The Canadian Journalism Foundation celebrates excellence at the 16th Annual CJF Awards
May 9, 2013
Toronto, ON – Jill Abramson, executive editor of The New York Times, Ken Taylor, former Canadian ambassador to Iran, and Amanda Lang , CBC senior business correspondent and c o-anchor of The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, will be among those recognizing journalistic achievement at the 16th Annual CJF Awards on June 13 at The Fairmont Royal York in Toronto.
The CJF Awards is the industry’s must-attend event, where Canada’s top newsmakers meet Canada’s top news people. More than 400 of the country’s business and media luminaries will celebrate excellence in journalism, honouring individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to journalism and recognizing those who show exceptional promise. (Previously, it was “and honour those who’ve made significant contributions to journalism throughout their careers.”)
The CJF announced earlier this year that Ken Taylor will present the CJF Annual Honorary Tribute to The New York Times, for the leading role it plays in inspiring better journalism the world over. Jill Abramson will accept the tribute on behalf of the Times’s editorial staff. Amanda Lang is this year’s CJF Awards host.
The winners of the Excellence in Journalism Award in the large-media and small-media category will be announced at the event. The Excellence in Journalism Award finalists in the large-media category are:
CBC News: Special Investigations Unit
The Current – CBC Radio One
Postmedia News
Toronto Star
Winnipeg Free Press
The Excellence in Journalism Award finalists in the small-media category are:
CBC New Brunswick
CP24
Turtle Island News
The Tyee
Vancouver Observer
The Lifetime Achievement Award this year will be presented to Michael Maclear, a broadcast journalist, war correspondent, and independent filmmaker. Maclear was the CBC's first Far East correspondent, reporting extensively from South Vietnam and, as CBC's London correspondent, was the only Western network journalist permitted to film in North Vietnam. Maclear was also CTV's first foreign correspondent, based in London. For 35 years, Maclear worked as an independent writer-producer. During that time, he produced the definitive documentary Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War, a 26-part television series, together with a book of the same title. Maclear is currently writing a book on his experience in North Vietnam. Lisa LaFlamme, chief anchor and senior editor of CTV National News, will present the award.
The Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award will be presented to Galit Rodan, a freelance photojournalist, and the Greg Clark Award will be presented to Ashleigh Gaul, online editor for Up Here Magazine. Other awards to be presented include the William Southam Journalism Fellowships, the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy and the Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.
“(The CJF Awards) is all about the journalism and reminding us that despite economic challenges, despite uncertainty about business models, our business is journalism and we should all be passionate about it. It’s a calling, it’s not a job, and it’s great to see the best in the business recognized for that,” says John Stackhouse, editor of The Globe and Mail.
The Canadian Journalism Foundation thanks the following organizations for their support of the awards: BMO Financial Group; Labatt; RBC; Accenture; Medtronic of Canada; Scotiabank; Postmedia; and Waste Management Canada.
Thank you also to CBC News, CNW Group, National Post, Porter Airlines, The Globe and Mail, and Toronto Star for their in-kind donations.
About The Canadian Journalism Foundation
Founded in 1990, the Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is a not-for-profit organization that promotes excellence in journalism by celebrating outstanding journalistic achievement through an annual awards program; by operating journalism websites, J-Source.ca (English) and ProjetJ.ca (French), in cooperation with the country's leading journalism schools; and by organizing events that facilitate dialogue among journalists, business people, government officials, academics and students about the role of the media in Canadian society; and by fostering opportunities for journalism education, training and research.
