Connie Walker (journalist)
Connie Walker is a Canadian journalist.[1][2][3][4][5] Walker grew up in the Okanese First Nation, in Saskatchewan.
Walker was awarded a Joan Donaldson Newsworld Scholarship while studying at Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, which provided her with an opportunity to work as an intern for CBC Newsworld. She graduated in journalism from the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, and subsequently graduated from the University of Regina.
Walker was employed for the 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons as a host for Street Cents, a youth oriented consumer show, while she was still a journalism student in Saskatchewan.[5] In 2000, SAGE, described Walker as "...one of the highest profile First Nations journalists on national television."
Following her graduation Walker took a permanent position with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.[2] She served as host of Living Saskatchewan, and served as a reporter and producer for CBC News: Sunday and flagship news show, The National. In the fall of 2009 Walker became a correspondent for Connect with Mark Kelley.
Okanese, a personal documentary Walker produced, about the community in which she grew up, earned an honourable mention at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival.[2]
In 2013 Walker helped produce the acclaimed 8th Fire documentary on contemporary issues for First Nations people.[6]
In December 2015 CBC Radio broadcast a 14 minute program entitled "Connie Walker and the firsthand legacy of residential schools", where she described the horror of residential schools through her family's experience, and how reporting on the Truth and reconciliation commission.[7] The last residential school to remain in operation was near Walker's home, the Okanese First Nation. Walker described learning how her mother and grandparents were survivors of the residential school system.
On May 29, 2016, Walker and colleagues at the CBC's Aboriginal news unit, won the Canadian Association of Journalists' Don McGillivray investigative award and its Online Media award, for the stories on its "Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls" website.[8]
On October 25, 2016, the CBC News published Walker's 8-part investigative podcast focussed around missing and murdered aboriginal women, that started with looking at the murder of Alberta Williams.[9][10][11] Both Chatelaine magazine and Flare magazine interviewed Walker, the week the podcast went online.
On November 17, 2016 Ryerson University's School of Journalism invited Walker, Karyn Pugliese, Tanya Talaga to a panel on covering aboriginal issues.[12] In 2020 Walker has left the CBC, to work for Gimlet Media.[13] On November 28, 2020, The New York Times quoted her praise of "The Secret Life of Canada", in an article on indigineous podcasts.
On January 7, 2022, CBC Ideas broadcast a speech Walker gave at Vancouver Island University, where she recounted what it was like to be an indigenous journalist.[14]
In 2022 Walker lead a team at Gimlet that produced a podcast on a Residential School near where she grew up.[15][16][17][18] It was one of the last Residential Schools to remain in operation. It was the school her father was forced to attend, and her father was one of the sources she used in her reporting.
In May of 2023 Walker learned the podcast had been chosen for a prestigious Pullitzer Prize.[15][16] She told reporters the prize was unexpected, and that she was in shock. The next day the podcast won a Peabody Award, another prestigious award.
The Globe and Mail noted that it was rare for Canadians to be awarded Pulitzer Prizes.[16]
References
- ↑ "Street Cents: The Guide". CBC News. 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-12-02. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fstreetcents%2Farchives%2Fguide%2Fthehosts.html&date=2009-12-02.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Meet Connie Walker". CBC News. 2009-10-26. Archived from the original on 2009-12-02. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fconnect%2F2009%2F10%2Fmeet-connie-walker.html&date=2009-12-02.
- ↑ "Five questions for Connie Walker". CBC News. 2009-11-19. Archived from the original on 2009-12-02. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fconnect%2F2009%2F11%2Ffive-questions-for-connie-walker.html&date=2009-12-02.
- ↑ "Living Saskatchewan with Connie Walker". CBC News. 2008-09-18. Archived from the original on 2009-12-02. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Faboriginal%2F2008%2F09%2Fliving_saskatchewan_with_conni%2F&date=2009-12-02.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Stephen LaRose (2000-09-18). "SIFC student lands CBC-TV job in Halifax". SAGE (Saskatchewan). Archived from the original on 2009-12-02. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ammsa.com%2Fsage%2FSEPT2000.html&date=2009-12-02.
- ↑ Connie Walker (2013-12-10). "Meet our team: Merelda Fiddler". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2013-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20131210170508/http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/meet-our-team-merelda-fiddler-1.2446787. Retrieved 2013-12-10. "Connie Walker has been a host, producer and reporter at CBC since 2001. Most recently, she was a producer on the "8th Fire" documentary series."
- ↑ "Connie Walker and the firsthand legacy of residential schools". CBC Radio. 2015-12-10. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/backstory/connie-walker-and-the-first-hand-legacy-of-residential-schools-1.3359153. Retrieved 2016-07-30. "Connie has reported extensively on Canada's residential schools, but she's also seen the effects firsthand on her own family."
- ↑ "CBC's missing and murdered Indigenous women website wins top Canadian Association of Journalists award". CBC News. 2016-05-29. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cbc-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-caj-1.3605440. Retrieved 2016-07-30. "CBC News has won the top prize for investigative journalism awarded by the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) for its "Missing & Murdered: Unsolved cases of Indigenous women and girls" website."
