: Félix Márquez

The Uncounted
Toronto Star
Nathan Pilla
Contributors: McKenna Deighton, Andres Plana, Tania Pereira

BEST PHOTO STORYTELLING / MEILLEUR RÉCIT PHOTO

24 Hours Around the World
Air Canada enRoute
Lori Morgan, photo editor; Gabrielle Simpson, senior graphic designer, digital; Thomas Bouquin, photo researcher; Stefanie Sosiak, art director; Nancy Kovacs, product and content manager; Kate Wells, senior digital editor; Jody Sugrue, editor-in-chief; Andrew Elkin, managing editor

Pollinisation extrême – Extreme pollination
BESIDE
Drowster, Eliane Cadieux, Nicolas Gouin, photographes; Eugénie Émond, journaliste

The Frozen Front Line
The Globe and Mail
Louie Palu, Clare Vander Meersch, Christopher Manza, and Globe visuals team

State of erosion: the legacy of Manitoba Hydro
The Narwhal
Aaron Vincent Elkaim, Carol Linnitt, Stephanie Wood, Raina Delisle

In photos: Wet’suwet’en matriarchs arrested as RCMP enforce Coastal GasLink pipeline injunction
The Narwhal
Amber Bracken, Carol Linnitt

Meet the people saving Canada’s native grasslands
The Narwhal
Amber Bracken, Emma Gilchrist

BEST SOCIAL STORYTELLING / MEILLEUR RÉCIT SUR LES MÉDIAS SOCIAUX

Covid Corner
Cabin Radio
Ollie Williams

Canadian stories of COVID-19
CBC News
CBC News Social Team

Grosse Année
RAD
Mathieu Papillon, Nicolas Pham, Alessandra Rigano, journalistes; Johanne Lapierre, rédactrice; Pasquale Harrison-Julien, chef de pupitre; Carolina Cabral, coordonnatrice de production; Ariane Lafleur, stratège; Charles Forti, direction artistique

24 Treats of Christmas
The Globe and Mail
Lori Fazari, Ming Wong, Wenting Li

BEST EDITORIAL NEWSLETTER / MEILLEURE INFOLETTRE EDITORIALE 

Hi, Art!
CBC Arts
Leah Collins

L’actualité politique
L’actualité
Mathieu Carbasse, Alec Castonguay, Pierre Fortin, Philippe J. Fournier, Chantal Hébert, Rafael Jacob, Karel Mayrand et Camille Payant

Le courrier du coronavirus
Le Devoir
Alexis Riopel, Alexandre Shields, Olivier Sylvestre, Claire Dazat

Le courrier américain
Le Devoir
Philippe Papineau, Baptiste Barbe, Stéphane Baillargeon, Carine Touma, Sarah Boumedda et Guillaume Saint-Hilaire

LiisBeth: Dispatch
Liisbeth.com Dispatch
Meral Mohammad Jamal, Lana Pesch, Margaret Webb, pk mutch

Globe Climate Newsletter
The Globe and Mail
Sierra Bein

The Narwhal Newsletter
The Narwhal
Arik Ligeti

The Supplement Newsletter
The Supplement
Samantha McCabe, Alex Nguyen, Sierra Bein

Infolettre Quatre95
URBANIA / Quatre95
Jean-Pierre Bastien, rédaction; Marc-Antoine Jacques, design; Théo Gjini, David Mongeau-Petitpas, intégration

INNOVATION IN DIGITAL STORYTELLING / INNOVATION DE L’ANNEE 

America Votes
CBC News
Richard Grasley, Alisa Mamak, William Wolfe-Wylie and Matt Crider, Andrew Ryan, Meghan Sardesai, Richa Syal, CBC News Labs, Éric Grenier, Benjamin Blum, Alexander Panetta

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
National Film Board of Canada
Jam3; National Film Board of Canada

Far Away From Far Away
National Film Board of Canada
Written by Michael Crummey from conversations with Zita Cobb; Bruce Alcock, Jeremy Mendes, creative directors; Produced by the National Film Board of Canada

Visualisations de données en 3D
Radio-Canada
Naël Shiab, Daniel Blanchette Pelletier, Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski, Francis Lamontagne, Santiago Salcido, Charlie Debons, André Guimaraes, Mathieu St-Laurent, Melanie Julien, Martine Roy

Paddle of the Century
The Doc Project, CBC Radio
Jonathan Ore, Kevin Ball, Lakshine Sathiyanathan, Althea Manasan, Geoff Isaac

Gone
The Globe and Mail
Stephanie Nolen, Laura Blenkinsop, Jeremy Agius, Timothy Moore
International Contributor: Félix Márquez

BEST VIRTUAL EVENT / MEILLEUR ÉVÉNEMENT VIRTUEL

Avenue magazine Top 40 Under 40 Meet the Class of 2020
Avenue
Käthe Lemon, RocketHouse (Steve Klintberg-Nagy and Zoe Klintberg-Nagy), Dallas Flexhaug

AZ Awards Gala 2020
Azure Magazine
Nelda Rodger, Elizabeth Pagliacolo, Vicky Lee, Anna Lin, Kari Silver, Evan Pavka, Mahasti Eslahjou, Wyatt Clough, Paddy Harrington, Tristan Marantos, Jessica Allen, Francesco Sgaramella

