The National Media Awards Foundation is proud to announce that Yannick Pinel of Radio-Canada is the winner of the 2022 Digital Publishing Leadership Award. This award celebrates a creator whose career contributions to Canadian digital publishing deserve formal recognition, and it is the Digital Publishing Awards’ highest individual distinction.
Yannick Pinel began his career as a journalist with the weekly newspapers of TC média (then called Transcontinental). Thanks to his strong interest in digital technology and his growing expertise in the field, he inherited mandates for the transformation of press rooms in the four corners of Québec. During that time, he was Regional Director of Information and then Director of Information Projects. With this background, Yannick was appointed editor-in-chief of Métro, where he knew how to surround himself with the right people and give this daily newspaper a real web strategy.
Recruited in 2017 by Radio-Canada as Director of Digital Editorial Strategy, he is now one of the main people in charge of digital innovation for the state-owned corporation. Many of his team’s digital stories have won awards and are among the most widely read in Radio-Canada history. He assists multiple sectors of the company when it comes to large digital projects. The content of Radio-Canada’s new culinary platform, “Mordu,” is also under his responsibility.
Under Yannick Pinel’s leadership, his team at Radio-Canada has created a number of renowned works, such as “Dénaturer la #nature sur Instagram,” which won gold in Long-Form Feature Writing at the 2020 National Magazine Awards and “Bibelot et bingo : la vieillesse vue autrement,” which received an honourable mention at the 2021 Digital Publishing Awards. Yannick was also helped to spearhead Empreintes, a platform for digital stories that highlight Canadian places and the people who live there.
What truly speaks to Pinel’s strong leadership is the impact he has had on everyone who has worked with or under him. Yannick’s colleagues describe how Yannick rallies people of all different backgrounds in the industry together, with the goal of always setting the bar higher, and that he is a true inspiration to young professionals. Justine de l’Église recounts how, in her first meeting with Yannick, Yannick said that he would help Justine reach her full potential; she went on to win a National Magazine Award for “Dénaturer la #nature sur Instagram” and states that Yannick helped her to “dare more and to believe in [her] ideas.”
It’s no wonder, then, that his team at Radio-Canada has tripled in size since he began as Director of Digital Editorial Strategy, says Yannick’s colleague, Claudia Timmins. “It is said that those who can surround themselves with the best, are the best leaders. Yannick is the perfect example of this. He has a certain flair to discover young talent and nurture them within the company.”
Yannick has developed an incredible team at Radio-Canada, and Émilie Larivée-Tourangeau attributes the team’s success to Yannick’s management and expertise:
“Every project from Yannick’s team is a success, from Empreintes to Mordu, through different and engaging storytelling. And if we can talk about success, it is because, as a manager, Yannick was able to encourage his staff and colleagues to surpass themselves, by sharing his expertise to benefit their creativity.”
– Émilie Larivée-Tourangeau,
Content Director
Digital Media, Radio-Canada
Yannick has accomplished much in his career and continues to be a trailblazer in the digital publishing industry. Congratulations to Yannick for winning the Digital Publishing Leadership Award!
Previous Leadership Award Winners
2020 – Dmitry Beniaminov
2019 – Kathy Vey
2018 – Brodie Fenton
2017 – Kenny Yum