The Canadian Journalism Foundation to honour Michael Maclear with Lifetime Achievement Award

TORONTO, March 7, 2013 /CNW/ - Michael Maclear, a broadcast journalist, war correspondent, and independent filmmaker, will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16^th Annual Canadian Journalism Foundation Awards on June 13 in Toronto.

"I am pleasantly stunned to be a recipient of the CJF award since in our fast-moving media, I didn't expect to be remembered anymore," says Maclear. "The CJF uniquely binds all the various journalistic media, so for me, it's the jackpot of journalism awards."

Lisa LaFlamme, chief anchor and senior editor of CTV National News, will present the award.

"Michael is a lion of broadcast journalism, a war correspondent whose courage and skills are still the gold standard reporters hold up when they begin uncovering truths in places where little is what it seems," says LaFlamme. "I am honoured to be presenting Michael Maclear with the prestigious Canadian Journalism Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award - a tribute Michael richly deserves."

The Lifetime Achievement Award jury reviewed many nominations of major figures in journalism before selecting Maclear, who 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.

"Michael Maclear is a legend in Canadian journalism," says Valerie Pringle, chair of the jury and long-time host and television journalist who has worked for CBC and CTV. "His great success as both a broadcast journalist with network television and an independent filmmaker has been an inspiration for a generation of journalists and documentary filmmakers. He is sui generis and casts a long shadow. His name is synonymous with investigative journalism."

Maclear joins a distinguished group of CJF Lifetime Achievement Award winners. Past recipients include: Jack Sigvaldason, Patrick Brown, Lise Bissonnette, Joe Schlesinger, Sally Armstrong, Norman Webster, Knowlton Nash, Pierre Berton (posthumous), June Callwood, Doris Anderson, Trina McQueen, Doug Creighton, Mark Starowicz, Bernard Derome, Peter C. Newman, Peter Gzowski and Robert Fulford.

The Lifetime Achievement Award jury members are:
Valerie Pringle, longtime program host and television journalist, CBC and CTV (Canada AM)
William Fox, consultant, government and public relations, Stikeman Elliott LLP
Chantal Hébert, political columnist, Toronto Star, le Devoir, l'Actualité, CBC, Radio-Canada
Jamie Irving, publisher, The Telegraph Journal
Sarah Jennings, journalist and author of Art and Politics
Kirk LaPointe, special advisor to the Office of the Ombudsman at CBC and adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of British Columbia
Gillian Steward, former managing editor, Calgary Herald and journalist/PhD candidate, Mount Royal University
Jane Taber, senior political writer, The Globe and Mail
Anthony Wilson-Smith, president, The Historica-Dominion Institute

For more information about the CJF Awards, please visit our awards page.
#cjfawards

About The Canadian Journalism Foundation
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; 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.

SOURCE: Canadian Journalism Foundation