Confronting COVID: The National Virtual Town Hall
CBC News
Lara Chatterjee, Angela Naus, Meg Banks, Steve Pennie, Cheryl Brown, Natalie Crowell, Joel Perron

Quel avenir pour les ensembles et paysages patrimoniaux ?
Esquisses, le magazine de l’Ordre des architectes du Québec
Cathy Beauséjour, conseillère en communication (OAQ); Virginie Harvey, coordonnatrice de la formation continue (OAQ); Véronique Bourbeau, directrice des communications et des relations publiques (OAQ); Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec

Ask & Answer: Government Pandemic Support
HuffPost Canada
Althia Raj, host/producer; Amanda De Souza, producer; Stephane Sannuto, director; Allia McLeod, supervising producer; Luisa Cruz, floor director; Sasha Nagy, executive producer; Jessica Zimmerman, post-production supervisor

Microfestival – Pierre Kwenders Live
URBANIA
Pierre Kwenders, artiste; réalisateur Gabriel Lajournade, réalisateur; Nicolas Roy-Bourdages, directeur technique; Alexis Demers Aiguilleur Xavier Havitov, ingénieur son; Natan B. Foisy Antoine Benhini, caméramans; Assistant Caméra Francis Robert; assistant caméra; et al.

EMERGING EXCELLENCE AWARD

Award sponsored by the Reader’s Digest Foundation

This award recognizes an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing demonstrates a high degree of craft and promise. Here are this year’s three talented nominees:

Justine de l’Église
Radio-Canada

Christopher Cheung
The Tyee

Anya Zoledziowski
VICE Canada

GENERAL EXCELLENCE IN DIGITAL PUBLISHING: SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE PUBLICATIONS

This award recognizes the publication that most successfully fulfills their editorial mandate, represents the highest of journalistic standards, and effectively serves their intended audiences—we’re proud to present this year’s outstanding nominees. 

Canadaland
CBC News
Radio-Canada Info
The Globe and Mail
The Local
The Narwhal
The Walrus 
URBANIA

DIGITAL PUBLISHING LEADERSHIP AWARD

After careful consideration, our Board of Directors made the decision to postpone awarding this prestigious award. Rest assured that applications from 2020 will automatically be kept on file and considered for the 2021 awards season. The winner will then be presented, on stage, at the spring 2022 soirée. This was a difficult decision, but we look forward to awarding the Digital Publishing Leadership Award when it is safe for the industry to gather and celebrate. 

CREDIT CHANGES & ADDITIONS 

If you would like to make any credit changes or additions, please send details to info@digitalpublishingawards.ca with subject line “Digital Publishing Awards Credit Change.” The deadline for credit changes and additions is Monday, May 17, 2021 at midnight ET.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The National Media Awards Foundation is incredibly grateful for the support of: the Government of Canada, the Ontario Arts Council and Ontario Creates. We are also thankful for the support of CCR Solutions, Cision and Magazines Canada

A special thank you to the talented Natalie Vineberg, who created this year’s visuals. 

Thank you to Vesselin Stroumsky, for developing the NMAF’s online submissions and judging platforms. 

We are also grateful to our roster of volunteer judges, who lent us their expertise and diligence in evaluating this year’s entries — thank you! To view the full roster of judges, please visit our website

Announcing the Nominees for the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards

The National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) is thrilled to present the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards nominees. The Digital Publishing Awards—now in its fifth year—recognize and promote the excellent work of Canadian digital publications and creators. 

After receiving hundreds of submissions from 150 various publications, our panel of 75 dedicated volunteer judges have arrived at the 2020 nominees. These nominations are the result of a collaborative and rigorous judging process, made possible by the hard work of our esteemed jury members.

2020 DPA NOMINEES

See the complete list of categories and nominees.

EMERGING EXCELLENCE AWARD

The emerging excellence award—which honours an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing demonstrates the utmost degree of craft and promise—nominees for 2020 are: Jane Gerster (Global News),  Jane Lytvynenko (BuzzFeed Canada), and Lakshine Sathiyanathan (CBC Radio).

Each nominee has made an impact on their respective organizations through commitment to outstanding digital journalism. Learn more about their nominations.

GENERAL EXCELLENCE IN DIGITAL PUBLISHING AWARDS

The General Excellence awards recognize the publications that maximize the possibilities of digital publishing; these are the publications that succeed in fulfilling their editorial mandate and represent the highest of journalistic standards. These awards are presented in three divisions: small, medium, and large. 

Liisbeth, The Local, and The Tyee are finalists in the small division. 

Hakai Magazine, Maj, l’actualité pour les jeunes, and The Walrus are finalists in the medium division. 

In the large division, CBC News, Le Devoir (Innovations et élections), and Radio-Canada Information are the nominees. 

NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS

  • Globe and Mail and CBC tie for 1st with 21 nominations (CBC nominations are across various divisions)
  • Radio-Canada is in 3rd with 13 nominations across various divisions
  • All receiving two nominations:
    • Voitures autonomes : qui sauver, qui sacrifier” (Marc Lajoie, Radio-Canada): Best Science and Technology Storytelling and Innovation in Digital Storytelling
    • Undeniable: Canada’s Changing Climate” (The Toronto Star): Best Digital Editorial Package (Staff & Contributors) and Best Digital Design (Cameron Tulk, Nathan Pilla, Mckenna Deighton, Andres Plana and Fadi Yaacoub)
    • Uncover: The Village” (CBC Podcasts): Best Podcast (Justin Ling, Jennifer Fowler, Erin Byrnes, Cesil Fernandes, Mitchell Stuart, Sarah Claydon, Christopher Oke) and Best Social Storytelling (Sarah Claydon, Evan Aagard)
    • Thunder Bay” (The Globe and Mail): Best Digital Editorial Package (Staff & Contributors) and Best News Coverage (Staff & Contributors)
    • Paving a New Road for Rap” (The Globe and Mail): Best Arts & Culture Storytelling (Michelle Siu) and Best Photo Storytelling (Michelle Siu, Jeremy Agius, Melissa Tait and Theresa Suzuki)
    • Are you a distracted driver? Probably. Here’s why” (The Globe and Mail): Best Science and Technology Storytelling (Oliver Moore, Laura Blenkinsop and Christopher Manza) and Innovation in Digital Storytelling (Laura Blenkinsop and Christopher Manza)
PublicationNominations 
The Globe and Mail21
CBC21
Radio-Canada13
The Narwhal8
The Walrus7
Hakai Magazine6
The Tyee5
Le Devoir5
Vice Canada4
The Local4
Maclean’s4

LEADERSHIP AWARD

Award sponsored by the Reader’s Digest Foundation
Prix commandité par la Fondation Reader’s Digest

Dmitry Beniaminov

A pioneer, a godsend, a Google Guy—a clear leader in the field of Canadian digital publishing whose creativity and dedication is inspiring. For this, the National Media Awards Foundation is proud to present Dmitry Beniaminov with the prestigious 2020  Digital Publishing Leadership Award.  [Read more]

CREDIT CHANGES

If you would like to make any credit changes, please send details to info@digitalpublishingaward.ca before Monday, May 4, 2020.

CELEBRATION OF WINNERS

While we are looking forward to congratulating the winners of the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards, unfortunately due to COVID-19, there will not be an in-person awards luncheon this year. We invite members of the digital publishing community to take this brief survey to help us find an alternate solution.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The National Media Awards Foundation is incredibly grateful for the support of: Government of Canada, the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Creates, Reader’s Digest Foundation, and KCK Global. We are also thankful for the support of Cision, Magazines Canada, PUSH Media, Very Good Studios and Vividata.

Our sincerest thanks to this year’s judges, who graciously volunteered their time and expertise, evaluating the hundreds of entries submitted to this year’s competition. 

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact Barbara Gould, Executive Director, at info@digitalpublishingawards.ca.

Announcing the 2019 DPA Nominees

The National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) is thrilled to present the 2019 Digital Publishing Awards nominees. The DPAs—now in their fourth year—recognize and promote the excellent work of Canadian digital publications and creators.

NOMINATIONS SITE
GALA INFO & TICKETS

For 2019, 118 submissions, from 50 various publications, have been nominated. These nominations are the result of a collaborative and rigorous judging process, made possible by our dedicated roster of 80 volunteer judges.

“The Digital Publishing Awards program was launched four years ago, and since, the number of participating publications has more than doubled. An impressive total of 127 publications submitted entries in 2019. It is thrilling to see the enthusiasm for these awards, and exciting to witness the outstanding work of Canadian creators being celebrated by their peers. The NMAF is immensely proud to present the 4th annual DPAs, and look forward to welcoming you all at the Awards Soirée on May 29.” – Julie Cailliau, NMAF President.

On May 29th, the Gold, Silver, and Honourable Mention winners will be revealed at the Soiree, with Gold winners in select categories receiving a $500 cash prize. The Soiree will be held in Toronto at One King West and hosted by award-winning journalist and editor Eternity Martis. Purchase a ticket through digitalpublishingawards.ca to join us for the celebration.

EMERGING EXCELLENCE AWARD

The emerging excellence award—which honours an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing demonstrates the utmost degree of craft and promise—nominees for 2019 are: Sofia Misenheimer of Art/iculation, Natalie Vineberg of The Walrus, and Erin Valois of the National Post.

GENERAL EXCELLENCE IN DIGITAL PUBLISHING AWARDS

The General Excellence awards recognize the publications that maximize the possibilities of digital publishing; these are the publications that succeed in fulfilling their editorial mandate and represent the highest of journalistic standards. These awards are presented in three divisions: small, medium, and large.

The Logic, The Sprawl, and unpointcinq.ca are finalists in the small division.

Hakai Magazine, The Kit, and Maclean’s are finalists in the medium division.

In the large division, CBC News and Le Devoir are the nominees.

FIRST-TIME NOMINEES

A number of publications are first time DPA nominees, including: Art/iculation, BBC News, Ha-Shilth-Sa, LocalLove.ca, Magazine web 100 degrés, Mic Drop, Moneysense, National Post, Calgary Herald, Pastime, Peterborough Currents, QUB radio, Report on Business, Saskatoon StarPhoenix/Regina Leader-Post, SooToday, The Logic, The Narwhal, Unpointcinq.ca, and Yorkregion.com / Markham Economist Sun.

