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24 September 2007
Mr. Matthew Fisher – 2007 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 Mr. Matthew Fisher (holding award) has been chosen as the
recipient of the 2007 Ross Munro Media Award.
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, Bruce Campion-Smith, and Christie
Blatchford.
Matthew Fisher was born and raised in
northwestern Ontario and in Ottawa, the son of parents who both served
with Canadian forces in Europe during the Second World War. He is
presently the Middle East correspondent for CanWest News and is
currently on his 12th trip to Afghanistan. Mr. Fisher previously
worked for the Globe and Mail and the Sun Media newspaper group. He
has worked abroad for 23 years, traveling to 153 countries and has
reported on every Canadian Forces mission overseas since the mid-80s.
He has reported on 14 wars including Chechnya and both Gulf wars and
was the only Canadian to be embedded with a combat unit during the
US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq - a Marine recon outfit that was involved
in several major battles. He has returned to the war in Iraq six times
since then.
The Ross Munro Media Award Selection
Committee unanimously singled out Matthew Fisher from the other
candidates based on “his superb battlefront coverage that has for
years enlightened Canadians about the world they—and their servicemen
and women—inhabit. He is a brave warrior in his profession, whose
reporting has been a model for others. We acknowledge, as well, the
high esteem he has earned amongst the elite of his professional
peers.”
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 Hugh Winsor, Columnist for The Globe and
Mail, 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 Award Dinner, which will be attended by Her
Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor-General of
Canada and Patron of CDA. The Vimy Dinner is being held on Friday,
November 16th, 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 Ms. Elizabeth Sneyd, CDA
Institute Special Events Co-ordinator at:
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