South Asian broadcasting trailblazer Shushma Datt and B.C.-based journalism non-profit The Tyee will be recognized at the upcoming Jack Webster Foundation Awards.
Datt will be recognized with the 2021 Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award, which honours an exemplary B.C. journalism career.
Datt worked at The Times of India and the BBC before moving to Canada in 1972. Facing significant racism from mainstream outlets because of her Indian accent, by 1984 she started her own radio station, Radio Rim Jhim, which carried South Asian content and broadcast on a sub-carrier frequency. The first Indo-Canadian woman to be granted a CRTC licence, in 2005 she launched Sp!ce Radio (CJRJ-AM) Burnaby. Over the years, Datt has also produced and hosted television programming for Shaw and OMNI, including “Women In Focus.”
The 2021 Bill Good Award, honouring a B.C. individual or organization that makes a significant contribution to journalism in the province, is being presented to The Tyee, which over the past two decades has become a leading source of news, opinion, culture, and investigative journalism despite early skepticism about its business model.
Founded in 2003 by former Vancouver Sun features editor David Beers, The Tyee pioneered a new model of regionally-based, reader-supported, independent, online journalism. It has grown to an average of 1 million page views per month by 700,000 unique visitors. Now boasting 70,000 subscribers, over the last year, the site published nearly 1,500 original stories. In 2020, over 6,500 people supported the Tyee with a financial contribution through the Tyee Builders program.
The Webster Awards will take place online on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. PT, hosted by Global BC’s Chris Gailus and Sophie Lui.
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