The National NewsMedia Council, in partnership with Journalists for Human Rights, is pleased to announce the opening of the fourth annual Fraser MacDougall Prize for Best New Voice in Canadian Human Rights Reporting. The prize is awarded to an exceptional piece of student journalism, with a human rights focus, that is published in campus-based media during the 2020-2021 academic year. Winners (typically, the story’s writer and editor) receive a cash prize of $1,000. Previous award winners of the Fraser MacDougall …

It’s not every day that one is presented with the opportunity to reflect on a career of more than 60 years in the news business, but for the NNC’s executive chair, that rare moment will be taking place on Thursday evening. This past June, the Michener Awards Foundation announced that John Anderson Fraser would be receiving the prestigious Michener-Baxter Special Award for long-term achievement in public service journalism. This special award, established in 1983 and presented at the discretion of the …

Over the past several months, the NNC has been hearing a great deal about pandemic-related reader comments and letters to the editor. “Yet another (letter) praising (a writer’s) comments has appeared in this week’s (paper). Large numbers of protestors have started to protest measures based on this type of misinformation that they believe affects them,” is one lament we heard. “It concerns me that misinformation, and disinformation for that matter, would even get published.” Some readers have told us they …