The Narwhal wins Webster Award for innovative journalism

The Narwhal’s expansive and collaborative series on First Nations food sovereignty has earned the team a Webster Award for excellence in innovative journalism. Presented Monday evening, the annual awards from the Jack Webster Foundation celebrated the best journalism in British Columbia.

Reporter Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood travelled across the province in the summer of 2023, as wildfire smoke choked parts of the province, to report on how First Nations communities are building resilient food systems in the face of climate change, colonialism and other threats.

The seeds planted on that trip grew into Nourish, a series of five deeply-reported stories on Indigenous-led efforts to reclaim the ability to feed their families and communities. 

Investigating problems. Exploring solutions

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Investigating problems. Exploring solutions

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.

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“The people in this series showed incredible generosity sharing their stories,” Steph said, reflecting on the win. “These are not The Narwhal’s stories; they belong to sovereign First Nations and we were fortunate to be trusted to share them.”

Ainslie Cruickshank contributed additional on-the-ground reporting to the series, which also features illustrations by Tsilhqot’in and Syilx artist Karlene Harvey and photography by Jesse Winter, Marty Clemens, Matt Simmons and Jennifer Gauthier. The award also recognizes contributions to the project by The Narwhal’s Lindsay Sample, Michelle Cyca, Shawn Parkinson and Karan Saxena.

“It’s exciting to have this work acknowledged for innovation. The team put deep care into the data visualization, the photography and the reporting,” Steph added.

To cap off the project, Steph moderated a live webinar exploring what food sovereignty looks like in an era of climate change. The series was made possible with support from the Real Estate Foundation of BC.

Multimedia stories by The Globe and Mail and CBC Vancouver were also recognized as finalists in the category.

The Narwhal was also a finalist in the categories of excellence in business reporting for our feature on mining liabilities, co-published with The Globe and Mail, and excellence in arts and culture reporting for our feature on the return of a stolen totem pole to Nisg̱a’a Nation, co-published with IndigiNews. All the winners of the 2024 Webster Awards can be found here.