OTTAWA (ON), March 10, 2022 /CNW/ – World Press Freedom Canada (WPFC) is pleased to announce that nominations for its 2022 Press Freedom Award are now open. The award honors a journalist or media worker for their outstanding contribution to press freedom by Canada during 2021.

The award is given to candidates who demonstrate that their public service work has been frustrated by a cloak of secrecy, legal maneuvering, political intimidation, or tactics that put their safety or career at risk.

WPFC is also seeking nominations for our Spencer Moore Award, which honors an individual who, throughout their career, has demonstrated a determined pursuit of freedom of the press and freedom of information.

“Freedom of the press is fragile. We have seen evidence of this with the recent arrests of Canadian journalists in Fairy Creek who were doing their job, the crackdown on media outlets in hong kong and the increased use of disinformation globally. In December, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to journalists for the first time since 1935, highlighting the role a free press plays in protecting democracy,” said the WPFC President. Heather Bakken. “For these reasons, the WPFC is honored to reward journalists who continue to confront secrecy, defy intimidation and overcome dangerous obstacles in their pursuit of the truth. Without them, the stories that reveal the facts that shape our shared reality could not be told.”

The winner of the Press Freedom Prize receives a $2,000 award from World Press Freedom Canada and a certificate from the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. Spencer Moore Prize winner is honored $1,000.

The deadline for both nominations is March 15.

Support for the awards is provided by World Press Freedom Canada’s lead sponsor, the Canadian Bankers Association and our partner, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

The 2021 Press Freedom Prize was awarded jointly to The Narwhal’s Sarah Cox for his work in uncovering covert and critical analyzes of faults at the Site C dam in British Columbia; and to Nathan Vander KlippeGlobe and Mail alumnus China correspondent who reported on China Uyghur detention camps.

Other winners in the award’s 19-year history include:

Kenneth Jackson (Indigenous Peoples Television Network); Michael Robinson (Telegraph-Journal); Catherine Gannon (Associated Press); Michelle Langposthumously (Calgary Herald); Stephane Maher and Glen McGregor (Postmedia); Daniel LeBlanc (Globe and mail); Gilles Toupin and Joel Denis Bellavance (The Press); Tarek Fatah (author and columnist); Juliet O’Neill (Ottawa Citizen); Andrew McIntosh (National Post); and Kim Bolan (Vancouver Sun).

Details and nomination requirements can be found here.

About World Press Freedom Canada

Global Press Freedom Canada is a Ottawanon-profit voluntary organization that promotes freedom of expression and media rights. It celebrates UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day by honoring the laureates. This year, World Press Freedom Day is May 3.

Follow us on twitter @CDN_WPF and LinkedIn @worldpressfreedomcanada

SOURCE World Press Freedom Canada

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