OTTAWA, May 15, 2017 /CNW/ - The Michener Awards Foundation today announced the 2017 Michener-Deacon Fellowships will be awarded to journalists Valérie Borde and Matthew Pearson.
The Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Reporting is awarded to print journalist Valérie Borde, an award-winning science writer and frequent contributor to L'actualité. Borde will investigate the institutions responsible for food safety in Canada to see if they are effectively protecting the public from fraudulent food claims and products. "Fraude alimentaire: les Canadiens sont-ils bien protégés?" will examine Canada's Food Inspection Agency, the food industry, the role of private certification and the impact on the safety of the food we eat.
The Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Journalism Education is awarded to Matthew Pearson for his proposal to develop a teaching module for journalism instructors and online portal for newsrooms across Canada to help students and working journalists better understand trauma and its impact. He will also organize a multi-disciplinary symposium at Carleton University for journalism students to hear from experts on trauma and to speak with journalists who have covered traumatic events, both domestically and internationally.
His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, will host the Michener Awards ceremony at Rideau Hall on June 14 where the Michener-Deacon Fellowships will be presented and the winner of the 2016 Michener Award for public service journalism will be announced.
The Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Journalism Education is supported by CN, the Michener Awards Foundation and the family of the late Paul S. Deacon. It is dedicated to the advancement of the education of Canadian journalists. The winner will spend time at a Canadian university journalism school, teaching or mentoring students, and also pursue personal education interests.
The Investigative Journalism fellowship is supported by the BMO Financial Group. It allows a journalist to devote up to four months for a reporting project. Applicants are required to undertake a project that aspires to the criteria of the annual Michener Award for journalism with its emphasis on making an impact for the public good.
The Michener Award, founded in 1970 by the late Roland Michener, then governor-general, honours excellence in public-service journalism. The judges' decisions are heavily influenced by the degree of public benefit generated by the print, broadcast and online entries submitted for consideration.
Judges for the 2017 Michener-Deacon Fellowships:
Susan Mitton (chair), former Regional Director, CBC Maritimes; Michael Goldbloom, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Bishop's University, Lennoxville, Quebec, and former Publisher of The Gazette and the Toronto Star; Donna Logan, current member of the Michener Board, former media executive of CBC, and founding Director of the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC; Geneviève Rossier , Directrice des Communications, Relations Publiques et Visibilite Numerique a Bibliotheque et Archives National du Quebec, former Directrice Communications, Marketing et Contenus Numeriques, La Place des Arts; and Romayne Smith Fullerton, Associate professor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, and Ethics Editor at J-Source.
Web sites:
www.michenerawards.ca
www.prixmichener.ca
SOURCE Michener Awards Foundation
Kim Kierans, (902) 422-1271 ext. 164, e-mail: [email protected]; Rideau Hall Press Office, Marie-Pierre Bélanger, (613) 998-9166, e-mail: [email protected]
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