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THE JHM AWARD WINNERS

The John H. MacDonald Awards for Excellence in Student Journalism recognizes the best in Canadian student journalism.

2026 JHM Shortlist

Award for Outstanding Website Design

WINNERS

GOLD: The Varsity

SILVER: The Ubyssey

BRONZE: The Western Gazette

SHORTLISTED

Marginalized Community Reporting Award

WINNERS

GOLD: The 25th Hour: Is Carleton one of Canada’s most accessible campuses? by Martin Halek, Caelan Monkman and Zenith Wolfe (Capital Current)

 

SILVER: Opening the Black Box by Lulu Calame and Sahel Delafoulhouse (The Tribune)

 

BRONZE: A call for more campus awareness about the Kirpan by Milan Lukes (The Manitoban)

SHORTLISTED

French Language Reporting Award

WINNERS

GOLD: Valorisation du français : où en est Concordia? by Félix-Antoine Beauchemin and Clément Lechat (The Concordian)

 

SILVER: Les femmes libanaises, une force pour la paix by Félix Laliberté (The Concordian)

Cover/Layout of the Year

WINNERS

GOLD: Frosh issue by Tiffany Cheng (The Western Gazette)

 

SILVER: A Swift Shift by Sammy Kogan, Nageen Riaz and Saif Ullah-Khan (The Eyeopener)

 

BRONZE: B.C. is burning by Sarah Nelson (The Runner)

SHORTLISTED

Video of the Year

WINNERS

GOLD: How do U of T Students Really Feel About Their Courses? by Genevieve Sugrue (The Varsity)

 

SILVER: Tuition Hikes Aftermath by Benjamin Nossik (The Link)

 

BRONZE: Dodgeball Tournament Celebrates Accessibility and Community by Zulkifl Rafah and Max Reid (The Manitoban)

SHORTLISTED

Student Journalist of the Year, Written

WINNERS

GOLD: Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman (The Concordian)
 

SILVER: Aisha Chaudhry (The Ubyssey)


BRONZE: Meghrig Milkon (The Queen's Journal)

News Reporting Award

Opinion Writing Award

WINNERS

GOLD: Smoking my life away by Sanjiyven Alfred Joseph (NAIT Nugget)

 

SILVER: Breaking the Silence by Silas Busby (The Strand)

BRONZE: Opinion: Silent by Omar Bseiso (The Ubyssey)

Sports Reporting Award

WINNERS

GOLD: Breaking the Ice by Brielle Campbell (Working Draft Magazine)

 

SILVER: Warriors: A Playoff Pursuit by Paul Sherk and Shiwunan Cheng (The Imprint)

 

BRONZE: A Chance to Dream by Sofia Peralta-Baron (Working Draft Magazine)

SHORTLISTED

Photo of the Year

Student Journalist of the Year, Multimedia

WINNERS

GOLD: Rae Dawson (The Martlet)
 

SILVER: Veronica Miranda (The Western Gazette)

 

BRONZE: Zach Dafoe (the Griff)

Special thanks to our judges: Aisling Murphy, Arshy Mann, Bruce Arthur, Cara McKenna, Cliff Lee, Dave Parkinson, Dhriti Gupta, Erin Valois, Ethan Lou, Evan Annett, Isabella Falsetti, Janson Duench, Jorge Barrera, Joshua Chang, Joshua Chong, Khushy Vashisht, Koby Michaels, Laura Godfrey, Louna Marchet, Lucas Kavanaugh, Mackenzie Lad, Mark Ramzy, Morgan Sevareid-Bocknek, Nathan Bawaan, Nawa Tahir, Rosa Saba, Sam Smart, Sammy Kogan, Sarah Kirchel, Savannah Ridley, Scott Colby, Spencer Colby, Tom Cardoso, Vanmala Subramaniam, Zak Vescera and Zane Schwartz.

