2011 CAJ Awards finalists announced

OTTAWA, March 29, 2012 /CNW/ - The Canadian Association of Journalists is pleased to announce all of the finalists for its annual awards for outstanding investigative journalism in Canada for 2011.

The winning entry in most categories will receive a $500 cash prize. The winners in each category will be announced April 28, 2012, at the CAJ Awards gala and conference banquet in Toronto, part of the 2012 CAJ conference at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

We are thrilled that Global National anchor and executive editor Dawna Friesen will be the evening's MC. Information on tickets is available as part of the conference registration page. Early bird rates for the conference end on April 5—that's only a week away!

The Don McGillivray Award for the best 'overall' investigative report for 2011, judged from the winners of the open newspaper / wire, community newspaper, open television (under 5 minutes), open television (over 5 minutes), magazine, open radio news / current affairs, regional television and CAJ / Marketwire CAR categories, will also be announced at the awards banquet.

Please note that the media outlet listed is where the finalist worked at the time their entry was broadcast/published or where the particular entry was broadcast/published. Finalists are listed alphabetically by media outlet.

The finalists in the final group of categories are below, followed by finalists in the categories previously announced on March 27.

The finalists in the OPEN TELEVISON (less than 5 minutes) category are:

Jorge Barrera and Kenneth Jackson
Barrera Carsons
APTN National News

Alex Freedman, Joanne Levasseur, Vera-Lynn Kubinec
Pesticides found in Canadian organic produce
CBC Manitoba

Janis Mackey Frayer
Bodies discovered
CTV News

The finalists in the OPEN NEWSPAPER category are:

Steve Buist, Teri Pecoskie
Born: A Code Red project
Hamilton Spectator

Jon Wells
Darkness on Indian Trail
Hamilton Spectator

Margaret Munro
Feds muzzle scientist over salmon study
Postmedia News - Vancouver

Moira Welsh, Jesse McLean, Andrew Bailey
Abuse in nursing homes
Toronto Star

Larry Pynn
In the wake of a plague
Vancouver Sun

The finalists in the COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER category are:

Steve Bonspiel
Local tobacco giant busted
The Eastern Door (Khanawake)

Tim Petruk
28 seconds: Inside the shooting death of Wilbert Bartley
Kamloops This Week

Heather Rivers
Foster children: In their own words
Sentinel-Review (Woodstock, Ont.)

David P. Ball
'Getting into bed' with police risky for queer community, activists say
Xtra!

Cheryl Rossi
Wild life lessons
Vancouver Courier

The finalists in the OPEN TELEVISION (greater than 5 minutes) category are:

Kathleen Martens
Residential school lawyers
APTN Investigates

Timothy Sawa
Scout's Honour
CBC - the fifth estate

Greg Sadler
Cure or con?
CBC - Marketplace

Adrienne Arsenault
Mexico's deadly explosion
CBC - The National

Robert Osborne, Victor Malarek, Patti-Ann Finlay
Above the law
CTV W5

The finalists in the DAILY EXCELLENCE category are:

Bob Keating
Cameras in trees
CBC Radio - Nelson, B.C.

Rob Brown
Stanley Cup riot
CTV - BC

Kim Bolan
Bacon brother shot dead in Kelowna
Vancouver Sun

Finalists in the following categories were previously announced on March 27.

The finalists in the MAGAZINE category are:

Corinne Cécilia
Quand education rime avec protection
Education Canada

Alex Roslin
Portfolio entry
Georgia Straight

Selena Ross
Getting Plowed
Maisonneuve Magazine

The finalists in the REGIONAL TELEVISON category are:

Charles Rusnell, Grant Gelinas
Pork barrel politics
CBC Edmonton

John Lancaster
Throwaway buildings
CBC Toronto

The finalists in the OPEN RADIO NEWS/CURRENT AFFAIRS category are:

