Canada’s National Observer receives nomination for CJF Jackman Award for excellence in journalism

The Salmon People has been nominated for the prestigious Canadian Journalism Foundation’s Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism this week. The award honours a Canadian organization that embodies exemplary journalism with a resulting impact on the community it serves.

The podcast tells the story of a 30-year battle to save Canada’s wild salmon.

The investigation takes listeners into the waters off Vancouver Island, where juvenile wild salmon travel past fish farms on their way to the ocean. Over the years, fewer and fewer have been successful in making the journey to the ocean and returning to spawn the next generation. The podcast follows biologist Alexandra Morton as she uses science to show that diseases and organisms from fish farms are having a deadly impact on wild salmon.

“This nomination is yet another great recognition for the people who are fighting to save wild salmon,” said Sandra Bartlett, the managing producer of podcasts at Canada's National Observer.

Last month, it was named a Webby Honoree at the 27th Annual Webby Awards.

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honour” by The New York Times, the Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), the leading international awards organization honouring excellence on the web.

"I'm thrilled to see this dramatic investigation receive the attention it deserves," said Linda Solomon Wood, publisher of Canada's National Observer. "With Sandra Bartlett leading our new podcast division, our audiences can expect more great things to come."

Bartlett is an award-winning reporter and producer based in Toronto. She worked on the ICIJ projects Secrecy for Sale and Skin and Bone. She worked as a producer and reporter in NPR's investigative init based in Washington where she collaborated on projects with PBS Frontline, ProPublica, the Center for Public Integrity, the Center for Investigative Reporting, as well as individual journalists in Canada and Europe.

In 20-plus years at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as an editor, reporter and producer, Bartlett covered daily news, foreign assignments and special programming. She worked in London, Europe, Israel, Cuba and Pakistan.