Media Awards

THE 30TH ANNUAL AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CANADA MEDIA AWARDS

Nominations are now open for the 30th annual Amnesty International Canada Media Awards.

First handed out in 1996, the Media Awards recognize excellence in human rights reporting by Canada-based journalists and Canadian journalists reporting abroad. Past winners include some of the most celebrated Canadian reporters of the past three decades, such as the CBC’s Ana Maria Tremonti and former Globe and Mail foreign correspondent Stephanie Nolen, as well independent and student journalists whose outstanding work elevated them to the national stage.

To be eligible for consideration, entries must have been published or broadcast in Canada between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. Please review the categories below as you prepare your submissions.

Nominations are open in multiple categories, with a maximum of three total submissions per person. Journalists may nominate their own work or that of others (with express written permission).

A distinguished jury will evaluate entries based on journalistic excellence, depth of storytelling, amplification of voices at the heart of the issue, and the framing of solution.

For more information about the Amnesty International Canada Media Awards, please contact Cory Ruf, Media Officer, Amnesty International Canadian Section (English-Speaking), 416-363-9933 x 344, mediaawards@amnesty.ca.

Submissions will now be accepted until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, August 17, 2025.

Amnesty International Canada is thrilled to announce the winners of its 30th annual Media Awards, a celebration of the best human rights reporting by Canada-based journalists and Canadian journalists working abroad.

Among the winners are richly reported, expertly told stories digging into the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s struggle to defend its rights and territory, the heartrending plight of a Hazara Afghani family dreaming of freedom and safety in Canada, and the bewildering disappearance and death, and growing legacy, of human rights defender Karima Baloch.

Every year we invite reporters, editors, student journalists and media outlets across Canada to send their best human-rights-focused work.

Amnesty International Canada will hand out the honours on Thursday, October 19 in Toronto at the organisation’s first in-person Media Awards ceremony since 2019.

2024/2025 Winners

National Written News Story

“Breaking the Silence”
Kena Shah

This Magazine, November-December 2023 Issue

Local/Alternative Media

“Breaking the Silence”
Kena Shah

This Magazine, November-December 2023 Issue

Category Here

“Breaking the Silence”
Kena Shah

This Magazine, November-December 2023 Issue

Media Awards Judges

Our distinguished panel of judges evaluates the submissions. Entries are 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.

Chris Arsenault

Dr. Chris Arsenault is Chair of the Master of Media in Journalism & Communication Program at Western University. Before entering academia, he was an international correspondent with Thomson Reuters, Al Jazeera and other outlets, filing stories from five continents.

Cory Ruf

Cory Ruf is the media officer with Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section. A former journalist, he has reported for CBC Hamilton, the Victoria Times Colonist and the United Church Observer magazine. “A Taste of Tolerance,” his January 2012 feature for the United Church Observer, won an Amnesty International Canada Media Award in the Local/Alternative category.

Donnovan Bennett

Donnovan Bennett is a TV and radio host, producer, writer, and content creator, his work often touching on the intersections between sports, race, politics, gender, and pop culture. Bennett’s multiplatform dexterity has earned him some of the highest honours in Canadian media, including a Lester B. Pearson Award, a Ted Rogers Award, a Black Excellence Award, and a RTDNA Canada Award. He won the Amnesty International Canada Media Award in the Short-Form Video category in both 2023 and 2024.

Jillian Kestler-D’Amours

Jillian Kestler-D’Amours is a Montreal-based reporter and editor with Al Jazeera English online. She previously worked at The Canadian Press, CBC Montreal, and the Toronto Star. She also has reported from across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in the U.S., South America, Asia, and Europe. A three-time Amnesty International Canada Media Awards recipient, she reports primarily on human rights, global conflict and Canadian foreign policy.

Meg Wilcox

Meg Wilcox is an award-winning podcaster who teaches Journalism and Digital Media at Mount Royal University in Calgary. Her research and journalistic work explores how podcasting can help underserved communities and individuals tell stories in ways that reflect their lived experience and values. Before joining MRU, Meg spent nearly a decade travelling the country as a reporter, producer, and host (CBC, iPolitics, CTV, Banff Centre Radio, CKUA). Her first book, The New Journalist’s Guide to Freelancing, is out now through Broadview Press.

Sharon Nadeem

Sharon Nadeem is an award-winning multimedia journalist who works as a producer and head of partnerships at the Global Reporting Centre at the University of British Columbia. Her in-depth work, primarily on documentaries and podcasts, can be found in major media outlets including PBS FRONTLINE, PRX, BBC News, the Globe and Mail, the Walrus, CBC, the Jakarta Post, the Yukon News, and the Edmonton Journal.

Shenaz Kermalli

Shenaz Kermalli is a freelance journalist and journalism instructor at University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies and Toronto Metropolitan University. A former producer for BBC News, Al Jazeera English and CBC News, she has contributed to the Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Citizen, Foreign Policy, the Toronto Star, and the Guardian (UK), among others.

Sonya Fatah

Sonya Fatah is an associate professor of journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her research, teaching, and practice focus on newsroom culture and composition, tracking press freedoms in Canada, global reporting practices, and live/performance journalism. For much of Sonya’s two decades as a working journalist, she reported from India and Pakistan, covering South Asian politics for media outlets such as the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Times of India, and PRX.

Media Award Categories

Our judges consider the following award categories.

*Alternative publications often have mandates to highlight stories and perspectives that are overlooked or underrepresented in the mainstream press.