TOP NOMINEES

For 2019, the top nominated publications are CBC News with 18 nominations across various divisions, and The Globe and Mail with 16 nominations.

Hakai earned an impressive 6 nominations, while Maclean’s and Radio-Canada each earned five nominations. Other top-nominated publications include:

PublicationNominations
Global News4
Hazlitt4
VICE Canada4
Le Devoir3
Sportsnet3
The Narwhal3
The Walrus3
VICE Québec3

INDIVIDUAL NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS

“Hustle in the oil patch: Inside a looming financial and environmental crisis” by Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Chen Wang, Renata D’Aliesio, Christopher Manza, Matthew French, John Sopinski, Murat Yükselir, Melissa Tait, Todd Korol, Brennan Higginbotham, and Theresa Suzuki (published in The Globe and Mail) is a finalist in both Best News Coverage and Best Digital Editorial Package.

Air Canada enRoute’s “Canada’s Best News Restaurants” guide is nominated for the fourth year in a row for Best Digital Editorial Package. The guide is also a nominee in the Best Online Video: Short category.

“Follow the Money”—a product of collaboration between the National Post and Calgary Herald teams and led by Zane Schwartz, Brice Hall, and Julie Traves—is nominated for Innovation in Digital Storytelling and Best News Coverage.

LEADERSHIP AWARD

The NMAF is delighted to present Kathy Vey, TVO’s Executive Producer of Digital, with the prestigious 2019 Digital Publishing Leadership Award. Vey’s 37-year career in Canadian journalism spans pivotal roles at media outlets including the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Sun, Queen’s Park Briefing, OpenFile, and TVO.org.


CATEGORIES

Best News Coverage

Toronto Van Attack
William Wolfe-Wylie, Dwight Friesen, Richard Grasley, Hannah Wise, Sannah Choi, Kate Cornick, Farrah Merali, Andre Mayer, Paul Borkwood, David Donnelly, Albert Leung, Martin Trainor, Diana Swain, Ioanna Roumeliotis, Melissa Mancini, and the CBC Toronto digital team
CBC Toronto/CBC News

Fentanyl: Making a killing
Sam Cooper, Andrew Russell, Stewart Bell, Brent Rose, Carolyn Jarvis, Ben Jonah,  James Armstrong, Online Video team, Network News Desk, Global News Graphics Department, Global News Copy Desk, Global News Social Desk
Global News

Campagne électorale québécoise 2018
La rédaction
Le Devoir

Follow the Money
Zane Schwartz, Brice Hall, Julie Traves
Postmedia

Hustle in the oil patch: Inside a looming financial and environmental crisis
Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Chen Wang, Renata D’Aliesio, Christopher Manza, Matthew French, John Sopinski, Murat Yükselir, Melissa Tait, Todd Korol, Brennan Higginbotham, Theresa Suzuki
The Globe and Mail

Best News Coverage (Small Newsroom)

Who was Maggie Sutlej? Humanitarian aid group reaches out to Ahousaht 150 years after wartime abduction of child
Denise Titian
Ha-Shilth-Sa

Réimaginer nos aménagements
Marianne Boire, François Grenier, Françoise Ruby
Magazine web 100 degrés

2018 Sault Ste. Marie Municipal Election Coverage
David Helwig
SooToday

Bankruptcy protection for Sault’s main employer sparks fight over port
David Helwig
SooToday

The Yellow Brick Road to Mount Everest
Sarah Staples, Richard Vandentillaart
Yorkregion.com / Markham Economist Sun

Best Personal Essay

The Waiting Room
Christian Allaire
Hazlitt

The Agony of Intimacy
Chelsea Murray
Hazlitt

A Body Like a Home
Gwen Benaway
Hazlitt

What are land acknowledgements and why do they matter?
Selena Mills, Kat Tancock, Stacy Lee Kon, Chief Lady Bird
LocalLove.ca

I tried to live according to Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life. Here’s what happened
Jessica Leeder, Winnie T. Frick, Bryan Gee, Lisan Jutras
National Post

A dad’s discovery: Raising a child is thankless work
Tim Kiladze, Lisan Jutras
The Globe and Mail

A Dog’s Life
Shawna Richer, Deb Baic
The Globe and Mail

I wanted an abortion in Nova Scotia, but all around, barriers still remained
Jessica Leeder, Winnie T. Frick, Bryan Gee, Lisan Jutras
The Globe and Mail

Mon manège à moi
Anick Lemay
URBANIA

How to Have “the Talk” as a Muslim Father
Yasir Khan, Lauren McKeon, Samia Madwar
The Walrus

Best Column

Queeries
Peter Knegt
CBC Arts

Science
Valérie Borde
L’actualité

Anne Kingston, columns
Anne Kingston
Maclean’s magazine

Jennifer Ditchburn columns
Jennifer Ditchburn
Policy Options

Dorothy Woodend, culture columnist
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee

Chantal Braganza
Chantal Braganza, Sarah Sweet
TVO.org

Best Feature Article: Short

The Water Carriers
Alannah Campbell, Karen Levine, Pauline Holdsworth, Ruby Buiza, Andre Mayer, Lakshine Sathiyanathan
CBC Radio – The Sunday Edition

