"Ross Munro Award: 2008 Recipient"
From the Conference of Defence Associations:
15 September 2008Update correction: Note Dexter's comment--in fact the grant referred to in my comment (the second) comes from the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, not the Conference of Defence Associations Institute.
Mr. Alec Castonguay – 2008 Ross Munro Media Award Recipient
The Conference of Defence Associations (CDA), in concert with the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI), is pleased to announce that Alec Castonguay, journalist for the newspaper Le Devoir and magazine L'actualité, has been selected as the recipient of the 2008 Ross Munro Media Award. The selection committee was unanimous in its decision.
With an authority based on thorough research and intellectual integrity, Alec Castonguay offers commentary on a broad spectrum of national security and defence issues. He not only describes people, events and ideas at face-value, he explores their background and potential linkages and, in so doing, offers his readers valuable insight to some of the nation's most daunting challenges.
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. 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, Bruce Campion-Smith, Christie Blatchford, and Matthew Fisher.
Alec Castonguay was born in Laval in 1979. He received a B.A. in Journalism from Université du Québec à Montréal and has worked as a journalist since 2001. As a journalist for the daily Le Devoir for five years, he was first assigned to the Economy desk. In 2004 he became the youngest parliamentary correspondent in Ottawa, for any media organization, at 24 years of age. Since then, he has followed the various activities of the House of Commons as a team member for Le Devoir. Alec has followed the activities of the Department of National Defence and the conflict in Afghanistan for over two years. He traveled to Afghanistan in April 2007. Alec has also been a contributor to L'actualité for two years, covering the federal scene for Quebec's top information magazine.
The selection committee was chaired by Lieutenant-General (Ret'd) Richard J. Evraire, Chairman CDA. Members of the Selection Committee were Dr. J.L. Granatstein, Canadian Military Historian; Mr. Peter Kent, VP-Corporate Communications Hill and Knowlton; Mr. Stuart Robertson, of O'Donnell, Robertson & Sanfilippo; and Colonel (Ret'd) Charles Keple, Vice-Chairman CDA (Public Affairs).
The Award will be presented at the CDA Institute's Vimy Dinner, which will be attended by the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada, on Friday, November 14, in the LeBreton Gallery of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.
Inquiries may be directed to Captain (ret'd) Peter Forsberg, Public Affairs Officer or Mr. Arnav Manchanda, CDA Institute Project Officer at:
TEL: (613) 236-9903 ~ FAX: (613) 236-8191
E-MAIL: pao@cda-cdai-ca ~ URL: http://www.cda-cdai.ca
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 3:52 p.m.
6 Comments:
When is it acceptable for journalists to accept money from lobby groups?
This week Le Devoir’s military affairs reporter, Alec Castonguay, was announced as the recipient of the Conference of Defence Associations’ Ross Munro Media Award. Mr. Castonguay will receive the award, including a $2500 cash prize, at a ceremony in November.
It is unusual for Le Devoir to have a reporter accept a large cash prize from a lobby group like the Conference of Defence Associations, especially when the CDA received $500,000 over five years from the Department of National Defence through an agreement that requires the group to receive media coverage in return for the funding.
What are readers to think when a reporter takes a cheque from a defence lobby group on Saturday night, and then calls their office for a quote on Monday morning?
Steven Staples
Rideau Institute
Steven Staples: Col. (ret'd) Alain Pellerin, Executive Director of the Conference
of Defence Associations, informs me that all the money that is spent on the award, such as the statue, the $2500 award, the media table at the Vimy dinner, and the travelling expenses of the recipient are covered by a grant from the Conference of Defence Associations Institute. There is no public money involved.
For myself, I wonder if $2,500 really can "buy" a prominent Canadian journalist. On the other hand, this springs to my mind when I think of far too many of our "journalists":
"You cannot hope to bribe or twist,
Thank God! the British journalist.
But, seeing what the man will do
Unbribed, there's no occasion to!"
Mark
Ottawa
Actually Mark, the money comes from the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI), out in Calgary.
Thanks, Dexter. Made an "Update correction" in text.
Mark
Ottawa
I should add that it was my error in my first comment in mentioning the Conference of Defence Associations Institute; Col. Pellerin had in fact told me the grant came from the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute.
Mark
Ottawa
C'mon - you're making excuses.
The CDFAI received 36% of its funding in 2006 from corporations, including major DND contractors such as Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.
Bottom line is this: No journalist should ever put themselves in a position where they can be perceived as owing something to a special interest.
You would say the same thing to me if a journalist took a cash award from the Rideau Institute...
Post a Comment
<< Home