The Independent

The publisher of The Independent has won one of the nation’s top investigative reporting award.

Heather Wright, who opened The Independent of Petrolia and Central Lambton in 2013, won the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Hugo Rodrigues Award for Community News Saturday in Calgary. 

Wright was cited for her work covering York1 Environmental’s plans to transform a former dump into a recycling mega centre and the community’s anger about the plan. 

Her submission also contained proof from documents obtained through an extensive Freedom of Information request which showed Chatham-Kent politicians had been meeting with the developer years before the plan became public, even though the politicians said they knew nothing about it.

“Journalists continue to produce striking, important, and meaningful work that educates, informs, exposes, uncovers, affects change, and makes our communities better places to live. 

“The CAJ is proud to play a role in recognizing the best of this work on an annual basis,” said CAJ President Brent Jolly in a news release.

The CAJ also recognized CBC Thunder Bay, the Kingston Whig-Standard, The Rocky Mountain Outlook and the online site The Local for their investigative work in the Community News category.