Alfred Hermida and Chaimae Chouiekh of the Global Journalism Innovation Lab continue UBC’s storytelling excellence.
Alfred Hermida, co-director at the Global Journalism Innovation Lab, received the 2025 Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Canada Regional Award for his opinion piece, “More Canadians are paying for news this year, but it’s still too early to celebrate,” published by The Conversation Canada. The piece examines Canadians’ attitudes toward digital news subscriptions, offering insights into the future of journalism and news consumption.
“The willingness of Canadians to pay for digital news is a crucial indicator of journalism’s future sustainability; this recognition helps amplify important conversations about how we fund quality journalism in the digital age,” said Hermida.
Chaimae Chouiekh, a former Research Assistant at the Global Journalism Innovation Lab received both an RTDNA Canada Regional Award and a Silver Award at the 2025 Digital Publishing Awards for her multimedia story Pyar is Pyar -A Journey in Conservative Surrey.
The story was completed as part of coursework while Chouiekh was working at the Lab. The project spotlights the experiences of queer people of colour in Surrey – a city often viewed as socially conservative – exploring how culture, faith, and identity intersect in the search for visibility and belonging. Other finalists in her category included major media organizations such as CTV.
“Having this project win two national awards in front of legacy media giants is beyond an honour. It’s a reminder that impact starts with a story that matters,” said Chouiekh.