MONTREAL – The country’s most prestigious newspaper journalism awards competition – The National Newspaper Awards (NNAs) – honoured the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) with the year’s best stories in two categories Friday evening.
The IJB took home the NNA in the Business Reporting category for the boundary-pushing examination of the shadowy world of clinical trials in collaboration with the Toronto Star.
This years-long investigation unveiled the ethical pitfalls of the for-profit human drug testing industry, which incentivizes trial participants to lie through exploitative recruitment techniques, including referral bonuses, loyalty points and other perks that lure often vulnerable people into becoming professional test subjects.
The investigation was also published in collaboration with the award-nominated documentary Bodies for Rent, directed by Emmy-award-winning filmmaker Habiba Nosheen.
The IJB, in partnership with the Star, also won the Investigative Reporting category at the NNAs Friday for its groundbreaking reporting on the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program. The program, which is intended to help First Nations and Inuit people access life-saving healthcare, including mental health care, exposes them to long wait times, cultural insensitivities and therapists with troubling backgrounds, including murder and having sex with a former patient.
“A double win at the NNAs is a remarkable achievement for any news organization, let alone one of our size and relative resources,” said Rob Cribb, IJB director. “It represents a strong vote of confidence for our model, the journalism it produces and the talent and passion of the unique team behind these stories. We are punching well above our weight thanks to a collaborative approach that brings together the best minds and prioritizes the quality of the research and reporting above all else.”
In a separate award competition recently, the IJB’s reporting on NIHB – Mind Games – Healing or Harming Generational Wounds – won a Mindset award recognizing “excellence in mental health reporting in Canada.”
The IJB was also recently recognized as a winner of a prestigious Signal Award for the Ultimate Choice podcast with TVO, which shed light on the complexities of the Medical assistance in dying (MAiD).
The Investigative Journalism Bureau is an impact-driven, collaborative newsroom, bringing together professional and student journalists, academics, graduate students and media organizations to tell deeply-reported stories in the public interest while training the next generation of investigative journalists.
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The Investigative Journalism Bureau is a non-profit, impact-driven newsroom telling deeply-reported stories in the public interest.
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