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RSJ Alumni, Faculty and Students Celebrated for Excellence in Journalism

By: Ana Leal Cornejo
June 14, 2020
Title screen of the award winning documentary Trafficked.

Title screen of Trafficked, a documentary created by RSJ students Sarah Chew, Katie Swyers, Martha Currie and Stephanie Liu, which won the CAJ Student Award of Excellence.  

The Ryerson School of Journalism celebrates our alumni, faculty and students who have recently been awarded for their journalistic innovation and excellence.

Congratulations to our community members who have been recognized by the National Magazine Awards: B2B (external link) , The Canadian Association of Journalism (CAJ) (external link) , Digital Publishing Awards (external link) ,  News Media Canada (external link) , National Magazine Awards (external link) , Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario Media Awards (external link) , Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) (external link) ,  and Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) (external link)  regional awards.

National Magazine Awards: B2B

On May 20, 2020 National Magazine Awards: B2B awarded Pivot, CPA Canada with an impressive grand total of 9 medals including a gold medal for best issue and silver medal for best cover for their “Hi, I’m Mike” issue.

“It was nice to be recognized for all the work our excellent team put into every issue of Pivot. Behind every nominated entry is a writer, editor, photographer, designer, fact checker and more, so to receive nine awards is validation that we're heading in the right direction—and an encouragement to keep giving it our best,” said Luc Rinaldi (RSJ ’14), former Pivot editor and writer.

The Pivot Team which included Rinaldi, fellow RSJ alumni Bryan Borzykowski and Brenda Bouw, as well as Brian Friedrich, Laura Friedrich and John Lorinc were also awarded a gold medal for best series of articles for (PDF file)  Foresight: Future Proof; Opening Gambit; Back to the Future (external link) .

Rinaldi was also awarded with a silver medal for best profile of a company for his story Transforming America’s game, and a silver medal for best feature article: professional for (PDF file)  Inspector Gadget (external link) .

Other RSJ alumni were also recognized by National Magazine Awards: B2B.

Diane Peters (RSJ ‘96) won a gold medal for best profile of a person for her article Anne Innis Dagg gets her due (external link)  in University Affairs which details the life and struggles of Dr. Dagg, a ground-breaking biologist who faced gender discrimination through out her career.

Kelsey Rolfe (RSJ ‘14)won a silver medal for best feature article: trade, alongside Tom DiNardo, Bryan Bergen and Dawn Fraser for their story Social standing (external link)  in CIM Magazine.

The gold medal for best news coverage was awarded to the team behind The Many Sides of Sidewalk Toronto (external link)  which included Elizabeth Pagliacolo (RSJ ’02), John Lorinc, Stefan Novakovic and Bianca Wylie.

The Canadian Association of Journalism Awards

The CAJ had a total of 343 entry submissions for the 2019 awards program, and the RSJ community was well-represented among the winners.

The CAJ student award for excellence was awarded to RSJ students Sarah Chew, Katie Swyers, Martha Currie and Stephanie Liu for their RSJ doc Trafficked.

“I’m so humbled to have been able to work with these amazing women for this documentary. Every single person on this team put their whole heart into the project. We knew how important it was to tell these stories and we wanted to make sure that we did it right, so there was no doubt that all of us gave it 110%,” said Stephanie Liu.

Liu believes her academic career with RSJ prepared the team to create an important and powerful project.

“All of the skills that we learned in the past four years were put to the test in this project - fact-checking, camera work, video editing - this project really pushed us. On top of this, we were challenged with creating a piece that would give a platform to these survivors, so I think just trying to make sure that we reported this in an accurate and respectful manner,” she said. 

Martha Currie, camera operator for the project, expressed gratitude for the recognition and reiterated the importance of Trafficked.

“We were thrilled to receive this unexpected award. It is an honour to give these women a platform to share their story and hopefully, open a bigger dialogue about domestic human trafficking. We really appreciate the Canadian Association of Journalists’ time and attention. Thank you,” Currie said. 

RSJ students and alumni were also awarded by CAJ for data journalism for their collaboration on the national investigation Tainted Water (external link) .

The project, which RSJ students participated in initially as part of their investigative journalism class at Ryerson, made history as the largest journalistic collaboration in Canada. The collaborative model brought 10 media organizations and nine universities together to investigate tap water in Ontario.

“This is a great testament to the model of collaborative student journalism that we have built over the last decade at Ryerson University. In that time, dozens of stories have moved from the investigative classroom to the front pages and television screens of major Canadian media, impacting public policy, enlightening Canadians and giving young journalists a remarkable opportunity to do powerful work,” said Robert Cribb, RSJ instructor and Toronto Star investigative reporter.

The JHR/ CAJ award for human rights reporting was presented to Emma McIntosh (RSJ ’18) and Mike DeSouza for their piece in the Toronto Star and National Observer, How Alberta kept Fort Mckay First Nation in the dark about a toxic cloud from the oilsands (external link) .

Digital Publishing Awards

Several RSJ alumni were also recognized by The Digital Publishing Awards, announced on May 27, 2020.

The gold award for best news coverage (community publication) was presented to senior editor at Xtra, Erica Lenti (RSJ ‘15), alongside Rachel Giese and a team of contributors at Xtra magazine for their work on Rainbow Voices 2019: LGBTQ2S (external link) .

“It's a tremendous honour to have that work recognized by the Digital Publishing Awards, and I'm thrilled to have been awarded,” said Erica Lenti.