“My whole life taken away”: Ontario father questions why 24-year-old wife died post-childbirth
Arti Patel, Caryn Lieberman, Beatrice Politi, James Armstrong, Sarah Kelsey, Peter Hadzipetros
Global News

In rural New Brunswick, a transgender woman charts a new path
Lindsay Jones, Matt Brown, Timothy Moore, Scott Munn
The Globe and Mail

The lost summer
Sharon J. Riley, Emma Gilchrist, Carol Linnitt
The Narwhal

Et si on jetait les camions dans le fleuve ?
Rémy Bourdillon
Unpointcinq

Best Digital Editorial Package

Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2018
Gabrielle Simpson, Stephanie Mercier-Voyer, Yvonne Miou, Stefanie Sosiak, Danielle Groen, Sarah Musgrave, Nancy Matsumoto
Air Canada enRoute

Stuck
Sophie Gray, Alexander Kim, Emma Loy, Holly McKenzie-Sutter, Alexander Migdal, Sharon Nadeem, Andrew Seal, Aryn Strickland, Peter Klein, Kathryn Gretsinger, Saranaz Barforoush, Dan McKinney, Britney Dennison, Andrew Munroe, Zak Vescera, David Murawsky, Amanda De Souza, Paul Trundle, Andrew Yates, Andree Lau, Louise Roug
International Reporting Program and HuffPost Canada

Lines of Fire
Leader-Post Team/StarPhoenix Team
Saskatoon StarPhoenix/Regina Leader-Post

Hustle in the oil patch
Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Renata D’Aliesio, Chen Wang, Melissa Tait, Christopher Manza, Matt French, John Sopinski, Todd Korol, Brennan Higginbotham
The Globe and Mail

Sex Ed: Beyond the Classroom
Lauren McKeon, Natalie Vineberg, Judy Ziyi Gu, Viviane Fairbank, Samia Madwar, Angela Misri, Dmitry Beniaminov, Sharon Nadeem, Jackson Weaver, Tajja Isen, Danielle Kinahan, Sebastian Leck, Amy van den Berg, Daina Goldfinger, Allison Baker, Sydney Hamilton, Seila Rizvic, Daniel Viola, Erin Sylvester, Anna Fitzpatrick, Lauren Vogel, Erica Lenti, Yasir Khan, Lindsay Nixon, Sue Carter, Eliza Robertson, Anubha Momin, Kate Sloan
The Walrus

Best Feature Article: Long

Jo Aubin
Shannon Proudfoot
Maclean’s magazine

Croisière, bikinis et cocaïne
Julie Dufresne, Luc Tremblay, Chantal Cauchy, Gaétan Poulio, Éric Larouche, André Guimaraes, Santiago Salcido, Sophie Leclerc
Radio-Canada

Homeland (Parts 1 & 2)
Matthew Halliday, Chelsea Murray
The Deep

Murder on the Prairies
Jana Pruden, Laura Blenkinsop, Danielle Webb, Chris Manza, Victor Dwyer
The Globe and Mail

The Road
Stephanie Nolen, Aaron Vincent Elkaim, Laura Blenkinsop, Christopher Manza, Angela Murphy, Rachel Wine
The Globe and Mail

Fiction

The Shadows
Kaitlin Prest, CBC Podcasts, Phoebe Wang, Sharon Mashihi, Shani Aviram, Yasmine Mathurin, Olivia Pasquarelli, Adriana Komura, Marina Lee Koslock
CBC Podcasts

The Stunt
Michael LaPointe
Hazlitt

Best Service Feature

Back to the land
Andre Mayer, Dave Pizer, Evan Mitsui
CBC News

As a person of colour, it’s a struggle to find therapists who look like you
Arti Patel, Sarah Kelsey, Lina Toyoda
Global News

Hidden Canada
The Globe and Mail, Maryam Siddiqi, Christopher Manza, Rachel Wine, Benjamin MacDonald, Alanna Cavangh
The Globe and Mail

Best Science and Technology Storytelling

Apps Installed On Millions Of Android Phones Tracked User Behavior To Execute A Multimillion-Dollar Ad Fraud Scheme
Craig Silverman
BuzzFeed Canada

The million-dollar drug
Kelly Crowe, Dave Pizer, Craig Chivers
CBC News

The Cavernous World under the Woods
Bruce Grierson, Jude Isabella
Hakai Magazine

The Noose Beneath the Waves
Sasha Chapman, Shanna Baker
Hakai Magazine

The Trees That Sail to Sea
Brian Payton, Jude Isabella
Hakai Magazine

Rio’s Killer Apps
Stephanie Nolen, Rhian John-Hankinson, Jeremy Agius, Laura Blenkinsop, Elisangela Mendonca, Patrick Dell, Angela Murphy, Affan Chowdhry, Rasha Mourtada
The Globe and Mail

Follow the Water: Hidden Cost of a B.C. Town’s Water
Joanne Pearce, Alfred Hermida, Hans Schreier
UBC School of Journalism

Best Online Video: Short

Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2018: Elena
Martin Laporte, Nik Mirus, Marine Créquer, Stefanie Sosiak, Danielle Groen, L’Éloi
Air Canada enRoute

The truth about SugarBearHair vitamins
Roxanna Woloshyn, Anne MacRae, Charlsie Agro, Stephanie Dudley, Dave MacIntosh
CBC News

