Global Calgary has been recognized internationally for its commitment to diversity, being awarded the Radio Television Digital News Association Kaleidoscope Award for Diversity in Large Market Television.
The award honours outstanding achievements in the commitment to covering the diversity of the communities they serve. The award is also meant to recognize news organizations that showcase journalistic excellence in covering issues of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity.
“It is such an incredible honour to have our station recognized with a Kaleidoscope Award from the RTDNA,” Global Calgary news director Chris Bassett said.
“Our team works extremely hard to ensure our newscasts and station culture reflects the rich cultural mosaic of the communities we serve and it’s inspiring to see that work being recognized with an international award.”
Global Calgary was honoured for “The Rosebud Project,” a piece put together by reporter Jill Croteau, photographer Nate Luit and editor Michelle de Melo.
“This recognition is very humbling,” Croteau said. “We are very grateful to have the trust within diverse communities to share such personal stories. These people were vulnerable, authentic and so brave in lending their voices to this worthy story.”
The story showcased a faith-based theatre group in Rosebud, Alta., that took to the stage to tackle a controversial topic historically ignored. The group put together a play about the notorious hate-crime killing of Matthew Shepard. The 1998 murder of the gay university student in Laramie, Wyoming, made headlines around the world and triggered conversations about hate crimes and the gay-rights movement.
Global Calgary’s story profiled one of the cast members in the play who was in transition. The parallels between Matthew Oliver van Diepen’s journey and that of the main character portrayed in the play were hard to ignore.
“There’s power in the sense that a small rural Alberta town is not only contributing but participating in the global conversation around diversity,” Luit said. “It was a privilege to shine a light on such a deserving and accepting group of individuals. It’s an honour to have this work recognized.”
“The amazing group of individuals captured in The Laramie Project combined with Jill’s beautiful storytelling and Nate’s incredible visuals inspired me to pour my heart and soul into bringing to life such an important story,” de Melo said. “I feel honoured and privileged that I had a chance to be part of it.”
Watch below: Alberta faith-based theatre group tackles play about notorious hate-crime killing of Matthew Shepard
Global Calgary is committed to promoting diversity both internally and on-air. Several times per year, the station takes its show on the road to showcase unique and diverse people throughout the city and province.
Global Calgary participates in the annual Pride parade with a float that is decorated by staff.
This past December, the station’s dynamic and innovative morning show team created and hosted its second annual Morning of Giving in support of the Magic of Christmas, a local non-profit agency. The charity, which runs entirely on donations, uses Calgary Transit buses to deliver donations to the city’s less fortunate on Christmas Eve.