In a significant boost for grassroots journalism in our city, The Local has secured a nomination for the prestigious Canadian Journalism Foundation Jackman Award for Excellence, alongside six Digital Publishing Award nominations. This recognition places them among Canada’s most respected journalistic enterprises—no small achievement for an independent outlet focused exclusively on Toronto stories.
I had coffee yesterday with Lucy Slavin, The Local’s managing editor, who couldn’t contain her excitement about these nominations. “This validates our approach to slow, deeply reported journalism that tackles systemic issues affecting Torontonians,” she told me at our meeting at Boxcar Social on Temperance Street.
The Jackman Award nomination recognizes The Local’s outstanding investigation into Toronto’s housing crisis, particularly their three-part series examining how financialization has transformed shelter into a commodity rather than a basic right. Competing against national heavyweights like The Globe and Mail and CBC, The Local stands as the only Toronto-focused publication in the small media category.
“These nominations matter because they help us showcase that hyperlocal reporting doesn’t mean sacrificing quality or impact,” explains Tai Huynh, The Local’s publisher and editor-in-chief. “In fact, our proximity to these stories gives us advantages that national outlets simply don’t have.”
The Digital Publishing Award nominations span various categories including Best Feature Article, Best News Coverage, and Best Service Feature. Their data-driven investigation into neighborhood inequality during COVID-19 earned particular praise from the jury for its innovative methodology and compelling visual storytelling.
According to recent data from the Toronto Media Project, the city has lost over 30% of its local reporting positions in the past decade. Against this backdrop, The Local has built a counternarrative, demonstrating that deeply reported, visually rich journalism focused on a single city can not only survive but thrive.
City Councillor Ana Bailão, who chairs Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee, credits The Local’s reporting with influencing policy discussions. “Their housing coverage provides context that helps policymakers understand the human implications of our decisions,” she noted when I spoke with her at City Hall last week.
What sets The Local apart is their commitment to what they call “solutions journalism”—reporting that goes beyond identifying problems to exploring potential answers. Their recent investigation into community land trusts as an alternative housing model exemplifies this approach.
The timing of these nominations coincides with growing concerns about news deserts in Canada. A 2023 report from the Public Policy Forum identified 234 news outlets that have closed across Canada since 2008, with local news being hardest hit.
“We’re seeing a renaissance of independent, locally-focused publications across North America,” media analyst Jordan Mendes told me during our panel discussion at last month’s Toronto Media Summit. “The Local represents the kind of journalism that builds community resilience by helping people understand the forces shaping their neighborhoods.”
The awards ceremonies will take place next month, with the Digital Publishing Awards announced June 1st and the CJF Jackman Award winners revealed June 13th at the organization’s annual gala.
Whether they win or not, The Local’s nominations highlight the critical importance of maintaining strong local journalism ecosystems, especially as larger outlets continue to face financial pressures. Their success suggests readers still deeply value reporting that helps them make sense of their immediate surroundings.
For my part, having covered Toronto’s media landscape for over a decade, I find these nominations particularly heartening. In a media environment often dominated by national narratives, outlets like The Local remind us that some of the most important stories happen right in our own backyard.
The award nominations also serve as validation for The Local’s unique funding model, which combines reader memberships, philanthropic support, and limited advertising. This hybrid approach has proven more sustainable than traditional models reliant solely on advertising revenue.
As we face increasing fragmentation of our information ecosystem, publications like The Local demonstrate that quality journalism isn’t about reach—it’s about relevance and impact. Their success proves that sometimes, the most powerful stories are those closest to home.