Endometriosis
Ben Shannon, Danielle d’Entremont, Jeff Goodes, Bria John, Olsy Sorokina, Dawna Dingwall
CBC Radio – White Coat, Black Art

How can I afford a home?
Prajakta Dhopade, Micah Bond, Yan Rosa, Elizabeth Palmieri
MoneySense

L’histoire de la paille
Djavan Habel-Thurton, Francis Lamontagne, Mélanie Julien, Eric Larouche, Martine Roy
Radio-Canada

Mums who scrum
Melissa Tait
The Globe and Mail

Best Arts & Culture Storytelling

The Sexy Sadness Of Sufjan Stevens
Scaachi Koul
BuzzFeed Canada

The Oracle of Oyster River
Brian Payton
Hakai Magazine

Alex Janvier’s colourful life  
Marty Klinkenberg, Amber Bracken
The Globe and Mail

The Magnetism of Sadness and Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison
Josh Visser
VICE Canada

Comment faire son chemin, quand on est trans et actrice
Justine de l’Église
VICE (Quebec)

Best Online Video: Feature

A day in the life of Raptors Photographer — Ron Turenne
David Zelikovitz, Donnovan Bennett
Sportsnet

Hockey is for Everyone: Jessica Platt
Donnovan Bennett, David Zelikovitz
Sportsnet

We the North Grandma
Donnovan Bennett, Graham Runciman, Maggie Naylor, Scott SimpsonSportsnet

In rural New Brunswick, a transgender woman charts a new path
Scott Munn, Lindsay Jones, Matt Brown, Michael Belyea, Timothy Moore
The Globe and Mail

The caribou guardians
Sarah Cox, Jayce Hawkins, Emma Gilchrist, Carol Linnitt
The Narwhal

Les sites de rencontre vus par une artiste trans
Brigitte Noël, Catherine Marineau-Dufresne, Jean-Pierre Bastien, Matt Joycey, Steve Martella
VICE (Québec)

What I didn’t learn in Ontario’s sex-ed curriculum
Corey Misquita, Riley Sparks
Xtra

Best Online Video: Mini-Doc

Canada’s peacekeeping mission in Mali: Who’s fighting and why
Krista Hessey
Maclean’s

Coal Valley: The story of B.C.’s quiet water contamination crisis
Carol Linnitt, Jayce Hawkins, Emma Gilchrist
The Narwhal

Fear and Loading: Meet the NRA’s Most Wanted Customer
Sofi Langis, Manisha Krishnan, Spencer Chumbley, Danny Patterson, Taylor Rivers, Heidi Besner
VICE Canada

Is this the next Standing Rock?
Hilary Beaumont, Alex Craig, Taylor Rivers, Heidi Besner, Rebecca LaFortune, Michelle Latimer, Alex Craig, Jessica Ford, Natalie Alcoba, Tania Natscheff, Josh Marr
VICE News Canada

Souldia : à double tranchant
Simon Coutu, Jean-Pierre Bastien, Zacharie Fay, David Valiquette, William Gignac, Maude M. Ouellet
VICE (Québec)

Where have all the spaces for queer women in Toronto gone?Corey Misquita, Riley Sparks, Lulu Wei, Eric Wright
Xtra

Best Podcast

Front Burner
Jayme Poisson, Chris Berube, Elaine Chau, Shannon Higgins, Derek Vanderwyk, Nick McCabe-Lokos
CBC News

Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo
Connie Walker, Marnie Luke, Jennifer Fowler, Mieke Anderson, Heather Evans
CBC News

Love Me
Mira Burt-Wintonick, Cristal Duhaime, Sarah Geis
CBC Podcasts

Uncover: Escaping NXIVM
Josh Bloch, Kathleen Goldhar, Anita Elash, Heather Evans, Mieke Anderson
CBC Podcasts

CBC Mic Drop
Shari Okeke, Carrie Haber, Cristal Duhaime, Jess Shane
Mic Drop

Peterborough Currents
Ayesha Barmania, Will Pearson
Peterborough Currents

En 5 minutes
Charles Trahan, Baptiste Zapirain, Benjamin Bourque, Hélène Laurin, Frédéric Guindon
QUB radio

Rap carcéral
Simon Coutu, Alain Loiselle, Dice B, Laurent K. Blais
Radio-Canada Première (produit par VICE)

Best Digital Design

Universités : payer plus pour avoir moins?
Naël Shiab, Santiago Salcido
CBC/Radio-Canada

On a redessiné le Québec
Marc Lajoie, Melanie Julien, Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski, Santiago Salcido, Martine Roy
Radio-Canada

Toronto Star’s Featured Projects Portfolio
Fadi Yaacoub, Cameron Tulk, David Schnitman, Nathan Pilla, Tania Pereira
The Toronto Star

Best Photo Storytelling

Black in Canada: 10 stories
Jalani Morgan, Robin Levinson King, Jessica MurphyBBC News – Canada bureau

Us Too
Geneviève Caron, Lindsay Siu, Tavia Grant, Dawn Calleja, Clare Vander Meersch, Jeremy Agius
Report on Business magazine

Living in limbo
Renaud Philippe, Jeremy Agius, Matt French, Theresa Suzuki, Patrick Dell, Michelle Zilio, Carol Toller, Carine Abouseif, Tu Thanh Ha
The Globe and Mail

