The Webby Awards honours CNO’s The Salmon People podcast

Canada’s National Observer’s The Salmon People was named a Webby Honoree for the 27th Annual Webby Awards announced in New York City this week.

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 Internet.

“Honorees like The Salmon People are setting the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said Claire Graves, president of the Webby Awards. “It is an incredible achievement to be selected among the best from the nearly 14,000 entries we received this year.”

The podcast, which is a co-production between journalist Sandra Bartlett and CNO, 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 Webby Award is great recognition for the people who are fighting to save wild salmon,” said Bartlett.

“So many people helped get this story out. First Nations, fishers, citizen researchers, scientists, lawyers and concerned citizens. And leading them all was Alexandra Morton,” she added.

Among others nominated and honoured in the same category were the CBC and the L.A. Times for The Outlaw Oceans, Campaign Legal Centre for Democracy Decoded and Audible’s Climate of Change (Series 2).

The Salmon People was also listed as a finalist for the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s Jackman Awards 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.

If you haven’t already, click here to listen to the series. You can also search for the podcast on your go-to listening app.