Ricochet Media has been nominated for a record four Digital Publishing Awards, including best podcast, local reporting, investigative journalism and editorial achievement of the year. Last week we picked up two nominations for the Canadian Association of Journalists’ awards, including our first in the Scoop category, for a cool half dozen. 

It’s been a tough year for Ricochet, as we’ve been buffeted by cuts to federal support for journalism and the fickle winds of foundation funding. In Canadian media, the quality of our work has become disconnected from the revenue that pays for it.

But the quality of our work still matters. These awards are a testament to the depth, the rigour and the context that goes into every story we produce. And while we will never abandon quality for clicks, we are on the cutting edge of experimenting with how to connect meaningful journalism to younger audiences. You’ll hear more about our ‘future of journalism’ project, and the work we’re doing with Canada’s top journalism school, in the months to come. 

For now, I hope you’ll read on and join me in celebrating these incredible journalists, who do this work not for the money or the fame, but for the love of the game — for the love of public interest journalism. If you want to support our work with a monthly or one-time donation, click here. 

Best Community News Coverage — Jon Thompson’s Northern Ontario Indigenous issues beat. 

Jon has been with us since 2024 as a Local Journalism Initiative reporter in Northern Ontario. His beat is covering stories that matter to Indigenous communities and people in the North, where he can often be the only journalist doing in-depth, investigative reporting. Sometimes, his job makes him a social worker of sorts, listening to people who have nowhere else to turn. Other times, it forces him to challenge those in power, like the police, in places where they have grown unaccustomed to scrutiny. It’s never easy, and often thankless, but there’s nothing Jon would rather be doing than serving his region by telling its stories. 

This is his first nomination for his work with us, but over the course of a two decade career he has won a number of awards, including a Gemini Award for his work on the Thunder Bay TV series. Jon has worked everywhere from TVO to Canadaland, while never straying far from his home in the North.

Jon is an old school beat reporter, whose work has shaken up governments and taken down police forces. We need more like him.

Best podcast – Arts, Culture and Society — Zahra Khozema and Ricochet team for There is a List

Zahra is a very impressive young journalist. We first met her a year ago, when she was working on a short-term contract for Canada’s National Observer. Our outlets teamed up to produce a live election night special, and she impressed us with her diligence and commitment. 

Later that year, we jumped at the opportunity to bring her aboard on a limited term fellowship. She did a bunch of great work for us, but There is a List was her signature project, and she poured her heart and soul into it. If you haven’t listened yet, make a plan to do so because this content is evergreen. 

In this five-part series about the surveillance and silencing of pro-Palestine voices in Canada, Zahra takes listeners inside the sophisticated campaign to silence pro-Palestinian advocacy on campuses and in newsrooms across Canada. 

It’s rare to see this level of rigour and journalistic depth in a podcast, and it’s a testament to the work that went into it. Guided by editor and producer Andrea Houston, Zahra was able to produce a series whose quality wouldn’t be out of place on the BBC, and whose impact was felt widely — including at a packed launch event in Toronto. 

Best Investigative Journalism — Brandi Morin Investigates Canadian Mining Operations in Ecuador

Brandi Morin has been a core contributor to Ricochet for the last five years, and over that time we’ve done a lot of work together — and won national awards for it just about every year. She’s been arrested unjustly for doing her job, and recognized widely as one of Canada’s best Indigenous journalists. Her take no prisoners dedication to the communities she covers and to her craft is an inspiration. 

Last year we took on perhaps our most ambitious project yet. Over a series of multiple, lengthy trips to the Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador, she connected with and was welcomed into remote Indigenous communities that are facing the often invisible impacts of Canadian mining operations — operations that pollute the environment and disrupt the ecosystems that Indigenous peoples rely upon to survive. 

Over the course of seven feature articles, illustrated with breathtaking photos by Ian Willms and Julien Defourney, she brought their desperate struggle against the mines choking off their way of life into the homes and phones of Canadians. Her work demands the question: Now that we know, what are we going to do about these companies that ravage local ecosystems under our flag? 

Editorial achievement of the year — Andrea Houston, managing editor, Ricochet Media 

I wrote the nomination letter seeking this award for my dear colleague, friend and co-conspirator, so let me borrow from its conclusion.  

“Andrea is in short, the very best of us. She could make far more money in another industry, but she stays and fights because journalism matters to democracy. She wears many hats, and serves in a multitude of roles: editor, fundraiser, teacher, mentor, strategist and innovator chief among them. 

The Canadian journalism industry, in particular the small outlets that now play such a large role in the production of investigative and feature journalism (the biggest of money losers) only exists thanks to the tireless efforts of people like Andrea. And while this work may be rewarding, it is the furthest thing from easy. 

I hope you will see fit to reward her tireless background work in pursuit of excellent journalism with some fraction of the recognition she so richly deserves.” 

In a supporting letter, audience engagement editor Sophia de Guzman Rivadeiro wrote: 

“Andrea’s impact is also visible in journalists like me. She builds capacity as intentionally as she builds stories. She invests in people with the same strategic vision she applies to projects, understanding that the future of our industry depends not just on the stories we tell today, but on the storytellers we nurture for tomorrow.”

Also in a supporting letter, board member and co-founder Derrick O’Keefe wrote: 

“It is a testament to Andrea Houston’s dedication, skill, and perseverance that Ricochet has continued to expand its journalism over the past five years while surviving the fraught political, technological, and economic conditions of the contemporary media landscape… Our organization would not be where we are today without Andrea.”

Credit is often in short supply for the unsung heroes in the back rooms who breathe life into our institutions. It’s a welcome gift to see Andrea’s tireless work recognized. 

ICYMI — We got two CAJ award nominations last week. 

In the Online Media category, the CAJ’s most competitive, veteran political journalist Stephen Maher was nominated for his election series on separatist movements in Quebec and Alberta. In the Scoop category, Jerome Turner and I were nominated for breaking the news of the RCMP issuing a formal apology to… us. No wonder we had it first!If you made it this far, you’re a rockstar. Can I interest you in a recurring monthly donation to help us do more of this award-worthy work?

Even if you can’t contribute financially, you can help us just as much by spreading the word and sharing our work on social media and with your friends. You can even sign them up for our newsletter, if you think they’d like fresh Canadian journalism in their inbox every week.