Nominations are now open for Amnesty International Canada’s 2023-2024 Media Awards.
First held in 1996, the Amnesty International Canada Media Awards celebrate excellence in human rights storytelling by Canada-based journalists and Canadian journalists reporting abroad. Past Media Award winners include some of the most recognizable and groundbreaking players in Canadian journalism, from the CBC’s Anna Maria Tremonti and former Globe and Mail foreign correspondent Stephanie Nolen, to student journalists shining a light on powerful human rights stories with connections to campus.
While no ceremony is slated for the 2024 instalment of the Media Awards, organizers are planning an in-person awards ceremony for 2025, when Amnesty International Canada will celebrate the Media Awards’ 30th year.
“The job of reporting on human rights has changed enormously over the lifetime of the Media Awards, but the need to champion human rights journalism is as great today as it has ever been,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section.
“We are inspired by the creativity, adaptability and dogged determination of journalists striving to uncover human rights stories in the face of industry turmoil and, in some cases, threats to their own well-being. These stories would not enter public consciousness without them.”
How to submit a nomination
To be eligible for consideration, entries must have been published or broadcast in Canada between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. Please review the categories below as you prepare your submissions.
Contributors may nominate more than one work or make submissions for more than one category (up to a maximum of three TOTAL submissions per person). One may submit their own work or nominate a piece on the creator’s behalf. (Please get the person’s or group’s express and written permission before nominating them for an Amnesty International Canada Media Award.)
Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
A distinguished panel of judges will evaluate the submissions. Entries will be assessed on the quality and depth of the reporting and storytelling, how they centre the voices and agency of the people and communities at the heart of the issue, and how they present possible solutions.
Entries must be submitted at www.amnesty.ca/media-awards using the electronic form, making sure all the required fields are filled out. Please ensure you have URLs for your media work and to give permission for your work to be reviewed by the judges and highlighted in Amnesty’s communications.
Amnesty International Canada Media Awards categories for 2023-2024
National Written News Story: A written story of approximately 3,500 words or less on a current or breaking news story relating to a human rights issue.
Local/Alternative Media Story: A written story of approximately 3,500 or less on a current or breaking news story relating to a human rights issue. (Usually, alternative publications or outlets have a mandate to highlight stories and perspectives that are overlooked or underrepresented in the mainstream press.)
Mixed Media: A web or social media-based story that features at least three of the following elements: text, photography, video, audio, animation, data visualization. The text of the story should be no longer than 3,500 words.
Short-Form Video: A filmed news story of no longer than 10 minutes relating to a human rights issue.
Long-Form Video: A filmed documentary or current affairs segment with a runtime of more than 10 minutes relating to a human rights issue. The total runtime should not exceed 80 minutes.
Long-Form Radio: A radio documentary or current affairs program with a maximum runtime of approximately 80 minutes highlighting a human rights issue.
Long-Form Podcast: A podcast episode with a maximum runtime of approximately 80 minutes highlighting a human rights issue.
Post-Secondary Youth Award: A text, audio, video or mixed media story about a human rights issue created by a student attending a post-secondary school in Canada. The piece must have been published or broadcast by a media outlet associated with a post-secondary institution.
2022-2023 Amnesty International Canada Media Awards Winners
- Local/Alternative: “The last of the untamed: Wedzin Kwa and the Wet’suwet’en fight to save her,” Brandi Morin, with photographs by Amber Bracken, Ricochet
- Long-Form Audio: Ep. 1, “The death of an icon,” The Kill List, Mary Lynk, Ilina Ghosh, and the team at CBC Podcasts
- Mixed Media: “The complicated truth about pipelines crossing Wet’suwet’en territory,” Matt Simmons, with maps by Shawn Parkinson, The Narwhal
- National Written News: “Children of former guard at Canadian embassy in Kabul attacked in Pakistan as family waits for help from Ottawa,” Janice Dickson, The Globe and Mail
- Post-Secondary Youth: “Transforming Indigenous healthcare, one person at a time,” Anne Fu, The Queen’s Journal
- Short-Form Video: “You can say ‘Hockey is for everyone.’ Or you can join the fight to ensure that’s true,” Donnovan Bennett, with cinematography by David Zelikovitz, Sportsnet
