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For the third year in a row, The Tyee’s northern B.C. reporter, Amanda Follett Hosgood, has won a Canadian Association of Journalists award.
At the CAJ conference award gala in Calgary on Saturday night, May 31, Follett Hosgood won the silver award for her piece, “BC Illegally Collected Personal Info Tied to the Wet’suwet’en Conflict,” in the Freedom of Information Journalism category.
Follett Hosgood uncovered a B.C. government privacy breach that occurred leading up to the last big police enforcement on Wet’suwet’en territory during the conflict over the Coastal GasLink pipeline. In her associated piece, “BC’s Secretive Plan to Tighten Protest Response,” she dove into the province’s subsequent attempt to overhaul and beef up police responses related to land disputes through a secretive Civil Disobedience Work Plan.
The stories shed light on how the province deals with public protest, particularly Indigenous land defence, at times in contrast with the government’s publicly stated objectives.
“I want to thank everyone who is holding feet to the fire and power to account, including B.C.’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, who patiently fields my FOI complaints, and the CAJ for all they do to support journalists and freedom of the press,” Follett Hosgood said.
“And at a time when information is getting more difficult to access and, along with it, truth, I want to give a shout out to everyone who continues to speak truth to power.”
Follett Hosgood also thanked the Tyee team and in particular, her editor, andrea bennett.
Caroline Touzin and Ariane Lacoursière won gold in the Freedom of Information Journalism category for their piece for La Presse on the increasing use of “exceptional measures” such as isolation and restraints for youth in group homes and rehabilitation centres in Quebec.
“Amanda is diligent and tenacious in filing freedom of information requests to get to the bottom of stories we simply could not report otherwise,” bennett said.
“In some cases, like this one, an initial FOI request opens the door to a broader story. Amanda is great at recognizing those hidden gems, and digging until she uncovers them. I’m proud of her, and so glad her work received the attention it deserved at the CAJs this year.”
The CAJ’s FOI award is sponsored by the Ken and Debbie Rubin Public Interest Advocacy Fund.
In 2023, Follett Hosgood won the APTN/CAJ Truth and Reconciliation Award for her series on the decades-long struggle to repair the devastation wrought by the establishment of the Nechako Reservoir.
The following year, Follett Hosgood won the APTN/CAJ Truth and Reconciliation Award again — this time for her multi-part, ongoing Tyee series on a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearing on the RCMP’s handling of abuse allegations to which she dedicated approximately 400 reporting hours between May and December 2023.
The Tyee’s former labour reporter, Zak Vescera, was also nominated for a CAJ award this year, for his piece, “Poisoned Waters: The War Between BC Ferries and Its Union,” in the CWA Canada/CAJ Award for Labour Reporting category.
Congratulations to everyone who was nominated and who won Canadian Association of Journalists Awards this year.
And thanks to you, our readers and Tyee Builders. This work is possible thanks to your support. ![[Tyee]](/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
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