Daily newspaper – Best in-depth feature or series: Joanna Frketich

Joanna Frketich is a health reporter at the Hamilton Spectator. She has covered the beat for more than 25 years, cultivating sources that in 2024 led to the reporting of children's deaths from tonsil surgery at McMaster Children's Hospital, Ontario patients left without vital home care supplies, the closure of a mental health clinic in one of Hamilton's highest-need areas and a 33-hour emergency room wait that contributed to the rapid decline of a senior who ultimately died. Her work shows the importance of quality local journalism to communities.