The Landsberg Award

TORONTO, June 7, 2022 – The Landsberg Award, which celebrates exceptional coverage of women’s equality issues, went to Calgary-based freelancer Christina Frangou for her independent character-driven stories in Chatelaine, Toronto Life and Reader’s Digest revealing discrimination in Canada’s medical and legal systems. The award is presented in association with the Canadian Women’s Foundation, which provides the $5,000 prize.

On Frangou, one juror remarked: “she is smart, thorough and a beautiful writer, which is important in a country with a shrinking magazine industry and few opportunities for good reporters to also become engaging storytellers.”

The award is named after Michele Landsberg, a prize-winning Canadian journalist, author, social activist and feminist, in acknowledgement of the tremendous impact that she has had as an advocate and role model for Canadian women.

The other finalists for this year’s award and the stories or series shortlisted were: 

Robyn Doolittle, with additional contributions from Chen Wang and Tavia Grant, for The Power Gap, a Globe and Mail series examining gender discrimination in Canadian workplaces. Doolittle (2018) and Grant (2017) are past Landsberg Award winners.

ABOUT THE LANDSBERG AWARD

The Landsberg Award is proudly presented by The Canadian Journalism Foundation in association with the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

The annual award celebrates a journalist who is raising awareness about gender equality and justice issues in Canada and seeks to inspire an increase in feminist media coverage and voices of women in Canada.
The award is named after Michele Landsberg—an award-winning Canadian journalist, author, social activist and feminist—to acknowledge the tremendous impact that she has had as an advocate and role model for all women in Canada. The award will inspire relentless and fearless journalists to consider Canadian news from a women’s equality perspective.

ABOUT MICHELE LANDSBERG

Articulate, tenacious, progressive and persuasive, award-winning former Toronto Star columnist Michele Landsberg is one of Canada’s best-known feminists and social justice activists. A fearless advocate for women and children over many decades, she uses words, in print and in person, to fight injustice, to attack oppressive power structures and policies, and to champion the cause of human rights, race and gender equality, peace and pluralism. Through her columns, she gave a strong public voice to many of those who would otherwise not be heard.

DEFINITION OF THE AWARD

This award will recognize a working journalist (employed or freelance) doing exceptional research, analysis and writing through a gender lens about women’s equality issues in Canada.

FORM OF THE AWARD

The award recipient will receive a $5,000 prize from the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

ELIGIBILITY

Awarded to a working journalist (employed or freelance) who has done the most to shine a spotlight on women’s equality issues in Canada in print, broadcast or online news reporting in 2021. Entries involving more than one contributor are welcome and will be judged as a single submission. Submissions are welcome in the following formats: article, column, online piece, editorial, op-ed, radio program, podcast, television program or documentary film.

JURY

Jury available here.

Judging Methodology
The judging panel is comprised of four to eight jurors who review all submitted entries through an online portal, rank the entries and then attend a face-to-face meeting or participate via conference call with their rankings to agree on the recipient–and finalists, if applicable–of the award. The shortlist will be announced in April, with the winner announced at the CJF Awards virtual ceremony in June 2022.

PAST WINNERS

2021

– Alyshah Hasham and Wendy Gillis, longtime courts and crime reporters for the Toronto Star, were joint recipients of the 2021 Landsberg Award in recognition of their stories addressing women’s experiences of male violence—including police workplace sexual harassment—and exploring potential solutions.

2020
– Elizabeth Renzetti, columnist and feature writer with The Globe and Mail, for exploring issues such as biased design in space, the lack of female political leaders and why ideologically-motivated killing of women isn’t treated as terrorism.

2019
– Connie Walker, investigative reporter and host of Missing & Murdered: Finding Cleo, the CBC News podcast, for her work exploring the story behind the true-crime mystery of the death of a Cree girl named Cleo Semaganis.

2018 
– Robyn Doolittle, investigative reporter with The Globe and Mail, for her “Unfounded” series exposing a pattern of mishandling sexual assault cases by police across the country.

2017
– Tavia Grant, reporter with The Globe and Mail, who explored the trafficking of Indigenous women as well as the ongoing gender pay gap.
>> Read about the recipient

2016
– Radio-Canada Enquête duo of journalist Josée Dupuis and producer/director Emmanuel Marchand, who found Indigenous women who were willing to talk about the racism, sexism, and sexual and physical abuse that they suffered at the hands of the police in the northern Quebec town of Val-d’Or
– Catherine Porter, a social justice columnist and feature writer with the Toronto Star, was recognized for a selection of her work as a columnist exploring systemic issues and delving into controversial topics
>> Read about the recipients

2015
– Heather Mallick, staff columnist with the Toronto Star, on exploring the legal framework surrounding prostitution in other countries during Canada’s debate over laws governing the sex trade
>> Read about the recipient

2014
–  Janet McFarland, business reporter with The Globe and Mail, on gender inequality on corporate boards
>> Read about the recipient
Twitter: #LandsbergAward

The Canadian Journalism Foundation is proud to present this award in association with:

The Canadian Women’s Foundation is a national leader in the movement for gender equality in Canada. Through funding, research, advocacy, and knowledge sharing, the Foundation works to achieve systemic change that includes all women. By supporting community programs, the Foundation empowers women and girls to move themselves out of violence, out of poverty, and into confidence and leadership. Launched in 1991 to address a critical need for philanthropy focused on women, the Canadian Women’s Foundation is one of the largest women’s foundations in the world. With the support of donors, the Foundation has raised more than $100 million and funded over 2,000 programs across the country. These programs focus on addressing the root causes of the most critical issues, and helping women and girls who face the greatest barriers.  The Canadian Women’s Foundation aims to be inclusive of diverse people across gender and sexuality spectrums. We focus our efforts on supporting those who face the most barriers and have least access to relevant services. This includes people who identify as women, girls, trans, genderqueer, non-binary, and 2SLGBTQI+. To learn more, visit www.canadianwomen.org.