Night For Rights 2022 - program publication

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A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR & CO-CHAIRS

Welcome to Night For Rights 2022! This year, Journalists for Human Rights’ annual gala is a truly special occasion. We are celebrating 20 years of JHR’s powerful existence – its incredible impact over four continents and the community of changemakers it has fostered around the world.

We are honoured that some of our community can join us tonight at this important event – and in that spirit, we are recognizing some of our most loyal friends, partners and ambassadors.

Long-time JHR champion and gala co-chair Lisa LaFlamme will host the night, alongside singer-actoractivist Jann Arden . The Globe & Mail’s Senior International Correspondent Mark MacKinnon – who was an important supporter of JHR’s emergency evacuation effort from Afghanistan – has flown in from Kyiv to deliver tonight’s keynote speech. Our key partner Unifor’s newly elected National President Lana Payne will take the stage to talk about her inspiring journey from journalism to union leadership.

Journalists Humaira Habib from Afghanistan and Wanja Gathu from Kenya will share what needs to be done to reverse the degradation of press freedoms in their countries. Watch out for our 20-year retrospective and help us raise $50,000 to fuel JHR’s growth in the 20 years to come.

Thank you to our valued sponsors, supporters, and volunteers who have provided important financial support, time and energy to making tonight’s effort happen. And thank you to all of you for showing your support by being with us tonight. We couldn’t do this work without you. So now sit back, be inspired, and donate! We are in for a wonderful evening — all in celebration of human rights journalism.

Sincerely,

THERESA EBDEN, Chair Director of Marketing and Communications Programs for Accenture’s global Growth & Strategy organization MICHAEL COOKE, Co-chair

JHR Board chair & former Editor of the Toronto Star

CATHERINE CANO, Co-chair

President and Founder of Canovision, former Administratrice of La Francophonie & CEO of CPAC

LISA LAFLAMME, Co-chair

Former Chief Anchor & Senior Editor for CTV National News

EVENING PROGRAM

5 :00PM

Cocktail Reception

6:00PM

Gala Dinner and Presentations

Evergreen Brick Works

Master of Ceremonies: Lisa LaFlamme & Jann Arden

Remarks

Rachel Pulfer , Executive Director, Journalists for Human Rights

Lana Payne, National President, Unifor Honouring Lisa LaFlamme

Fireside chat with Lisa & Jann

Mark MacKinnon , Senior International Correspondent, The Globe & Mail

Humaira Habib , Journalist and women’s rights activist

Wanja Gathu, Gordon N. Fisher/Journalists for Human Rights Fellow

Video Retrospective 20 years of JHR

Fund A Need

Michael Cooke, Journalists for Human Rights Chair of the Board, Emeritus Editor in Chief Toronto Star

Closing Remarks

Access to trustworthy information has never been more important. We’re proud to support Night For Rights and celebrate 20 years of JHR mobilizing media to change lives globally.

human rights

NIGHT FOR RIGHTS HOST

Lisa LaFlamme

As the former Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor of CTV National News, Lisa LaFlamme led the country’s #1 newscast where she cemented her role as the face of news in Canada.

Never far from the heart of the story, LaFlamme has always brought Canadians an up-close look at the biggest stories unfolding across Canada and around the world.

Prior to assuming the Anchor chair in 2011, LaFlamme spent more than a decade on the road as CTV News’ National Affairs Correspondent, travelling to some of the world’s most dangerous locations to cover everything from wars to elections to natural disasters. .

In addition to multiple awards for broadcasting and journalism over her career, she has received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater University of Ottawa, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. and the University of Windsor. She is the recipient of the Order of Ontario and was awarded the Distinguished Canadian Award from the University of Ottawa. On June 27, 2019, LaFlamme was named Officer of the Order of Canada (O.C.), one of Canada’s highest honours.

A passionate advocate of democracy in journalism, LaFlamme is a brand ambassador for Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), and serves as co-chair of the annual JHR Night for Rights event.

NIGHT FOR RIGHTS HOST

Jann Arden

Jann Arden is a multi-platinum, award-winning singer, songwriter, actor and author. Arden has released 15 albums with 19 top ten singles.

