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CBC Edmonton won an award Saturday for best local news in Canada for its breaking online news coverage of the Alberta government’s school book ban.
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Canada handed out Best Canadian Local News and national awards during a gala in Toronto Saturday night.
The win recognized CBC Edmonton as the organization (in a large market) that displayed the most enterprise and creativity in reporting an unscheduled, breaking-news event.
“Breaking news coverage is the heart of our work,” CBC Edmonton managing editor Sarah O’Donnell said in a statement. “This award is deeply meaningful, as it recognizes the crucial role our journalists play in keeping Albertans informed about the real world impact of government policy changes.”
The RTDNA awards honour the best journalists, programs, stations and news organizations who produce audio, digital and video content in Canada. This years awards recognize work that happened in 2025.
CBC Edmonton was awarded this RTDNA for displaying the most enterprise and creativity in reporting an unscheduled, breaking event. (Pippa Reed/CBC)
Much of the CBC Edmonton newsroom helped report on the school book ban, which targeted sexually explicit materials after members of a parental rights group flagged four graphic novels.
The ban proved divisive — and initially saw Edmonton public school officials, for one, plan to pull more than 200 titles from library shelves, including The Handmaid’s Tale, and implement age restrictions on novels like 1984 and The Great Gatsby.
The government later revised the wording in the legislation to distinguish its focus on works with visual depictions, as opposed to, say, classical literature in which a sexual act is vaguely described.
Below, in chronological order, is the ensemble of articles submitted to the RTDNA for the award:
CBC Edmonton qualified for the award after winning the Prairie region RTDNA in the same category last month.
Newsroom staff were finalists for Best Canadian Local News in six other categories, after producing award-winning work in the Prairies.
Audio award: opinion
Jessica Ng, a co-host of Radio Active, visited the Truc Lam Monastery — also known as the Edmonton Buddhist Research Institute — late last year. She sat with Brother Peter Trang for tea at the monastery in central Edmonton, and learned how the institution is modernizing its practice and traditions.
Ng’s seven-minute piece won the regional RTDNA for best audio opinion story.
LISTEN | Truc Lam Monastery modernizing its practice, tradition:
Radio Active7:38Visiting places of worship around Edmonton: Truc Lam Monastery
Truc Lam Monastery, also known as the Edmonton Buddhist Research Institute, is modernizing its practice and tradition. Jessica Ng visited the monastery on 97th Street and sat down with Brother Peter Trang for tea.
The award is given to the news organization that provides outstanding editorial comment on a single topic. The winning story could be analytical or interpretive, and doesn’t necessarily have to express an opinion.
This was the only audio piece from CBC Edmonton to win a Prairie region RTDNA award this year.
Digital awards: feature news and data
CBC Edmonton’s digital coverage earned two other regional awards for feature news and data-driven storytelling.
Journalist Wallis Snowdon and cameraman Nathan Gross earned the feature news (large market) award, after following a research team into Alberta’s largest bat cave. Scientists make the trek each year to count the colonies sleeping in the cave as a deadly fungus threatens bat populations.
The award honours an excellent and creative feature or human-interest story.
CBC Edmonton’s data journalist Nicholas Frew was also recognized for looking into the psychological toll Edmonton first responders face through the line of duty. Through multiple information requests, he obtained data showing how many police service members, firefighters and EMS workers have had to go on leave to care for their mental health, and for how long.
This award acknowledges the most creative data storytelling, acknowledging particularly the creativity and clarity through which the numbers were presented — and how they were visualized in graphics.
Video awards: AV and sports
CBC Edmonton video staff earned awards for audio-visual storytelling and sports journalism.
Reporter Adrienne Lamb and cameraman Rick Bremness — an iconic pairing who used to produce a television program called Our Edmonton — were recognized for creatively using audio and video to share how the century-old pool hall in Vilna, Alta., a village of 300 people, was looking to hire a barber.
WATCH | Get a feel for the Vilna Pool Hall and Barbershop:
How a tiny village is keeping its vintage pool hall and barbershop alive
One of the oldest pool halls and barbershops in Canada is thriving in the village of Vilna, Alta. It’s thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers with a passion for pool, a penchant for pockets and a stick-to-it attitude that has kept this spot on cue for the past 100 years.
Meanwhile, cameraman Nathan Gross won the excellence in sports reporting award for his feature on Joyce Cutts, a former national tennis doubles champ who, at 93 years old, still graces a tennis court three times a week.
WATCH | Tennis star, 93, brightens up the court:
Tennis star, 93, brightens up the court
Joyce Cutts is a former national doubles champion in tennis. At 93, she shows no signs of slowing down as she hits the tennis courts three times a week.Multiplatform award: continuing coverage
CBC Edmonton was acknowledged regionally for how it continued to cover the search for Samuel Bird. The 14-year-old was reported missing for months before his body was eventually found in a rural area outside Edmonton.
Many staffers from across departments — from journalists, to camerapeople, to editors and producers — helped inform the public about the search launched by family, volunteers and search-and-rescue teams, and the murder charge — among others — laid against a man in connection to the boy’s death.
The award for best multiplatform continuing coverage (large market) is given to the news organization that displays outstanding creativity in the continuing coverage of a major developing story.
Below is the package of stories submitted to the RTDNA for this category:
CBC Edmonton has won the award two years in a row. The organization was recognized last year — regionally and nationally — for its reporting on the aftermath of the Jasper wildfire and its impact on the community.