Proms from coast to coast
Ming Wong, Jeremy Agius, Theresa Suzuki, Melissa Tait, Jackie Dives, Darren Calabrese, Todd Korol, Caroline Alphonso
The Globe and Mail

Best Social Storytelling

As It Happens 50th anniversary animations
Ben Shannon, Kate Swoger, Sheena Goodyear
CBC Radio – As It Happens

Escaping NXIVM
Megan Griffith-Greene, Charles Fogel, Anne MacRae, Micheline Parent, Irene Thomaidis, Evan Aagaard, Josh Bloch
CBC News

#FirstTimeIWasCalled
Farah Nasser, Erica Vella, Ben Jonah, Eric Mark Do, Dean Hayashi, Mike Lapalme, Chris MacDougall, Trevor Owens, Lacy Atalick, Michael Hutchinson, Samantha Turchan, Nida Omar, Jessica Maxwell, Drew Hasselback, Shauna Rempel, Simon Osler, Brian McKechnie, Mackay Taggart
Global News

Pay equity social sells
Elizabeth Palmieri, Jason Kirby, and Scott Simpson
Maclean’s

Weed did it.
Sasha Kalra, Daman Lamba, Jill Krajewski, Laura Lloyd, Kate McKerroll, Tyler Hughes, Victoria Pandeirada
VICE Canada

Best Editorial Newsletter

What on Earth?
Emily Chung, Andre Mayer, Nicole Mortillaro
CBC News

Hakai Magazine Weekly Newsletter
Adrienne Mason, Raina Delisle, David Garrison, Mark Garrison, Josh Silberg
Hakai Magazine

Le courrier électoral
Geneviève Tremblay, Stéphane Baillargeon, Cédric Gagnon, Jean-Philippe Corbeil, Simon Poirier
Le Devoir

Pastime, Season One
Nathaniel Basen, Adam Anshan, Cody Gault, Paul Thompson, Colin McGowan, Sam Riches, Josh Tucker, Mike Piellucci, Sarah Brown, Glenn Harvey, Kyle Scott, Alex Mathers, Joe Wolfond, Paul Kim
Pastime

Innovation in Digital Storytelling

Forever Changed
William Wolfe-Wylie, Dwight Friesen, Richard Grasley, Sannah Choi, Kate Cornick, Farrah Merali, Andre Mayer, Paul Borkwood, David Donnelly, Albert Leung, Martin Trainor
CBC News

Because News Alexa Game
Elizabeth Bowie, Gavin Crawford, Ian Cauthery
CBC Radio’s Because News

Toronto Votes
Victoria Valido, Chris Glover, Laura Green, David Allmark, T.J. Heideman, Bob Weiers, Julia Whalen, Lauren Pelley, Lisa Xing, Farrah Merali, Talia Ricci, Nick Boisvert, John Rieti, Matt Elliott
CBC Toronto

Follow the Money
Zane Schwartz, National Post & Calgary Herald teams
National Post and Calgary Herald

Olympics interactive graphics
Timothy Moore, Christopher Manza, Trish McAlaster
The Globe and Mail

CREDIT CHANGES: If you would like to make any credit changes, please send details to info@digitalpublishingawards.ca before May 9, 2019.

DIGITAL PUBLISHING AWARDS SOIRÉE

Join us on May 29th when we present the Gold, Silver, and Honourable Mention awards at the 4th annual Digital Publishing Awards Soiree. The Soiree will be held at One King West, and Eternity Martis will host. Martis’ work has helped shape the language used in newsrooms across Canada, is discussed in mainstream media, changed policies on racism and is taught on academic syllabuses at Western University, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.

Tickets on sale at digitalpublishingawards.ca.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The National Media Awards Foundation is incredibly grateful for the support of: Government of Canada, the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Creates, Reader’s Digest Foundation, and KCK Global. We are also thankful for the support of Cision, Magazines Canada, PUSH Media, Very Good Studios and Vividata.

Our sincerest thanks to this year’s judges, who graciously volunteered their time and expertise, evaluating the hundreds of entries submitted to this year’s competition.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIESFor sponsorship inquiries, please contact Barbara Gould, Executive Director, at info@digitalpublishingawards.ca.

Kathy Vey to Receive the 2019 Digital Publishing Leadership Award

The NMAF is delighted to announce that TVO Executive Producer of Digital Kathy Vey is the 2019 recipient of the Digital Publishing Leadership Award, which honours an individual whose career contributions to Canadian digital publishing deserve recognition and celebration. Vey will receive her award—the highest individual distinction from the Digital Publishing Award program—at the DPA Soirée on May 29th.

Kathy Vey’s 37-year career in Canadian journalism spans pivotal roles at media outlets including the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Sun, Queen’s Park Briefing, OpenFile, and TVO.org. Vey grew up in Toronto’s east end and began working at the Toronto Sun while still a teenager. In 1988, she jumped to the Star, where she soon became an assistant national editor.

After taking a 1993 buyout from the Star, Vey worked as a freelance writer for Canadian Gardening magazine and spent a couple of years editing at the Ottawa Citizen before returning to Toronto and the Star in 1998. She then served as a deputy city editor, a news editor, and the team editor of training and development. In the latter role, she headed up the Star’s first multimedia training program, an intensive weeklong effort that introduced many editorial staff members to the rapidly emerging potential of digital journalism.