Arden’s accolades include 8 JUNO Awards including Female Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year, 10 SOCAN Awards and 4 Western Canadian Music Awards to name a few. In 2020, she was announced as an inductee into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame joining the ranks of Canadian music icons including Alanis Morisette, Bryan Adams, Barenaked Ladies, Joni Mitchell, Shania Twain and many more. Arden has also been inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, has a Star on Canada’s Walk of Fame and has been awarded the Order of Canada.

Arden has written five books, the most recent being her new memoir IF I KNEW THEN: Finding Wisdom in Failure and Power in Aging, released October 2020. IF I KNEW THEN follows Arden’s 2017 Canadian best-seller, FEEDING MY MOTHER: Comfort and Laughter in the Kitchen as My Mom Lives with Memory Loss, which spent a combined 44 weeks on The Globe and Mail bestseller lists.

Season 3 of Arden’s CTV hit original comedy series JANN premiered in Fall of 2021. With Arden serving as cocreator and star of the show where she plays a fictionalized version of herself, Season 1 of JANN was the mostwatched new Canadian comedy series of the 2018-19 broadcast season.

unifor.org

Unifor is proud to support Journalists for Human Rights as it celebrates two decades of mobilizing media to change lives.

The public needs media workers to hold corporations and governments accountable now more than ever. As gatekeepers for truthful, unbiased storytelling, we stand with journalists who often risk their lives and face targeted harassment.

Audi Canada proudly supports the efforts of Journalists For Human Rights

NIGHT FOR RIGHTS SPEAKER

Rachel Pulfer

Rachel Pulfer is the Executive Director of Journalists for Human Rights, Canada’s leading media development organization. A magazine journalist of 10 years’ standing, Pulfer took over JHR in 2011 and has since worked to expand its scope of operations from one continent to three. This included adapting JHR’s innovative community-led model of media development work overseas to successful programming on Indigenous rights in Canada and moving into the Middle East and North Africa in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Working with journalists Michael Cooke, Troy Reeb, Lisa LaFlamme, Karyn Pugliese, Joanne McDonald, Kenny Yum and many, many others, Pulfer pioneered an approach to media partnerships that embedded Canadian journalism experts in training programs with JHR across the media landscape. On her watch, the organization has doubled in scope while winning several regional and national awards acknowledging the impact of JHR programs. Such recognition includes the Michener-Baxter Award for Exceptional Service to Canadian Journalism in 2022, the 2018 Bill Hutton Award for Excellence in Journalism from RTDNA Canada, the 2018 Ontario Heritage Award, the 2013 Canadian Ethnic Media Award for Innovation for the Indigenous Reporters Program, and a 2013 GovernorGeneral’s Award for Services to the People of Ghana.

In June 2022, she was awarded an honorary diploma by Loyalist College for her decade-long leadership in protecting and strengthening journalists all over the world. She is a regular commentator on media development and media freedom, and a member of the Banff Forum.

NIGHT FOR RIGHTS SPEAKER

Lana Payne

Lana Payne was elected National President in 2022, becoming the first women to hold this leadership office.

Before her election, Payne served the union as SecretaryTreasurer from 2019-2022. Payne brings three decades of inspired leadership to workers, including through her previous position as Atlantic Regional Director. A proud feminist and activist, she found her home in the labour movement in 1991 with FFAW/CAW.

A former journalist Payne wrote a newspaper column for more than 20 years and was named one of Canada’s 23 Bold Women of Vision.

As President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour she utilized her media experience to raise the profile of the labour movement and successfully achieved significant changes to minimum wage and labour laws.

Since Unifor’s founding, Payne has advocated for stronger union and workers’rights, helped usher in paid leave for victims of domestic violence in the Atlantic Region and was a leader in the fightback against Nova Scotia’s unprecedented attack on workers.

As Secretary-Treasurer, she has among other responsibilities, co-ordinated Unifor’s pandemic response, including the fight for paid sick days and stronger Employment Insurance, and has navigated the union through a financial crisis.

NIGHT FOR RIGHTS SPEAKER

Mark MacKinnon

Mark MacKinnon is currently based in London, where he is The Globe and Mail’s Senior International Correspondent. In that posting he has reported on the refugee crisis, the rise of Islamic State, the war in eastern Ukraine, and the Brexit referendum. He was internationally recognized for his 2016 story “The Graffiti Kids,” which followed the lives of the teenagers who inadvertently started the Syrian war. Mark spent five years as the newspaper’s Beijing correspondent. There he won accolades for his investigations into the garment industry in Asia and for his reporting from the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan.

