Annie Burns-Pieper is a freelance investigative journalist with nearly fifteen years of experience exposing wrongdoing and holding power to account. Annie's passion for public interest investigative storytelling has triggered policy change and sparked national conversations.
Annie has worked on national investigative teams in Canada at The Globe and Mail, CBC, CTV and Global. Her work has also appeared in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Toronto Star, The Tyee, OpenDemocracy and Thomson Reuters Foundation. She was the Managing Editor of the Institute for Investigative Journalism and helped lead a team of more than 20 journalists working on Clean Water, Broken Promises a year-long collaborative investigation into the water crisis on First Nations with six media outlets for television, radio, online, and print.
Annie has covered a wide range of subject matter from wild horses to tax havens. She is particularly interested in gender equality, public safety and health. She built a database of never-before-published numbers on sexual assault and harassment in Canadian public transit. She produced the first-of-its-kind national investigation into the abuse and disrespect of women in childbirth in Canada. She also gathered never-before-reported information on the suicides of patients on psychiatric wards in Canada.
Annie has produced prime-time investigative documentary coverage, TV and radio segments, long-form investigative features for print, and impactful online news. Annie’s photojournalism has appeared in national and international publications.
As the recipient of the Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Reporting in 2018, Annie delved into the effectiveness of Canadian government assistance to citizens facing trouble overseas. She has reported from Canada, Australia, India, and Madagascar supported by the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter bursary.
Annie has master's degrees from the Toronto Metropolitan University in journalism and the London School of Economics in global economic history.
Annie grew up where the mountains meet the ocean on Canada’s west coast. She is a frequent traveller and terrible packer. When not working, she can be found making elaborate and messy meals in the kitchen, taking long bike rides, hiking in the woods or painting.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:
CJF Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism nominee, 2022
RTDNA Award for best digital investigation, for reporting on Indigenous water rights, 2021
Nominated for the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s Landsberg Award for reporting on women’s rights, 2020
Nominated for a Digital Publishing Award for "Best Service Feature, Family, Health & Careers (CBC) 2017 for a series on maternity care
RTDNA Hugh Haugland Award – Creative Use of Video for “Born Free” (W5) 2016
Media Award from the Ontario Psychological Association for Suicide Watch (W5), 2015
Finalist CAJ OPEN BROADCAST NEWS for Suicide Watch (W5), 2015
Finalist CAJ OPEN BROADCAST FEATURE for Offshore Exposed (CBC), 2014
Finalist JHR / CAJ AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTING for Unnatural Selection (CBC), 2013
Shortlist Canadian Hillman Prize for Unnatural Selection (CBC), 2013
SPECIALIZED TRAINING:
Banff Literary Journalism residency, 2023
Missouri Photo Workshop, Remote, 2022
Hostile Environment Training Al Jazeera, Doha, Qatar, March 2019
Foundry Photojournalism, Kolkata, India July 2018