Shelley Fralic named Lifetime Achievement Award recipient
VANCOUVER, Aug. 29, 2016 /CNW/ - The Jack Webster Foundation today announced that Shelley Fralic, a Vancouver Sun reporter, editor, manager and columnist, will receive the 2016 Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award.
Fralic will receive the award at the 30th Annual Jack Webster Awards Dinner on October 20, 2016.
The dinner, featuring CBC News Chief Correspondent Peter Mansbridge, will also honour the finalists for the 2016 Webster Awards, 13 of whom will win a coveted Webster statue.
The Jack Webster Foundation was established in 1986 to recognize excellence in British Columbia journalism in honour of legendary BC reporter Jack Webster. The Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award, the foundation's premier honour, is named after the illustrious Vancouver Sun journalist who started out at the Victoria Times in 1917 and went on to become the confidant of prime ministers.
"Bruce Hutchison was the reporter's reporter, the writer's writer, the consummate newsman," said Fralic. "To say that I am honoured to receive this award would be more than an understatement. It is humbling."
Shelley Fralic's 41-year career at The Vancouver Sun began in the paper's human resources department, working part-time nights. A Langara Journalism grad, in 1979 she made a rare transition into the editorial department. Thereafter, she propelled herself through the widest possible variety of newsroom jobs, including Executive Editor at the dawn of journalism's digital age. She chose, however, to return to her first love, writing, when she took on a column for the last 15 years of her career. Fralic retired in 2016.
"Shelley Fralic exemplifies old-fashioned journalistic values in the digital age," said Jack Webster Foundation Co-Chair Scott Macrae. "She could deal with the most sensitive ethical issues as an editor, provide newsroom leadership by her example and tirelessly champion community-unifying events like the Sun Run and Sun Children's Fund."
"Shelley's gift as a writer was to grab the hearts of readers with her common-touch columns," Co-Chair Ernest Yee said. "Hers was a refreshing voice that brought people together In recognition of their shared humanity."
Previous winners of the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award include: Gary Mason, Brian Coxford, David Baines, Patricia Graham, Mel Rothenburger, Jim Taylor, Bill Good, Steve Wyatt, Jim Harrison, Vaughn Palmer, Vicki Gabereau, Tony Parsons, Rafe Mair, Allan Fotheringham, Patrick Nagle, Roy Peterson, Cameron Bell, Keith Bradbury, Dan McLeod, Denny Boyd, George Garrett, Moira Farrow, Jim Hume, Warren Barker, Len Norris, and Hutchison himself.
The 30th Annual Jack Webster Awards Dinner will be held October 20, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. Tickets are $185 per person and can be reserved at jackwebster.com/dinner or by calling 604-261-6184.
The work of the Foundation is made possible by the generous sponsorship of CN, Fortis BC, HSBC Bank Canada, Labatt Breweries, Port of Vancouver, Wazuku Advisory Group, and TELUS
CNW distributes Jack Webster Award releases as part of its support of the Jack Webster Foundation.
SOURCE Jack Webster Foundation
Jack Webster Foundation, Nora Newlands, Executive Director, 604-261-3348, [email protected], www.jackwebster.com
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