CTV/W5 and Taproot Publishing Win CJF Excellence Awards

Press Release

TORONTO, June 10, 2026 – W5/CTV News is this year’s recipient of the CJF Dr. Eric Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism in the large-media category for organizations with more than 50 newsroom employees. W5 received the award this evening at the annual Canadian Journalism Foundation Awards.

Named in honour of CJF founder Dr. Eric Jackman, this annual excellence award established in 1996 recognizes news organizations, large and small, that embrace journalistic excellence — originality, courage, independence, accuracy, social responsibility, accountability and diversity — resulting in a positive impact on the communities they serve.

The CJF honoured W5/CTV News for Sleeping with the Enemy, an explosive investigation exposing a world of misogynistic criminality being secretly perpetrated by men against the women they claim to love.

In the small-media category, Taproot Publishing Inc., a digital publication “for and about the Edmonton region” was honoured for its 2025 Election Project covering the Edmonton municipal election. The election coverage centered on the Taproot Survey as a way to focus on the issues that mattered most to voters instead of on the electoral horse race.

Held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, the annual CJF Awards evening brought together more than 550 journalists, media executives and business leaders from across Canada to celebrate journalistic achievements of the past year.

Among the evening’s other honourees:

• The inaugural CJF Hinton Award for Excellence in AI Safety Reporting went to Alexios Mantzarlis, the co-founder of Indicator, an online publication dedicated to exposing digital deception. Presented in partnership with the AI Safety Foundation, the $10,000 award named after Nobelist Geoffrey Hinton recognizes exceptional journalism that critically examines the safety implications of AI. It also honours reporting that identifies AI challenges and explores innovative solutions and pathways to mitigate its risks.

• CJF Award for Climate Solutions Reporting: This $10,000 award, sponsored by Intact Financial Corporation, celebrates a journalist or journalistic team whose work shines a spotlight on the climate crisis and related innovative solutions. This year’s award went to The Narwhal for On solid ice: the plan to refreeze the Arctic reported by Chloe Williams and photographer Gavin John on the disappearing sea ice and its impacts on Inuit communities, as well as an ambitious scientific idea to thicken the ice.

• The $5,000 Landsberg Award, celebrating exceptional coverage of women’s equality issues, went to Emma Jarratt of the Investigative Journalism Bureau, an investigative unit conducting collaborative research projects with academics and journalists at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Jarratt won for her investigations challenging power structures that put marginalized women at risk. These included a multiyear investigation into sexual misconduct by Canadian lawyers and a forensic year‑long project documenting every killing or suspicious death of a woman in Canada, uncovering gaps that minimize, misclassify or erase women’s deaths. The award is sponsored by the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

• The William Southam Journalism Fellowships at Massey College, which provide mid-career journalists with an academic year to audit courses at the University of Toronto and participate fully in life at Massey College, are awarded annually by the U of T and Massey. This year’s winners are:
  • Jedi Ramalapa, a South African multimedia journalist, author and media trainer with more than two decades experience across Africa, as the Gordon N. Fisher / Journalists for Human Rights Fellow;
  • Nicholas Haddad, a multilingual journalist and currently the host of Radio-Canada’s daily Toronto radio program Y a pas deux matins pareils, as the Massey College Journalism Fellow;
  • Amanda Follett Hosgood, an Indigenous rights and environmental journalist at The Tyee, as the St. Clair Balfour Fellow; and
  • Khawla Nakua, a Toronto-based freelance criminal justice reporter, as the Webster McConnell Fellow.

Additionally, the following previously announced bursary, fellowship and award recipients were recognized.

• The CJF Indigenous Health Journalism Fellowship, in partnership with the Canadian Medical Association, went to journalist, writer, public speaker and educator Karyn Pugliese. This groundbreaking three-year initiative is aimed at fostering expert reporting on critical health issues affecting Indigenous communities and is supported by the Canadian Medical Association.
• The CJF Bursary for BIPOC Student Journalists, designed to support students who have demonstrated strong engagement with the BIPOC community and a commitment to high journalistic standards, went to Thuy Anh Nguyen of Ottawa’s Carleton University. The bursary is supported by Media Profile.
• The CJF Black Journalism Fellowship Program, established to amplify Black voices, improve coverage of Black issues and cultivate future Black media leaders, provides the opportunity for early-career Black journalists to be hosted for six months at newsrooms with fellowship partners The Globe and Mail, CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV News and the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB). The 2026 fellowship recipients are:
  • Nathan Abraha, the CJF-CBC Black Journalism Fellow;
  • Zachary Gaouad, the CJF-IJB Black Investigative Journalism Fellowship, with thanks to sponsor Unifor and North Horizon;
  • Myron Mayne, the CJF-CTV News Black Journalism Fellow, with thanks to sponsor BMO Financial Group;
  • Danielle Reid, the CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Women’s Journalism Fellow, with thanks to sponsor Aritzia; and
  • Joy SpearChief Morris, the CJF-Globe and Mail Black Business Journalism Fellowship, with thanks to sponsor Canada Life.

The CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowship, established to foster better comprehension of Indigenous issues, was awarded to Gregory Conway, a writer and editor from Curve Lake First Nation who lives and works in Peterborough/Nogojiwanong.

The Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award, which provides an early-career photojournalist with the opportunity to spend six weeks at The Canadian Press head office in Toronto, went to National Capital Region freelance photojournalist Keito Newman. The award is co-presented by The Canadian Press and supported by Sony.

The CJF Edward Burtynsky Award for Climate Photojournalism, which celebrates provocative, impactful and inspirational climate photography from around the world went to Todd Korol of Calgary. This award is generously supported by Marci McDonald and Clair Balfour, Lisa Balfour Bowen and Sony.

The Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship for 2026-27 went to Edmonton photojournalist Amber Bracken.

Special CJF honorees included Robert Fife, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his decades-long career exemplifying the highest standards of political reporting, public‑interest journalism and newsroom leadership in both print and broadcast.

Canadian investigative reporter and best-selling author Susanne Craig received the CJF Tribute in recognition of her probing coverage of power, money and accountability, both in her role as an investigative journalist and reporter for the New York Times and as the co-author of the best-selling Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success.

Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, producer and songwriter Jim Cuddy made a special appearance with award-winning fiddler and violinist Anne Lindsay to pay tribute to Craig.

The evening also featured the CJF’s annual In Memoriam tribute to journalists who have passed over the preceding year.

Elamin Abdelmahmoud, host of COMMOTION, CBC Radio’s daily arts, pop culture and entertainment show, hosted the awards ceremony.

The CJF is grateful for the generous support of presenting sponsor CIBC for its awards evening.

The CJF also thanks supporters Google News Initiative, Rogers, Labatt Breweries of Canada, McCain Foods, Intact, TD Bank Group, Aritzia, BMO Financial Group, Canada Life, Sobeys, CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV News, Canadian Medical Association, Scotiabank, RBC, FGS Longview, KPMG, Canadian Bankers Association, North Horizon Holdings Inc., WSP Canada, Accenture, Aga Khan Development Network, AI Safety Foundation, Apple News, Barry and Laurie Green, Blakes, Canada’s National Observer, Centre for International Governance Innovation, Cohere, CPP Investments, Definity, Fidelity Investments, Jackman Foundation, Loblaw Companies Ltd., Mamdani Family Foundation, Maple Leaf Foods, McDonald’s Canada and Weber Shandwick, OLG, OMERS, Ontario Securities Commission, Real Content Networks, Rishi Nolan Strategies, TD Securities, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, Toronto Star, Uber, Village Media and Massey College.

In-kind sponsorship is provided by Beehive Design, Bespoke Audio Visual, Porter, The Canadian Press, Fairmont Hotel and Resorts, Cision, The Toronto Raptors, Charlie Angelakos, Uber, Craig’s Cookies and The Globe and Mail.

Cision is the exclusive distribution partner of the CJF.

About the Canadian Journalism Foundation

Founded in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) fosters excellence in journalism through the support and recognition of emerging and experienced journalists and their organizations and enhances the public’s understanding of fact-based journalism. The CJF facilitates dialogue about the role of journalism in Canadian society and the ongoing challenges for journalism in the digital era through its J-Talks public speakers series, which are hosted at venues across Canada and online. The Foundation recognizes excellence in journalism through its prestigious awards programs, which are showcased at the CJF’s annual gala. Through its fellowships programs, the Foundation provides opportunities for journalism education, training and research to encourage a diverse Canadian media. #CJFAwards

For further information: Media Contact Information: Natalie Turvey, President and Executive Director, The Canadian Journalism Foundation, nturvey@cjf-fjc.ca.

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