Charles Rusnell, Grant Gelinas
Crown conduct
CBC Edmonton

Gillian Findlay, Chris Wodskou, Aaron Brindle
Remy's wake
CBC Radio One - The Current

The finalists in the CAJ/Marketwire COMPUTER-ASSISTED REPORTING (CAR) category are:

Glen McGregor
OC Transpo's waiting game
Ottawa Citizen

Andrew McIntosh, Kinia Adamczyk
On mange bien à Terrebonne
QMI Agency

Lily Sangster, Ezra Black, Dane Butler, Brittney Teasdale, Alex Boates, Schenley Brown, Andrei Dezsi, Corbett Hancey, Patrick Odell, Tim van der Kooi, Geoff Bird, Fred Vallance-Jones
902911
University of King's College / The Coast

The finalists in the PHOTOJOURNALISM category are:

Darryl Dyck
Portfolio entry
The Canadian Press

Larry Wong
Portfolio entry
Edmonton Journal

Rick Madonik
Portfolio entry
Toronto Star

Steve Russell
Portfolio entry
Toronto Star

Joe Bryksa
Portfolio entry
Winnipeg Free Press

The finalists in the PRINT FEATURE category are:

Andrew Stobo Sniderman
Residential schools: Survivors share the pain
Montreal Gazette

Sarah Schmidt
Energy drinks
Postmedia News

Michelle Shephard
Somalia: Where famine is a crime
Toronto Star

Mary Agnes Welch
Sniff: Life at rock bottom
Winnipeg Free Press

The finalists in the SCOOP category are:

Tiar Wilson
Fire Story
APTN National News

Natalie Clancy and Manjula Dufresne
Broken Mounties
CBC Vancouver

Ian MacLeod
Toxic Legacy
Ottawa Citizen

Gagandeep Ghuman
Dike seepage finally gets $90,000
The Squamish Reporter

Kim Bolan
Wanted gang killer slips into B.C.
The Vancouver Sun

The finalists for the inaugural jhr / CAJ AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTING are:

Steven Rennie
Kandahar school numbers don't add up
The Canadian Press

Alison Crawford
The eyes of Rosa and Antonio
CBC Radio One - Dispatches

David Gutnick
The Gristle in the Stew
CBC Radio One - Sunday Edition

The finalists for the inaugural CWA CANADA / CAJ LABOUR REPORTING AWARD are:

Kim Johnson, producer
Perks of living in a union town
CBC Windsor

Steve Buist
Ghosts at the gate
Hamilton Spectator

Rachel Mendleson
Income inequality and the decline of unions
Huffington Post Canada

Nicholas Hune-Brown
The housekeepers revolt
Toronto Life Magazine

The finalists for the CAJ/CNW STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE are:

Adela Talbot, Lauren Pelley, Sean Leathong, Heather Young, Jared Lindzon, Nicole Case, Angela Richardson, Alex Ballingall, Fan-Yee Suen, Trevor Melanson, Brian Moskowitz, Bethany Cairns, Edward von Aderkas, Mariam Ahmed, Stefanie Masotti, Alineh Haindrey
A Good Death: Palliative care in Canada
CBC.ca / University of Western Ontario

Matt DiMera
Dismissed! Student association settles RAF lawsuit
The Runner, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, B.C.

Dylan C. Robertson
No place like home?
The Varsity, University of Toronto

Consistent with information in the entry package instructions, judges had the discretion to name between one and five finalists in each award category. There were a total of 107 journalists (individuals or team) who submitted a total of 126 entries for the 2011 awards program.

Congratulations to all our finalists. Your work has been outstanding and we thank you for entering. We hope that you are able to attend this year's CAJ conference and/or awards gala to be held at the Fairmont Royal York April 27-29.

The Canadian Association of Journalists is a professional organization with around 600 members across Canada. The CAJ's primary roles are public-interest advocacy work and professional development for its members.

Hugo Rodrigues, CAJ president - 519-756-2020 ext. 2226, 519-535-8680 cell
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