“Having Kathy on your team meant there was someone there who could take on the toughest and most complex assignments.”

John Ferri, TVO Vice-president of Current Affairs & Documentaries and Vey’s longtime colleague

In 2010, she left the Toronto Star again to join the team launching OpenFile, an innovative online news startup that prioritized local reporting and audience engagement. As the founding editor-in-chief, Vey guided OpenFile’s development and in less than two years established a core team of editors and freelance writers while building readership in major cities across Canada. She hired a cohort of young reporters, whom she sought to mentor and empower. “Journalists in nearly every city we operated in, from Ottawa to Calgary to Halifax, have similar stories to tell about her support and advice in building a career in journalism,” says TVO Digital Editor Chantal Braganza, who adds she gained invaluable experience working for Vey at OpenFile.

“She offered a guiding hand in shaping stories and facilitating skills development, but left city editors to manage their own teams, experiment endlessly with tools and engage constantly with audiences. That required a skillset uncommon to many newsroom leaders, particularly those in Canada’s nascent digital startup space,” says Maclean’s Digital Editor Nick Taylor-Vaisey, whose journalism career began with Vey at OpenFile.

“Everyone who runs a newsroom should lead by Kathy’s proven example. To use a sports analogy: she drafts prospects and turns them into all-stars, and no matter which team she leads, they’re contenders while she’s at the helm.”

Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Maclean’s Digital Editor

“She led a small newsroom and encouraged it to take risks and think of new ways of engaging with an audience. She was a tremendous editor and mentor for the young journalists we were lucky to hire,” confirms BuzzFeed News Media Editor Craig Silverman, who worked closely with Vey for two years at OpenFile. Silverman cites the development of “The Poppy File” as a key example of her leadership style. The award-winning project resulted from Vey’s encouragement of OpenFile contributing editor Patrick Cain, who had been collecting the names of Torontonians who died in World War II. Vey devised an interactive map to show where each of the more than 3,000 people had lived in the city, working closely with the product team to realize an innovative data visualization. The resulting interface was not only attractive and functional, but offered a platform for OpenFile reporters to share some of the stories revealed through the project. (Though no longer active on OpenFile, a version of the project is viewable here.)

“The Poppy File” was praised by Toronto mayor David Miller, won a Canadian Online Publishing Award, and earned National Magazine Award and Online Journalism Award nominations. The Guardian’s former data editor Simon Rogers called the project “the pinnacle of what data journalism is supposed to be about.” The project “came together because Kathy immediately saw the potential and brought everyone together,” says Silverman.

OpenFile.ca was a significant and extraordinary achievement… Kathy helped put into practice many of the theories and ideas that are seen as crucial to the evolution of journalism in the age of digital disruption: community engagement and emphasis on social media, the notion of journalists as curators of information and not just news-gatherers, and data-based interactivity,” says John Ferri, TVO Vice-president of Current Affairs & Documentaries and Vey’s longtime colleague. “It’s no exaggeration to say that she has played an instrumental role in building a bridge to the future of journalism in Canada.”

After OpenFile, Vey joined Torstar’s Queen’s Park Briefing as executive editor. According to Ferri, the fledgling online publication—aimed at a politically inclined professional audience—was “in desperate need of a steady hand” when she took the reins. She transformed it within six months. “Kathy believed that there was a role for smart, policy-focused journalism that was willing to look outside of the daily news cycle—and that people would be willing to pay for it—and she was right,” says TVO Columnist John Michael McGrath, who was among the team Vey brought on board.

In 2013, Vey became a part-time instructor at Ryerson University, a natural progression from her newsroom mentoring in earlier years. She was appointed Rogers Journalist in Residence, during which time she developed the Canadian Press Style Coach, a prototype e-learning program designed to help journalists—both emerging and established—master the CP style guide.

“Kathy has consistently demonstrated exactly the kind of values our industry needs, both to meet the challenges of a changing business environment and developing the talent that will tell the stories of the future.”

John Michael McGrath, TVO Columnist

For the past three and a half years, Vey has worked as the Executive Producer, Digital, at TVO, where she oversees all content produced for the web, including daily articles, short video, editorial newsletters, and podcasts, as well as the journalistic social media accounts. “She has been key to the evolution of TVO’s digital presence,” affirms Ferri. “In sum, Kathy Vey has been a catalyst for change. She has a superb analytical mind and is a master of newsgathering logistics. She has demonstrated a clear and cohesive vision of the future of journalism in the digital space. She has shifted easily from working in large traditional media to startups. She is a creative and innovative individual, an industry leader. She is loved and respected by her peers and staff. She has a tremendous wit and style. This kind of passion for our craft deserves to be recognized and fostered.”

For her leadership, innovation, and dedication to Canadian digital publishing, the NMAF is honoured to present Kathy Vey with the 2019 Digital Publishing Leadership Award.

Nominations for the 2019 Digital Publishing Awards will be announced tomorrow at 10am EST. The Digital Publishing Leadership Award will be presented at the 4th Annual DPA Soirée on May 29th in Toronto. Tickets will be available for purchase on May 2nd at digitalpublishingawards.ca.