TMU alumna nominated for a Webster Award
For recent Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) graduate Rowan Flood (external link) , storytelling is a delicate craft that carries a deep sense of responsibility. It is not just about telling stories, but about earning people’s trust and handling their experiences with care.
“Every time I do an interview, I'm so honoured that people give me their time and are willing to open up and share with me, especially about sensitive subjects,” Flood said. “I always try to remind myself that I am extracting and I'm taking a piece of someone.”
This approach to storytelling has earned Flood recognition beyond her community. Her article (external link) on the growing conflict over public access to private forest land on Vancouver Island has made it to the finals for a Webster Award in the category of Excellence in Community Reporting (external link) .
“It’s exciting,” she said. “I was happy that this landed with people, and hopefully it had a pretty far reach.”
A Webster Award is one of B.C’s bestl-known journalism honours that recognizes excellence in reporting and stories that have had a meaningful impact.
Flood did not pursue the story in hopes of being nominated for an award. Her primary goal has always been to educate others and amplify important subjects for readers.
“It’s really not my story…it’s the story about the history of unceded land in Canada, and the way we use land, how we treat land, who has rights and access to it, [and] who should have rights and access,” she said.
However, she does not want to stop there; Flood hopes that her work will actually bring about tangible change in underserved communities in Canada.
As she continues to navigate her career as a freelance journalist, she hopes to pursue more social justice reporting, focusing on issues such as healthcare, immigration, and the experiences of refugee and Indigenous communities.
She wants readers to have more sympathy and empathy for others, which, for her, is “a big key to having harmony in the world.”