The Michener Awards

"Each of you knows the power of knowledge to bring about change, and, importantly, you trust in the intelligence and ability of your readers, listeners and viewers to take your findings and act accordingly in the public interest," said His Excellency. "The Michener Award goes to a news organization that has made a significant contribution to the public good in either print or broadcast media. The nominees for this year’s award have pursued justice in a variety of ways."

The Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Journalism Education was awarded to Ms. Julie Ireton, a business reporter with CBC Ottawa. Ms. Ireton will develop a workshop on entrepreneurial journalism to assist students in schools of journalism across Canada to market their skills. The project will eventually link Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business and its School of Journalism and Communication.

The Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Journalism was awarded to photojournalist Mr. Roger LeMoyne, who will investigate, in words and photos, the environmental and civic behaviour of Canadian mining companies in foreign lands.

During the ceremony, the Michener Awards Foundation also honoured Mr. Bryan Cantley for his commitment and outstanding service to Canadian journalism and the newspaper industry by presenting him with the Michener-Baxter Special Award. Mr. Cantley's award was accepted by Mr. Pierre Bergeron.

Mr. Russell Mills, President of the Michener Awards Foundation, announced the winner of the 2012 Michener Award.

Postmedia News and The Ottawa Citizen were the winners of the 2012 Michener Award for detailed and sustained reporting that exposed the use of “robocalls” to mislead and harass voters during the 2011 federal election campaign.

Mr. Gerry Nott accepted the Award on behalf of Postmedia News and The Ottawa Citizen.

The detailed and sustained reporting exposed the use of “robocalls” to mislead and harass voters during the 2011 federal election campaign. After an election-day incident in Guelph in which a fraudulent “robocall” about a polling-station change went to 6,738 homes, Postmedia News and The Ottawa Citizen compiled a database of all reported incidents in Canada. A pattern emerged: the calls seemed to target opposition voters in ridings across the country. The investigation shed light on how technology can subvert our most fundamental democratic value: the right to vote in a fairly run election.

The impact of this coverage has been resounding: Elections Canada is investigating a deluge of complaints about calls that sent voters to non-existent polling stations; a Federal Court ruling is pending on a legal challenge to overturn results in six ridings; and charges were laid against a PC campaign worker.