The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) has announced the recipients of the 2024 Indigenous Media Awards. Published by AISES, Winds of Change magazine, along with its writers, took a Second Place award in Health Coverage in Professional Divisions I & II, and a Third-Place award for Best Feature Story in Professional Division II.
For the fourth consecutive year, Winds of Change has received recognition in the Print/Online Best Feature Story category. The Third Place fall 2023 feature stories “Nourishing Our Communities” by Kyle Coulon and Dr. Tyler J. Rust and the associated story “Reclaiming Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Canada” by Patrick Quinn discuss approaches to achieving food security and sovereignty across North America.
The spring 2023 feature stories “Engineering Medicine: Project-Based Learning Is Fostering Innovation” by Kyle Coulon and the associated story “Decolonizing Device-Based Medicine in Canada” by Patrick Quinn received Second Place in the Print/Online Best Health Coverage category. These stories feature innovation incubators and decolonization initiatives with medical device design and Indigenous health data.
AISES congratulates the Winds of Change creative team, journalists, and partners for their commitment to Indigenous storytelling and connecting communities with accurate reporting. “The entire Winds of Change team is gratified by this recognition from IJA for the work we do,” said Karen English, the magazine’s editor.
Presented since the mid-1980s, the Indigenous Journalists Association (formerly the Native American Journalists Association) awards recognize excellence in reporting among non-Indigenous and Indigenous entrants, and Indigenous undergraduate and graduate student entrants, from across the U.S. and Canada in journalism in print/online, radio/podcast, tv, and multimedia areas.
The competition evaluates entries across seven divisions: Student Division, Associate Division I (circulation below 5,000), II (circulation 5,000 to 10,000), III (circulation above 10,000), and Professional Division I (circulation below 5,000), II circulation 5,000 to 10,000), and III (circulation above 10,000).
The 2024 competition garnered a record breaking 847 award submissions. IJA will recognize over 200 category/division award winners during the 2024 Indigenous Media Conference: “Guiding Indigenous Journalism” at the Omni Hotel in Oklahoma City on July 25 to 27. Special Awards include the posthumously presented 2024 IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award to Nellie Moore (Iñupiaq), who passed away in February 2024. Moore was a legendary journalist and mentor for 44 years. IJA selected Brandi Morin (Cree/Iroquois/French) as the 2024 Tim Giago Free Press Award recipient. Mary Hudetz (Apasaalooke/Crow) at ProPublica is the recipient of the 2024 Richard LaCourse Award for Investigative Journalism. Visit IJA for a complete list of winners.
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