BZ to Blatchford

Christie Blatchford of the Globe & Mail is this year's recipient of the Ross Munro Media Award for defence reporting, awarded by Conference of Defence Associations and the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute (ht:Army.ca). From their press release (with no specific permalink, ahem):

The Ross Munro Media Award was initiated in 2002 to recognize Canadian journalists who have made a significant and extraordinary contribution to increasing public understanding of Canadian defence and security issues. Recipients of the award have produced outstanding work regarding the efforts of the Canadian Forces in preserving Canadian democratic values (for more details see www.cda-cdai.ca). The award consists of a replica of the Ross Munro statue and a cheque for $2,500. Previous recipients of the Award are Stephen Thorne, Garth Pritchard, Sharon Hobson, and Bruce Campion-Smith.

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The Ross Munro Media Award Selection Committee singled Ms. Blatchford out from the other candidates based on her compelling work on the Canadian Forces, particularly in Afghanistan: “Christie Blatchford brings to the theatre of hostilities her keen eye and curiosity. She writes superb prose that conveys the experience of the Canadians’ war in Afghanistan. She obviously understands the soldiers and she has grasped the comradeship that binds them together. She not only informs Canadians of today’s military realities, but champions values such as honour and sacrifice. She is exceptionally evocative, superbly descriptive, and develops a compelling storyline.”

Ms. Blatchford's work merits recognition, not due to her technical expertise on military matters - although she stands head and shoulders above most of her peers in that regard - but due to her uncanny ability to distill the human stories of the soldiers themselves into compelling pieces of journalism.

She is a storyteller, in the finest tradition, and in a country that needs to hear more soldiers' stories, her work is most appreciated.

Update: Am I the only one who finds it odd that the only major media outlet to carry this news so far is the Sun chain and not her own employer, the Globe and Mail?

Upperdate: Well, at least Blatchford's bosses aren't completely out of it: there's a small blurb just inside the front page of the G&M's dead tree edition, but I still can't find anything online.