📣 Stay tuned for the regular awards announcement the week of July 3!
APTN to be recognized during 2023 National Native Media Awards Banquet Aug. 12
NORMAN, Oklahoma — The Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) has selected the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) as the recipient of the 2023 NAJA Elias Boudinot Free Press Award, which recognizes a publication or media outlet that has shown dedication and commitment to upholding freedom of the press, information and transparency on Turtle Island.
APTN News was selected for their ongoing coverage of Nerissa and Odelia Quewezance’s (Saulteaux) wrongful conviction case and general commitment to government accountability and transparency.
The Quewezance sisters were convicted of second-degree murder in 1994. They were approved for a ministerial review in July 2022 and shortly afterwards, their lawyer applied for bail in the case. A bail hearing was held for them in November 2022, during which Saskatchewan crown prosecutors requested a publication ban.
APTN News joined their lawyer in the fight against the publication ban, arguing that the media plays a crucial role in cases of wrongful conviction. Justice Donald Layh agreed and denied the publication ban saying that APTN News was the genesis of the story that led to nation-wide coverage.
APTN was also the 2019 Elias Boudinot Free Press Award winner, which recognized the network’s response to the Indigenous-led occupation of the Muskrat Fall hydroelectric dam on Innu territory in Labrador.
APTN News will be recognized during the 2023 National Native Media Awards Banquet Aug. 12 as part of the 2023 National Native Media Conference Aug. 10-12 at the RBC Convention Center in downtown Winnipeg.