Past JHM Winners

2025 JHM Shortlist​

Arts & Culture Writing Award​

 

WINNER

"Through the eyes of Treasure Fatile’s girls," The Varsity’s Divine Angubua

 

SHORTLISTED

"Sparkles, skates and seduction: Joy Rider and Kozmic Skater reimagine queer love stories through roller-burlesque," The Link’s Lana Brady

 

"Not your average frat: Kappa Alpha is redefining fraternity culture," The Western Gazette’s Paniz Vedavarz​

Community Service Reporting Award

 

WINNER

"Twenty-four hours at the Palestinian solidarity encampment," by The Ubyssey's Iman Janmohamed, Spencer Izen, Aisha Chaudhry, Nathan Bawaan, Renée Rochefort and Elena Massing 

 

"Following the 'People's Circle for Palestine'," by The Varsity's Eleanor Yuneun Park, James Bullanoff, Selia Sanchez and Kyla Cassandra Cortez

SHORTLISTED

"Secularism in action," by The Link's Hannah Vogan

Digital Storytelling Award

WINNER 

"See how your 2023 USC councillors voted on Greek Life special privileges," by The Western Gazette's Jessica Kim and Sonia Persaud

SHORTLISTED

"Commuting to Campus," by The Capilano Courier's Christien Anastacio, Jordan Tomlinson and Kiki Evans

"A Brief History of the Palestinian Kuffiyeh," by The Link's Lilia Bachraoui​​

Feature Writing Award

 

WINNER

Behind the screens: What 650 syllabi show about Western’s ChatGPT response,” The Western Gazette’s Sonia Persaud

SHORTLISTED

We went to Cleantech Commons so you don’t have to,” Arthur’s Sebastian Johnston-Lindsay, Abbigale Kernya and Evan Robins

 

To degree or not to degree,” the Griff’s Liam Newbigging

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Humour Writing Award

WINNER

"President Lachemi spotted minding his own business," by The Eyeopener's Fatima Raza

 
SHORTLISTED

"An eco-anxious forecast for Lover Girl Fall," by The Varsity's Divine Angubua

"TOMATO: Weed coming to convenience stores in April," by The Fulcrum's Andrew Wilimek

Indigenous Reporting Award

WINNER

"MacEwan’s Treaty 6 marker, Mother Bear Prays for Earth Healing, reminds us we are all treaty people," by the Griff's Rebecca-Lynn Reeves

SHORTLISTED

"The buried history of U of T’s anthropological excavations," by The Varsity's Caroline Bellamy

"Going beyond land acknowledgements," by The Concordian's Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman​

Investigative Reporting Award

 

WINNER

“Residence staff began requesting naloxone training in 2022. It took the death of a student for UVic to listen,” The Martlet’s Annilea Purser, Melody Powers and Sydney Lobe

 

SHORTLISTED

“The hazing incident that erased a prestigious Queen’s Commerce club,” The Queen’s Journal’s Aimee Look, Asbah Ahmad and Sophia Coppolino

 

“How transparent is Concordia?,” The Concordian’s Aidan Raynor and Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman

CWA Labour Reporting Award

WINNER

"Building stronger together: The people behind CUPE 2278," by The Ubyssey's Renée Rochefort
 

SHORTLISTED

"The young and the organized," by The Eyeopener's Edward Lander and Hailey Ford

 

"TA union strikes, profs confused as exams begin," by The Western Gazette's Veronica MacLean and Sophie Bouquillon​

Marginalized Community Reporting Award​

 

WINNER

“Inside Canada’s trans healthcare maze,” The Eyeopener’s Jay Ashdown

 
SHORTLISTED

“Beyond the blueprint: Bridging the gender gap in Western Engineering,” The Western Gazette’s Sonia Persaud

“Comm-Un: the Montreal co-op handcrafting solidarity,” The Link’s Hannah Vogan and Dana Hachwa

News Reporting Award​

 

WINNER

“Hall building altercation: Students share their perspectives,” The Link’s Maria Cholakova, Iness Rifay and Abby Cole

 

SHORTLISTED

“'Disclose, divest': Students camp out at King’s College Circle demanding that U of T cut ties with Israel,” The Varsity’s James Bullanoff

“Students protest secrecy over cuts to Queen’s Arts and Science outside town hall,” The Queen’s Journal’s Sophia Coppolino

Opinion Writing Award​

 

WINNER

“Opinion: Mining Company Teck's “Copper and Health” project at UBC isn't as clean as it looks,” The Ubyssey’s Tova Gaster

SHORTLISTED

“Opinion: U of T’s academic tribunal is rigged,” by The Varsity’s Devin Botar

 

“Editorial: Encampment protesters are not the issue — U of T’s policies and protocols are,” The Varsity’s Editorial Board

