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Gabrielle Piché’s journalism career was just about to take off — before it was suddenly grounded.
The Red River College student was excited after landing a summer internship in our newsroom, so things were looking up as she prepared to graduate from her journalism program. But then COVID-19 hit in March of 2020. Among the first casualties of the pandemic was her summer internship.
Fortunately for Gabrielle — and the Free Press — a relative calm in the COVID storm after an initial panic got the internship back on board. She got the clearance she needed and landed in our newsroom. She impressed enough that we found a way to keep her in the news business with a stint at our community papers. And when an opportunity opened in our business department, she became a full-time reporter.
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Today, Gabrielle has the honour of being recognized as one of the best young journalists in the country as the winner of the Hon. Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prize in the large market category.
Gabrielle is far too soft-spoken to boast about her accomplishments, preferring to let her reporting work speak for itself. But with her consent, I will boast about what she means to the future of the Free Press.
Business reporter Gabrielle Piché has won the Hon. Edward Goff Penny Award. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)
Our industry is imperative and yet imperiled. According to the federal government, more than 450 news outlets closed in the years 2008 to 2022. The shedding of jobs hasn’t stopped as closures and layoffs have continued. Not surprisingly, a career in journalism doesn’t have the appeal it once had.
A city like Winnipeg needs a young reporter with Gabrielle’s curiosity and commitment to story-telling. A newsroom like the Free Press needs to attract and maintain more Gabrielle Pichés.
There were many things I worried about when COVID struck. As Free Press editor, my prime concern was to ensure our newsroom found a way to keep getting the job done for our readers. The last thing I wanted was to be the last-ever editor of the Free Press.
With the pandemic in the rear-view mirror, one of my priorities is developing the next generation of journalists. That’s why the Free Press remains a newsroom that affords young interns a salaried opportunity to learn and to grow — and to get their foot in the door. That’s the opportunity I had as a summer intern when I had just graduated from Red River in 1988. That’s the opportunity we are currently giving to the six interns with us this summer.
And that’s why I am so proud of all Gabrielle has accomplished and why I’m looking forward to the journalism she will deliver in the years to come.
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