Announcing the 2025 Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement, Bill Good & Shelley Fralic Award Recipients
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There are few constants in public life. But for more than four decades, British Columbians have turned to Keith Baldrey for something rare and essential: a clear, principled, and steady voice guiding us through the shifting landscape of provincial politics.
Keith started his career in 1982, moved to the Vancouver Sun in 1984, and in 1995 went on to what is now known as Global BC. He's also been a CKNW commentator and Glacier media columnist. Over the course of his 40 years of political coverage, Keith has reported on 11 premiers and ten provincial elections. During the COVID pandemic, Keith covered every one of Dr. Bonnie Henry's 250 news conferences, winning the B.C. Association of Broadcasters' Performer of the Year for his coverage of the pandemic.
Keith has evolved with the times. He was one of the first journalists in the province to embrace the reality of social media and Twitter, becoming one of the first reporters in the province to compile over 75-thousand followers.
He's also become a political ambassador. Through countless public tours of the Legislature, Keith has shared his knowledge of B.C.'s political history and deepened public understanding of the functions and decision-making processes of government. Equally important, he has invested in the future of journalism through his generous mentorship of young reporters.
As Janet Austin, former Lieutenant Governor of B.C. notes, "His principled approach has earned him something few in the public eye achieve—that is, cross-partisan respect. Politicians may not always agree with his analysis, but they trust that it comes from a place of integrity. . .. To call Keith Baldrey an icon is not hyperbole. It is simply an acknowledgment of what he has become: a trusted and enduring presence in British Columbia's public life."
Over a diverse, 25-year span, Sean has dedicated his career to serving the public interest through journalism. He's an award-winning investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker, and most recently, an inspiring journalism professor helping to launch the careers of hundreds of students.
Currently at the University of Victoria, he is the director of the Climate Disaster Project, tackling what many consider to be the defining problem of our times. The project involves students from post-secondary institutions around the world. Journalism students are documenting firsthand accounts of people who have survived climate disasters, drawing attention to the human cost of climate change and investigating the problems and solutions survivors identify.
When the Climate Disaster Project won a National Newspapers Award in 2023, judges applauded the trauma-informed approach to journalism, as well as the structure of the project and its many partnerships. They said it was a model of cooperation that can be replicated in other newsrooms as they shrink.
Previously, Sean was best known as the founder of the online news service Public Eye, an investigative journalism site that regularly exposed political and financial scandals in B.C. He filed mountains of Freedom of Information requests and closely examined government contracts to sniff out anything fishy.
Holman's investigative reporting resulted in the departures of eight officials, as well as major policy and legislative changes, including securing additional funds for B.C. wildfire preparation and contributing to the reform of the B.C. Lobbyists Registration Act. He also played an advocacy role while vice-president for the Canadian Association of Journalists, leading a national campaign to promote freedom of information and to raise awareness about government secrecy in Canada.
Laura's career in B.C. journalism is a masterclass in leadership of people, ideas and new forms of storytelling.
Laura began her journalistic career at the CBC 34 years ago. She rose through the ranks and led the Early Edition before becoming Executive Producer of Current Affairs at CBC in B.C. Along the way, she had an enormous influence on inclusive programming and on the careers of young journalists.
Since she left her career as a senior news executive at CBC, Laura has pioneered victim-centred and trauma-informed reporting with her podcast Island Crime. The series is now in its seventh season and consistently highly rated among crime podcasts in Canada. Laura has re-ignited the dormant Michael Dunahee and Lisa Marie Young cases, and she has provided hope and comfort to the families of missing and murdered people on Vancouver Island.
Reference letters from the Nanaimo mayor and a victim's advocate attest to her strong relationships with communities on Vancouver Island and to her dogged pursuit of stories focused on social justice – in the true spirit of Shelley Fralic.
Laura's approach to journalism resonates with small towns, rural communities and working people. She doesn't seek podiums or accolades. She just quietly does excellent work, without leaving a trail of harm behind her.
Find out more and see/hear from this year's recipients at the 2025 Webster Awards gala awards dinner and evening on Monday, November 3rd, at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. Tickets will go on sale later this summer.
This year's Webster Awards are made possible by Presenting Sponsors: BCGEU, BCIT, Beedie, Concord Pacific, FortisBC, Global Container Terminals Inc., Langara, Resource Works, Uber, Urban Development Institute, Pacific Region and West Coast Reduction; Supporting Sponsors: Angus Reid, Falkirk Environmental Consultants, Goodman Commercial Inc., Ledcor, Jim Pattison Group, Port of Vancouver, RBC, RedFM, Seaspan, YVR, and ZLC Financial. Webster Award partners are Oh Boy Productions, Glacier Media, and the Vancouver Sun and Province. Cision is the exclusive distribution partner of the Jack Webster Foundation.
The Jack Webster Foundation was established in 1986, upon the retirement of its namesake, who was Western Canada's best-known and most influential reporter, in order to foster and celebrate excellence in journalism, protect the public interest for British Columbians, and create a community where trusted outstanding journalism thrives.
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