Narwhal_Hunting_Shoot-26
Photo: Marty Clemens / The Narwhal

The Narwhal wins Webster Award for innovative journalism

‘These are not The Narwhal’s stories; they belong to sovereign First Nations and we were fortunate to be trusted to share them’
START – Apple News Only Block
Add content to the Apple News only block. You can add things like headings, paragraphs, images, galleries and audio clips. The content added here will not be visable on the website article

Get the inside scoop on The Narwhal’s environment and climate reporting by signing up for our free newsletter.

END – Apple News Only Block

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
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.
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.

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.

Illustration of two people clam digging.
Illustrations by Tsilhqot’in and Syilx artist Karlene Harvey helped bring Nourish, a series on Indigenous food sovereignty, to life.

“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.

Another year of keeping a close watch
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.

And in 2024, our stories were raised in parliaments across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.

In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”

We’d like to thank you for paying attention. And if you’re able to donate anything at all to help us keep doing this work in 2025 — which will bring a whole lot we can’t predict — thank you so very much.

Will you help us hold the powerful accountable in the year to come by giving what you can today?
Another year of keeping a close watch
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.

And in 2024, our stories were raised in parliaments across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.

In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”

We’d like to thank you for paying attention. And if you’re able to donate anything at all to help us keep doing this work in 2025 — which will bring a whole lot we can’t predict — thank you so very much.

Will you help us hold the powerful accountable in the year to come by giving what you can today?

See similar stories

Canada and the U.S. have shared electricity for more than a century. Is that at risk?

Get the inside scoop on The Narwhal’s environment and climate reporting by signing up for our free newsletter. The U.S.-Canada border is one of the longest...

Continue reading

Recent Posts

Our newsletter subscribers are the first to find out when we break a big story. Sign up for free →
An illustration, in yellow, of a computer, with an open envelope inside it with letter reading 'Breaking news.'
Your access to our journalism is free — always. Sign up for our weekly newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in Canada you won’t find anywhere else.
'This is not a paywall' text illustration, in the black-and-white style of an album warning label
Your access to our journalism is free — always. Sign up for our weekly newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in Canada you won’t find anywhere else.
'This is not a paywall' text illustration, in the black-and-white style of an album warning label