PressProgress Labour Reporter Emma Arkell Wins Silver Canadian Association of Journalists Award for Labour Reporting
Emma Arkell reported on anti-LGBTQ+ harassment targeting teachers and education workers for Xtra Magazine last year
Another PressProgress reporter is being recognized for their award-winning journalism.
PressProgress Labour reporter Emma Arkell, who joined PressProgress as a full-time reporter covering labour issues in Canada earlier this year, won silver for labour reporting at the Canadian Association of Journalists awards banquet in Calgary last week.
Emma’s winning story, “Canadian teachers face harassment in wake of ‘parental rights’ policies,” was published by Xtra Magazine last year and explores the impacts of far-right anti-LGBTQ+ harassment targeting teachers and education workers.
“It’s an honour to have this work recognized by the CAJ,” Emma told PressProgress. “I really appreciate that they have an entire category related to labour reporting.”
Emma notes the labour reporting award is additionally meaningful given she was working as a freelance journalist at the time, something she notes is “itself a form of precarious work.”
Congratulations @emmaarkell.bsky.social !!
Read Emma’s award-winning story here: xtramagazine.com/power/politi…
Emma’s story takes a closer look at the intersection between the political influence of the far-right and working conditions in education as a result of the recent wave of anti-LGBTQ+ hate targeting schools in response to so-called “parental rights” groups and the “one million march for children.”
“In my research into prominent groups and figures in the ‘parental rights’ movement, I had seen the targeted online abuse that some teachers faced simply for teaching sexual orientation and gender identity lessons or being ‘out’ at work,” Emma explained. “It was disturbing to see the hatred directed at educators, often simply for being perceived as queer.”
“I wanted to talk to teachers about how the ‘parental rights’ movement was changing their work and dig into the response from teachers’ unions,” Emma said.
“This issue is sometimes reduced to being about parents and students, but educators – the people who would be forced to implement ‘pronoun policies’, some of whom are queer themselves – would obviously be impacted as well.”
Emma said she is deeply grateful to the educators and researchers who spoke to her for the story: “Too often they have to put their personal safety at risk in order to be their true selves at work and make school safe for queer and trans kids. I admire their bravery and I hope I did their work justice.”
Emma is also thankful to the team at Xtra who helped her with the story, including her “wonderful editor” Tara-Michelle Ziniuk.
Nominated alongside Emma were journalists Zak Vescara (The Tyee), Anusha Siddiqui (The Investigative Journalism Foundation) and David Wiwchar (The Peak CJAW-FM). Natalia Rivero Gómez received the CAJ’s gold award for her reporting on working conditions in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program published by The Rover.
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