The annual Gala of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) in honour of courageous reporting drew attention once more this week to admirable Free Expression champions. The spotlight this year was on the Native Women’s association of Canada (NWAC) for their work in bringing to light the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women. In accepting the CJFE 2014 Vox Libera Award on behalf of the NWAC, Dr. Dawn Harvard reminded us that the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women is “a national tragedy and a national shame.”
In honour of award-winning journalist Bob Carty, a CJFE and CMG activist who passed away this year, CJFE announced it is setting up the Bob Carty Fellowship to continue Bob’s work. In announcing the annual honour, CJFE President Arnold Amber recalled Bob’s accomplishments as a great journalist and a remarkable champion for free expression, “If there was a Hall of Fame for people who stand up in this country and work hard, Bob Carty would be the first inductee,” Amber said.
CJFE recognized Oleksiy Matsuka, a veteran investigative journalist from Donetsk, eastern Ukraine with the 2014 International Press Freedom Award, while Kathy Gannon received the 2014 Tara Singh Hayer Memorial Award.
By the numbers:
1,181 missing and murdered Indigenous women
90 journalists killed in 2014
176 journalists jailed in 2014