Science Reporting Award

WINNER

"Gut Feelings: Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the world. Why?," The Ubyssey’s Sophia Russo

SHORTLISTED

"Rising use of deepfakes threatens online sex workers," by The Link's Matthew Daldalian

"Poutine, Sora, and the Future of AI-Generated Video," by The Link's Dana Hachwa, Marcus Werner, and AJ Cordeiro

Sports Reporting Award

WINNER

"Saunas, ice baths and basketball: Carleton star Kali Pocrnic pivots to Finland," by The Charlatan's Janson Duench

SHORTLISTED

"How a Western PhD student made a place for women in football," by The Western Gazette's Ryan Goodison

"Montreal leading the way in Canadian skateboarding," by The Link's Jared Lackman-Mincoff 

Cover of the Year

WINNER

"The sex & gender issue," by The Martlet's Sage Blackwell
 

SHORTLISTED

"March madness at the mac," by The Eyeopener's Sammy Kogan

"Fall of blueberry bloom," The Runner's Christina Tran
 

Visual of the Year

WINNER

"Quiet on Set sheds light on what child actors face in the industry,” by The Runner's Christina Tran

SHORTLISTED

"Thrifting culture," The Concordian's Scott Cowan

"Silent Mourners Caught in the Crossfire of Identity and Politics," by The Concordian's Alexandra Nackley​

Photo of the Year

WINNER

“Toronto Protestors Rally in Solidarity with Lebanon and Palestine,” by On the Record News' Laviza

SHORTLISTED

"Oct. 7," by The Concordian's Hannah Bell

“Spokesperson Sara Rasikh speaks in press conference,” by The Varsity's Kaisa KasekampSyed

The Globe and Mail Student Journalist of the Year Award

WINNER

Sophia Coppolino, The Queen's Journal

SHORTLISTED

Jessica Kim, The Western Gazette

Evan Robins, Arthur Newspaper
 

Student Photojournalist of the Year

WINNER

Sammy Kogan, The Eyeopener
 

SHORTLISTED

Sophie Bouquillon, The Western Gazette

Kai Wilson, The Western Gazette

Isa S. You, The Ubyssey
 

Student Publication of the Year​

WINNER

The Fulcrum

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SHORTLISTED

The Charlatan

The Eyeopener

The Queen's Journal

2024 JHM Shortlist​

Arts & Culture Writing Award​

Y-Dang Troeung’s memoir Landbridge reflects on refugee existence and familial love

Elena Massing — The Ubyssey

Humour/Satire Award

New UBC policy waives course pre-reqs if you have a crush in the class

Tova Gaster — The Ubyssey

Marginalized Community Reporting Award

Closed Eyes Behind Rose-Coloured Glasses: Five Years After the Mandated Signing of the Community Covenant

Ava Gili — Mars' Hill

Feature Writing Award

A perfect day for football

Miles Bolton — The Western Gazette

Investigative Reporting Award

Alleged hazing within a Carleton University Greek letter sorority

Faith Greco and Elissa Mendes — The Charlatan

The CWA Labour Reporting Award​

CUPE3902’s fight for health coverage

Alice Boyle — The Varsity

News Reporting Award​

Queen’s engineering exam question tweeted by Jordan Peterson

Sophia Coppolino and Sofia Tosello — The Queen's Journal

Op-Ed Award

It happened. What are we going to do about it?

Imprint Staff — Imprint

Sports Reporting Award

Pressure point: how performance anxiety affects student athletes

Miles Bolton — The Western Gazette

Indigenous Reporting Award

Northern Perspectives: The Agreement that Changed It All

Cedric Gallant — The Concordian

Science Reporting Award

ORCASat: How UVic students took an idea from campus to space

Hannah Seaton — The Martlet

Cover/Layout of the Year

New Beginnings

Angelica Blanch — Capilano Courier

Graphic/Illustration of the Year

Quebec Forest Fires

Keven Vaillancourt — The Concordian

Photo of the Year

Men's soccer victory

Isabella Maggiore — The Ubyssey

Best Online Media Presence

Arthur Newspaper

Trent University, Peterborough, ON

Student Journalist of the Year

Zachary Fortier

The Link — Concordia University, Montreal, QC

Student Photojournalist of the Year​

Joesph Mariathasan

The Queen's Journal — Queen's University, Kingston, ON

Student Publication of the Year

The Griff and the Western Gazette

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