Ricochet took home trophies in two categories at this week’s Digital Publishing Awards, beating out competitors from outlets like CBC, the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. 

The outlet was nominated for a record four awards at this year’s ceremony, held in Toronto on June 5, and took home hardware in the categories of Editorial Achievement of the Year, and Best News Coverage (local/community). Ricochet is also nominated for two awards at the upcoming Canadian Association of Journalists’ awards in Ottawa this weekend. 

Andrea Houston, Ricochet’s managing editor, was honoured with the editorial achievement of the year award for her tireless behind the scenes work as a newsroom leader, while Jon Thompson won recognition for his beat and body of work covering Indigenous issues in Northern Ontario. Zahra Kozema, for her limited podcast series There is a List, exploring the blacklisting of Palestinian activists on campus, and Brandi Morin, for her series of on-the-ground articles covering the impact of Canadian mining operations in Ecuador, each earned honourable mentions in the categories of best podcast (arts and culture) and investigative journalism, respectively. 

“I’m incredibly proud and humbled to receive this honour,” said Houston. “The chance to work every day with talented journalists, editors, freelancers and contributors who care deeply about public-interest reporting is a gift. At a moment when the future of journalism in Canada feels increasingly uncertain, awards like these remind us why this work matters. Independent journalism is foundational to a healthy democracy, and I’m grateful to our readers and supporters who make Ricochet’s reporting possible.”

“All too often award-winning outlets like ours are held together by the spit and determination of a few people too stubborn to quit rolling the boulder up the mountain,” said Ricochet senior editor Ethan Cox. “Andrea is one such person, fighting tirelessly in the shadows to produce exceptional journalism that challenges governments and holds power to account. I’m deeply grateful to count her as a colleague, and work alongside her every day.” 

Thompson is well known in Northern Ontario for his work, first with Canadaland and later with Crave, exposing misconduct, corruption and racism within the Thunder Bay police department. That work helped lead to criminal charges against a number of prominent figures, including staff sergeant Mike Dimini, who was sentenced to three years in prison in May for obstruction and breach of trust, and earned Thompson a Canadian Screen Award.

Since 2024, he has been a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Ricochet, based in Thunder Bay and covering a beat that includes Indigenous communities spread across hundreds of kilometers. 

“This award is a recognition of the heart and soul Jon pours into his work,” said Cox, “and the extreme care and attention he brings to telling the stories of communities who all too often have nowhere else to turn. Due to the punishing contractions of the journalism industry, Jon is one of the last investigative journalists pushing institutions and politicians for answers in the north. That often puts a target on his back. It also makes the work he does essential. We’re grateful to see it recognized.”

Ricochet has earned national journalism awards every year but one since 2019, including a Canadian Hillman Prize, and will have an opportunity to add to that tally at the Canadian Association of Journalists Awards in Ottawa this weekend. Veteran political journalist Stephen Maher is nominated for his election coverage series on renewed separatist movements, while Cox and Jerome Turner are nominated for their scoop on a formal apology from the RCMP. 

“Receiving this award during Pride Month feels especially meaningful,” added Houston. “Journalism is one of the most important safeguards we have for human rights, democracy and free expression. At a moment when hard-fought rights are being challenged by political leaders around the world, journalists have a responsibility not only to inform the public, but to defend the democratic values that make a free and open society possible. As a queer person working in journalism, the importance of that leadership role is never lost on me.”

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