- ↑ Rachel Giese (2016-10-25). "A new true crime podcast explores the death of one of Canada’s MMIW". Chatelaine magazine. http://www.chatelaine.com/living/true-crime-podcast-explores-death-mmiw/. Retrieved 2016-10-29. "The very first story I wrote was for my high school newspaper. It was about the murder of Pamela George [an Indigenous woman who was beaten to death by two white men in Regina in 1995]. I don’t remember seeing or hearing any indigenous voices in the media covering the case at the time. I decided I would write about, that I could be that voice. That’s why I went into journalism."
- ↑ Maureen Halushak (2016-10-20). "Meet the Reporter Behind a New, Must-Listen Canadian Crime Podcast". Flare magazine. http://www.flare.com/culture/meet-the-woman-behind-a-new-must-listen-podcast-on-canadas-mmiw/. Retrieved 2016-10-29. "Missing & Murdered: Who Killed Alberta Williams? is a new CBC crime podcast that delves into the life and death of one of Canada’s MMIW. We talked to CBC reporter Connie Walker about who Alberta was, her family’s lingering heartbreak and what Walker hopes the podcast will achieve—above and beyond telling Alberta’s story"
- ↑ Mădălina Ciobanu (2016-10-27). "Why CBC News produced its first investigative podcast". Journalism.co.uk. https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/why-cbc-news-produced-its-first-investigative-podcast/s2/a686762/. Retrieved 2016-10-29. "Podcasts allow reporters to take listeners with them as the story unfolds, instead of just 'focusing on the end result', explained Connie Walker, investigative reporter for CBC News."
- ↑ Jasmine Bala (2016-11-17). "Indigenous stories are mainstream stories, say panellists". Ryerson University School of Journalism. http://ryersonjournalism.ca/2016/11/16/indigenous-stories-are-mainstream-stories-say-panellists/. Retrieved 2016-11-17. "Connie Walker, an investigative reporter for CBC National News who has reported extensively on Indigenous issues, said newsroom attitudes are changing and it’s getting easier to sell editors on Indigenous-related news stories."
- ↑ Phoebe Lett (2020-11-28). "Listen to Indigenous People". The New York Times: p. D4. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/28/at-home/indigenous-podcasts.html. Retrieved 2020-11-29. "Connie Walker, who is Cree from the Okanese First Nation and a reporter for Spotify’s Gimlet Media, loves “The Secret Life of Canada” by the CBC for the illusions it dispels about the country’s reputation for progressive policy."
- ↑ Connie Walker (2022-01-07). "Exposing the Truth: Connie Walker on Journalism's Role in Reconciliation". CBC Ideas. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-23-ideas/clip/15887830-exposing-truth-connie-walker-journalisms-role-reconciliation. Retrieved 2023-05-14. "We're celebrating Connie's achievement on IDEAS with the Indigenous Speakers Series Lecture she gave at Vancouver Island University. Connie shares her observations and experiences, both professional and personal, on the evolution of journalistic coverage of Indigenous stories."
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Jason Warick (2023-05-08). "Sask. journalist wins Pulitzer Prize, Peabody for podcast about her father's residential school experience". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-05-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20230514041144/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/connie-walker-pulitzer-prize-podcast-1.6836625. Retrieved 2023-05-14. "Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's, a podcast by journalist Connie Walker and the team at Spotify's Gimlet Media, won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize on Monday for best audio journalism. The following day, it won a Peabody Award for its 'its tenacious reporting and continued commitment to recognizing the full history of the Indigenous community' in the podcast and radio category. 'I feel like I'm still in shock. It's disbelief. It means so much. It's an incredible honour,' Walker said Monday."
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Hanna Hett (2023-05-09). "Indigenous journalist Connie Walker from Saskatchewan wins Pulitzer, Peabody". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2023-05-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20230513203619/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-canadian-journalist-connie-walker-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-podcast-2/. Retrieved 2023-05-14. "'It took me more than a few seconds to even just process the words that I was hearing,' she told The Globe and Mail. 'It’s just so incredible, and just so overwhelming and so amazing. It just feels like such a blur. And I almost can’t even believe that this is really happening.'"
- ↑ Rory MacLean (2023-05-09). "Saskatchewan-born journalist wins Pulitzer Prize for podcast exploring residential school". CTV News. Archived from the original on 2023-05-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20230509193432/https://regina.ctvnews.ca/saskatchewan-born-journalist-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-podcast-exploring-residential-school-1.6391052. Retrieved 2023-05-14. "'[Walker’s] investigation into her father’s troubled past revealed a larger story of abuse of hundreds of Indigenous children at an Indian residential school in Canada, including other members of Walker’s extended family, a personal search for answers expertly blended with rigorous investigative reporting,' an announcement on the Pulitzer website says."
- ↑ 2023-05-09> "Canadian journalist Connie Walker wins Pulitzer Prize, Peabody Award for podcast". City News. 2023-05-09. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/05/09/canadian-journalist-connie-walker-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-podcast/. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
