Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing Goes to Ronald J. Deibert's Reset, Which Calls for a Better, Safer Version of the Internet

Political science professor Ronald J. Deibert has won the Writers' Trust's $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. He is the author of the 2020 Massey Lecture, a series published by House of Anansi Press which invites prominent thinkers to address a pressing social or political issue. 

His winning book, Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society, calls for a safer, better version of the internet where social media, cybersecurity, spy warfare, and more are addressed and users are protected. That is, of course, a tall order, but Deibert goes into detail about how such a digital landscape might be achieved with enough political will. 

Deibert's win was announced at a digital edition of the annual Politics and the Pen gala, which also honoured his fellow nominees Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Desmond Cole, Alex Marland, and Karin Wells. Both the finalists and the winner were selected by a jury composed of author and professor Peter Dauvergne, CBC News Ottawa anchor Adrian Harewood, and Toronto Star Ottawa bureau chief Heather Scoffield. More than 40 books from 22 publishers across the country were considered.