Mark has also been posted to the Middle East and Moscow for The Globe and Mail. He has covered the arrival of Canada’s troops in Afghanistan, the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Russia’s war in Chechnya, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

A seven-time National Newspaper Award winner, Mark is also the author of The New Cold War: Revolutions, Rigged Elections and Pipeline Politics - which was published in 2007 by Random House, and The China Diaries, an e-book of his train travels through the Middle Kingdom along with photographer John Lehmann.

He has interviewed many world leaders, including Shimon Peres, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

“The work of JHR in enabling objective and effective media coverage for human rights issues across the world is critical. We are inspired by JHR’s ongoing efforts and impact to create fairer and more just societies through the power of reporting.”

Jeffrey Russell, President, Accenture in Canada

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is proud to support Journalists for Human Rights and strong, independent media.

ETFO embraces the need for systemic change and is committed to moving equity and social justice forward.

Through public education, advocacy and collective organizing, we can continue to create a better, more socially just world together.

Learn more at etfo.ca

NIGHT FOR RIGHTS SPEAKER

Humaira Habib

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Humaira Habib moved with her family to Pakistan to escape the chaos in her country. In 2000, at age 18, she returned to Herat where she experienced the Taliban oppression of the women population. Life changed for Humaira when in 2004, the authorities declared that she could not work as a journalist any more. Humaira was in despair but she fought for her rights and continued to work till she became director of Radio Sahar.

A member of the first batch of graduates from Herat University’s Department of Journalism, it was her experiences as a Sauvé Scholar at McGill University in Montreal in 2007/08 that changed her worldviews. Humaira and the other girls employed at the radio fought every day for the rights of Afghan women. A womanrun station, they produced programming that appealed to women and young people. It was the fifth most popular radio channel in Herat. Humaira also took pride in her work to teach the next generation of journalists as a trainer at the organization Nai.

After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, Humaira stopped working for her safety. She moved to Toronto in May 2022.

NIGHT FOR RIGHTS SPEAKER

Wanja Gathu

Wanja Gathu is a Kenyan journalist with over 15 years of multimedia experience, working with both local and international media. She is the 2022-2023 Gordon N. Fisher / JHR Fellow at the Massey College, and a passionate human rights defender and a strong advocate for social justice and peace building.

She aspires to a world where people’s rights are respected and protected – a world free from injustice and all forms of discrimination. She has written and published hardhitting articles that speak truth to power and calling out government excesses in her home country Kenya.

Elizabeth holds a Diploma in Mass Communication from the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication and is an avid student of Peace building and Conflict Transformation. She is a mother of two teenage sons. She enjoys travelling, reading and writing.

JHR AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTINGR

Journalists for Human Rights conceived this award to recognize those whose body of work to date exemplifies principles of human rights reporting that delivers powerful impact. This includes a deep commitment to professionalism, accuracy and fairness, paired with a relentless focus on giving a platform to the marginalized of society, opening up important public conversations on issues that matter, and moving that conversation forward towards solutions that make life better for everyone. This year, JHR is delighted to announce Lisa LaFlamme as the recipient of Journalists for Human Rights’ annual human rights reporting award. For over 30 years, Lisa has blazed a trail in Canadian journalism, reporting the biggest news stories from across the world and leading Canada’s most-watched nightly newscast as Chief Anchor and Senior Editor at her former employer CTV News. She has travelled to some of the world’s most dangerous locations to cover everything from wars to elections to natural disasters – and is trusted by viewers to report with compassion and clarity.

As a female leader in Canadian media, she has inspired an entire generation of journalists, and will continue to do so. We are honoured to celebrate her career as the broadcaster of choice for 850,000 Canadians.

Previous award winners include Christiane Amanpour; former APTN CEO Jean La Rose; Somalian journalist Hodan Nalayeh (posthumously awarded); David Bruser and Jayme Poisson of the Toronto Star; Sara Mojtehedzadeh of the Toronto Star, and Paul Barnsley of APTN.

JHR

MESSAGE FROM THE FIELD

NARRATIVE SOVEREIGNTY IN THE NORTH

This year, JHR began working with a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous journalists committed to strengthening narrative sovereignty in the Northwest Territories. The result is a first-of-its kind program, supported by the Google News Initiative , to equip Northerners with the skills and knowledge to work in media.

The Northern Journalism and Communications Training Program will launch in early 2023 with the ultimate goal of increasing the quantity and quality of Indigenous stories being reported in the North.

As we prepare to launch this new project, we spoke with them about how they got here, what it’s all about, and why this work is so important.

This project is a step toward Indigenous-led journalism training in the Northwest Territories.

What has the road to get to this point been like?

In the spring of 2019, we gathered around a kitchen table to talk about the news industry in the North. The conversation then was, and continues to be, centered around two questions:

Where are the Northerners and Indigenous journalists in our newsrooms? How do we get them into the industry?

What those two questions really boil down to is: Where is the narrative sovereignty?

Each of us who are part of this grassroots collective are passionate about sharing our expertise, experience and knowledge with budding storytellers. We want to foster journalistic integrity that’s also grounded in the cultures, languages and ways of doing that are unique to the communities and homelands these stories are reported from.

What is narrative sovereignty?

Narrative sovereignty is the concept that an individual or collective of people have ownership over the narratives told about them. It ties into ideas of nationhood and consent.

Jesse Wente has been talking about this for a long time — of narrative sovereignty for Indigenous Peoples — primarily in the filmmaking industry. But it’s applicable to any storytelling, from journalism to filmmaking to music to book publishing.

For so long, Indigenous people have been reported on in ways that built a narrative about us, without us. Narrative sovereignty for Indigenous Peoples means that we participate and engage in the crafting of our own stories for and about us; being able to define for ourselves, our nations and our communities what the stories told about us are, and how they’re told.

Photo credit: Eighty One Images

“Narrative sovereignty for Indigenous Peoples means that we participate and engage in the crafting of our own stories for and about us; being able to define for ourselves, our nations and our communities what the stories told about us are, and how they’re told.”

Why is this work so important?

This work is necessary for the same reasons journalism is important: for democracy at all levels, holding institutions to account, critical thinking when engaging with any media.

UNDRIP Article 16 affirms that Indigenous people have the right to establish our own media in our own languages, and, in Article 14, our own forms of education. The TRC calls 84 to 86 are specifically aimed at the media. The MMIWG2S Calls for Justice includes a call aimed toward the media and social influencers.

So many people in the North have stories to tell. They know what’s going on in their communities and what’s important to them because they are born, raised, and living full-time in them.

Which brings us back to an overarching vision for changing the narratives told about Indigenous people and communities. Without meaningful contribution in producing and critiquing news in Canada — from how it’s produced and who produces it, to the narratives themselves — nothing changes. But we see change happen incrementally as more Indigenous people enter the industry so that their perspectives and expertise can be shared.

A canoe moves forward with small but consistent strokes. This project is one of many contributing to righting the direction of the journey the Canadian news media is on.

About the Google News Initiative

The Google News Initiative is Google’s unified effort to help journalism thrive in the digital age. It’s focused on three key objectives: elevating quality information, evolving business models to support quality journalism, and empowering news organizations to use new technology to meet their needs.

PROUD TO SUPPORT JHR

C anada’s national news agency proudly supports the Night for Rights and all the journalists at home and abroad who share our commitment to covering human rights objectively and effectively.

Proud to support our friends at Journalists for Human Rights and help them protect Storytellers everywhere.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Partner Sponsors

Distinguished Supporter Gold SponsorsHospitality Sponsors

Presenting Sponsor Publicity Sponsors

Bruce Ashley Group

WWW.JHR.CA | INFORMATION@JHR.CA | @JHRNEWS | #NIGHT4RIGHTS phone: 416.413.0240 | fax: 416.413.1832 147 Spadina Avenue, Suite 206, Toronto ON M5V 2L7

Journalists for Human Rights is a registered Canadian Charity #860372853RR0001

We are grateful to those who have made this event possible and continue to support our mission to protect and strengthen media freedoms across the world.