The inaugural recipient of the Brian Beaton Annual Prize in Journalism for Justice is Abram Lutes

The NB Media Co-op is pleased to announce that Abram Lutes is the inaugural recipient of the Brian Beaton Annual Prize in Journalism for Justice. Watch Beaton introduce the prize here.

A prize committee nominated several NB Media Co-op writers. Brian Beaton selected Lutes from the list of nominees. The NB Media Co-op invites all friends of Brian Beaton, Abram Lutes and the NB Media Co-op to a celebratory picnic on Thursday, July 29 at 6:00pm at Carleton Park on Fredericton’s north side.

“Being asked to make this choice gives me the privilege to select Abram‘s work over the past few years as my choice for this recognition. I am very grateful that the NB Media Co-op is recognizing writers who are sharing their stories that make a difference,” said Beaton.

Besides being a news writer and a former board of director with the NB Media Co-op, Lutes is the provincial coordinator of the Common Front for Social Justice and a graduate student at Carleton University.

“I am honoured to receive this award and am proud to have been able to contribute to the NB Media Co-op in a number of ways. The NB Media Co-op is an important institution in New Brunswick, telling stories and supporting writers that the Irving media doesn’t want to field. With its critical and social justice approach to media and emphasis on citizen journalism, it is a great place for new and experienced writers alike,” said Lutes.

The Brian Beaton Annual Prize in Journalism for Justice will be awarded annually to celebrate and promote thoughtful coverage of stories in New Brunswick that serve social justice. The prize aims to inspire journalists to challenge power when covering stories on the unceded territories of the Wolasoqiyik, Mi’kmaq and Peskotomuhkati.

Lutes’s body of work with the NB Media Co-op is an exemplar of social justice journalism that this province needs and that this award celebrates. The prize committee was impressed by Lutes’ coverage of the following stories: