Maggie Macintosh
@maggiemacintosh
education reporter, Winnipeg Free Press 🍎 she/elle ¡ yo también hablo un poquito español (!) founder #letsgetmedialit | reporters don’t write headlines
I cannot overstate *how significant* this morning is for #mbed. Myself and my then-WFP colleagues — @katrinaclarke.bsky.social @jeffkhamilton.bsky.social — have done in-depth reporting on the lack of transparency surrounding teacher misconduct cases in Manitoba over the last five years…
Oh, & if you're a student or community member of any kind at @torontomet.bsky.social, swing by the Quad for a second. I'd be there, sobbing on the frost-covered grass, all day if I could. (Here's an emo photo of us and some other dear friends near the RAC entrance in 2016). - 30 -
All that's to say, this time of the year is really difficult. I've become an impressive compartmentalizer since 2020, but this five-year mark has been awful. I wouldn't wish this pain - losing a platonic soulmate - on anyone.
Alex was a deeply private person, but she loved me & my oversharing nature. She was my No. 1 supporter when it came to my journalism career. Social media mourning may seem tacky to non-Gen-Zers, but so much of mine & Al's coming-of-age(s) took place online.
She would have LOVED the Prairies, although she would have hated them for capturing my heart. (I did indeed break my promise to her that I'd stay in Winnipeg "for two years, max.")
5 years ago, I lost my best friend from j-school. On 12/02/20 & the days that followed, her name was in print for all the wrong reasons. In her favourite daily. Al never got the chance to visit me in YWG. But I took this shot the day before I left YYZ for @winnipegfreepress.com in '19:
Thanks for the kind words. She was a pretty special person. The Star captured her essence quite beautifully in this piece: www.thestar.com/news/gta/i-v...
Run don’t walk to get a copy of Saturday’s WFP 🗞️🏃♀️💨 @doubleemmartin.bsky.social #mbed #wfp
A huge thank you to everyone who’s read my coverage to date. Stay tuned throughout 2025-26 (& likely, given all the reader interest, far beyond it). More to come.
9:15 a.m.! Earl Grey School! See you there! 🗞️🎤🎙️❣️ #letsgetmedialit #mbed #wfp @winnipegfreepress.com
Today’s the big day (!) @winnipegfreepress.com You’ll have to show up to Winnipeg’s Earl Grey School for a morning news conference to find out all the deets 🗞️ #mbed #wfp #letsgetmedialit
Merci aux journalistes @iciradiocanada.bsky.social pour cette invitation ce matin! C’est une suject trop importante (media literacy) et notre conversation était génial – lors que je me suis souvenu parler ma deuxième langue. I ♥️ public radio🎙️
Teachers, if you can check off any of the boxes below (!) then you should clear your calendar for Friday (Oct. 24). @winnipegfreepress.com media literacy teachers are unveiling the beta version of our free K-12 #mbed platform at MTS PD Day!
The latest intake for the CAJ mentorship program closes at 11:59 p.m. EST. Let's talk beat reporting, pitching 101 and freedom of information requests — I'd love to be your mentor! Consider this a hard-deadline warning: surveymonkey.com/r/QPYSQMV
An incredible @cajournalists.bsky.social networking opp that I wish existed back when I was in J-school(!) (That said, I do still plan to take advantage of this fall's mentee intake as an early-career journalist & semi-recent @journalismtmu.bsky.social/RSJ grad). The deadline to apply is Oct. 14:
I diligently find+report facts for a living. In order to do so, I check my biases (alone in my head). Today, I’m doing that publicly to build trust. Now you know: I’m passionate about public-service journalism that betters my hometown(s) & road safety bc a would’ve-been bridesmaid was killed.
That’s why I volunteer whenever I can to visit classrooms (or, in one case, took Seven Oaks School Division admin up on an offer to give principals a presentation about my job and how it works). That’s why I’m psyched about our media literacy project at the WFP.
I would be remiss not to acknowledge my talented colleague, @jsrutgers.bsky.social (also a dear friend who officiated my recent wedding (lol!)) J.S. offered to use their tech-savvy skills — via the @columbiajournalism.bsky.social intensive data program — to create some sweet graphics:
The journalism we produce daily at the WFP is always a team effort. I am genuinely so proud to interview, cold-call, write, fact-check, etc. for this paper. I feel incredibly lucky to work w/ all the editors who greenlit my project pitch & worked on the first feature:
As students settle into their 2025/26 routines, the WFP is launching a series on chronic road-safety issues & possible solutions. I’ve kicked off this important public-interest project — I’ll admit I’m biased; my best friend was killed on her bike in 2020 — on A6 today. (1/X)
SCOOP: Reporter spends honeymoon searching for clues about who smashed into her freshly-minted husband’s locked truck outside Ralph Connor House on the night of their nuptials & committed fraud/theft as they celebrated in blissful peace until they awoke as newlyweds (!)