“Rainbow Votes 2019 was a project covering Canada's 2019 federal election through an LGBTQ2S lens at Xtra. Federal election coverage has historically lacked examinations of diversity and representation, and being able to bring some of that coverage to the table felt especially pertinent at a time when we had federal party leaders still debating the merits of gay marriage,” Lenti said. “We reached out to every out LGBTQ2S politician running in the election, held leaders to account and offered analysis on the issues that faced queer and trans voters.”

Xtra also received a gold medal for best editorial newsletter which was presented to a team including Allison Baker (RSJ ’16).

Gold awards were also presented to:

Madeleine White (RSJ ’11) Lindsay Jones and Darren Calabrese won a silver award for best feature article: short for their Globe and Mail piece ‘It’s up to us’: A Mi’kmaq mother’s killing drives Cape Breton community to action (external link) .

Silver award for best service feature was presented to the team behind Maclean’s 2019 Federal election platform guide (external link) , including Colin Campbell, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Alireza Naraghi and RSJ alumni Charlie Gillis and Aaron Hutchins.

The team behind CBC Podcasts Uncover: The Village (external link) , which included RSJ alumni Arif Noorani and Erin Byrnes, won a silver award for best podcast and a gold medal for best social storytelling.

The award-winning series follows an investigation into Toronto’s Gay Village as several murder cases are re-opened after decades of disappearing men in the area.

News Media Canada

The 29th annual Edward Goff Penny Award was presented to Zak Vescera and RSJ alum Nick Dunne for his work at the Standard-Freeholder in Cornwall, Ont. for the small market category.

Dunne’s submissions included a piece about the Cornwall Innovation Centre and its first two years in business as well as three other submissions focused on Indigenous communities and language.

Dunne donated his prize money to organizations in Akwesasne and Cornwall, saying in a Twitter thread (external link) : “When we ask so much of our sources, especially sources whose relationships with media have more less existed as an extension of colonial powers asserting themselves, it is only fair they ask us of our intentions, our knowledge base, our motives.”

National Magazine Awards

The National Magazine Awards announced on June 12, 2020 that the gold winner for editor grand prix would be presented to RSJ alumna Jocelyn Bell (class of 2000), for the re-envisioning of Broadview (external link)  magazine.

During the virtual ceremony Bell, who is the editor and publisher at Broadview said in part, “Thank you so much for this award. It is a huge honour and first time -- I am told --for an editor of a faith-based magazine in Canada. Last year we rebranded from United Church Observer to Broadview in an effort to reach more people beyond our church-going subscribers. Receiving this award feels like a validation of that effort. The whole team at Broadview deserves recognition.”

The magazine has undergone four rebrands since its conception in 1829 and has earned international recognition for its journalistic excellence as well as the most editorial awards of any Canadian faith-based publication.

The silver winner in the long-form feature writing category went to writer Kyle Edwards (RSJ ’17) and editor Charlie Gillis (RSJ ’93) for Not a Drop to Drink (external link)  in Maclean’s. 

The gold winner in the essays category went to writer Naomi Skwarna and editor Haley Cullingham (RSJ ’11) for The Swimming Pool Library (external link)  in Hazlitt.

The gold winner in the fiction category went to writer Anthony Oliveira and editor Jordan Ginsberg (RSJ ’10) for Dayspring (external link)  in Hazlitt.

The gold winner in the personal journalism category went to writer Zander Sherman, for  (PDF file) Forged by Fire (external link)  in Report on Business with RSJ alumni Dawn Calleja as handling editor and Catherine Dowling as fact checker. 

The gold winner for illustration went to Winnie Truong for The Great Question Machine (external link)  in Hazlitt with handling editor Haley Cullingham (RSJ ’11).

The gold winner for photojournalism & photo essay went to photographers Roger Lemoyne and Rémy Bourdillon for Who Owns Colombia’s Gold? (external link)  in The Walrus with art director Paul Kim and RSJ alum and handling editor Daniel Viola. 

Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario Media Awards

Laura Whelan and RSJ Masters program alumna Laura Hensley were awarded for their work on the four-part series Doctor-prescribed addiction: How these Canadians got hooked on opioids (external link)  for Global News. The RNAO awarded Hensley and Whelan for best story (online).

The series explores the opioid epidemic and influence of the pharmaceutical industry over the Canadian health-care system.

The Canadian Journalism Foundation

Congratulations to RSJ alumna Elizabeth Renzetti on being awarded the Landsberg award for her work on The Globe and Mail.

“It’s a huge honour for me to receive the Landsberg Award from the Canadian Journalism Foundation. Particularly, because Michele Landsberg has been such a huge inspiration for me over my career for her ground-breaking feminist journalism,” said Renzetti in her acceptance speech during the virtual ceremony on June 11.

“When I was a student reporter at Ryerson, I was the women’s issues reporter—a job nobody else wanted. I had a copy of [Michele Landsberg’s] book Women and Children First on my bookshelf, and it was immensely inspirational to me then as it continues to be now, so thank you,” Renzetti said. 

Society of Professional Journalists DC Chapter Dateline awards

Congratulations to Sasha-Ann Simons (RSJ ’11) and Gabe Bullard on their SPJ Dateline award in the radio, non-breaking news category, for her WAMU piece: “They Relied on Lyft Rides for Groceries. Now These Seniors Must Find Another Way.” (external link) 

Simons, Jeffrey Katz and Tyrone Turner were also finalists in the radio features category for “D.C. Jazz Lovers Find Their Groove in Offbeat Places.” (external link) 

Radio Television Digital News Association

Lastly, the RTDNA recognizes excellence in radio, television, and digital journalism. A big round of applause to alumni in newsrooms across Canada who were recognized by these regional and national awards. You can find more about the winning teams here (external link) . 

Congratulations to all the journalists recognized for their exceptional achievements this year!

 

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