Eight to Receive Lifetime Achievement Awards 2012

TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2012 /CNW/ - RTDNA Canada - The Association of Electronic Journalists is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2012 RTDNA Lifetime Achievement Awards in each of our four regions. The awards will be presented at Regional Awards Banquets in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Halifax on April 14^th, and at the National Conference President's Gala June 22^nd, 2012.

As we celebrate our 50^th anniversary, it is a true pleasure to honour industry peers who have contributed greatly to the profession of electronic journalism. "They are the people who our colleagues have recognized for continued excellence and who the next generation of journalists can aspire to become," says RTDNA Canada President Andy LeBlanc.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 2002 to recognize individuals who have distinguished themselves through outstanding service and continued excellence during the course of their career in broadcast journalism.

Here are the Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, from West to East:

BC REGION

Radio - Betty Selin

Betty Selin began her career in broadcast journalism in 1979. She is a recipient of the prestigious Jack Webster Fellowship; winner in 2008 of the Byron McGregor Award from the RTNDA for "Best Radio Newscast in a Small Market (BC)" and the "Woman of the Year" in the City of Vernon. During her tenure as Regional News Director for Astral Radio's 23 BC Interior licenses, Betty and her team received more than two-dozen provincial and national news awards. She is presently morning news anchor and morning show co-host at 105.7 Sun FM Vernon (CICF), a member of the Astral Radio family. Betty is actively involved in the community and has contributed her leadership skills as a board member or Chair in a variety of organizations.

Television - Steve Wyatt

Steve Wyatt has been a pioneer and leader in television news for the past three decades. He started as a reporter at BCTV, later moving to the Webster Show. He made his mark at other networks - as a producer for CTV's Canada AM and for CBC's Midday and senior news producer for CKVU.  He returned to BCTV, which became Global BC, and served in a variety of senior positions, including News Director and General Manager. Steve was later appointed as Senior V-P of News for the entire Global network. Steve was instrumental in Global BC's successful morning shows, as a key architect in developing Global National, and led the transformation of the Global network to digital news - with control rooms in Burnaby producing shows in Kelowna and Saskatchewan as well as for Global BC and Global National. Steve retired in 2008 but is an icon in the broadcasting industry.

PRAIRIE REGION

Television - Alex Docking

Alex started his broadcasting career in 1968 at C-FRY Radio, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba as a DJ. In 1970, he moved to CKX TV Brandon Manitoba, and in 1975 he joined CKCK TV Regina as a producer and weatherman. Alex has filed from the Saskatchewan Legislature and hosted a popular and often "news-making" morning TV talk show, AM Magazine. He became the prairie correspondent for CTV National News in Winnipeg in 1984, re-joined CKCK TV Regina as reporter and assignment editor in 1987 and then New Director in 1990. He retired from TV in 1999 and returned to radio, anchoring the CJME morning newstalk show and morning news. He is Assistant News Director for News Talk 980 Regina, which has been recognized by regional and national RTNDA and CAB awards. He also served on the BN/CP Wire committee, and has planned conferences for RTDNA and CAB.

Radio - Murray Blakely

Murray Blakely's 42 years in the media included 38 in radio and television, and a remarkable 26 years as a traffic reporter. Murray was among those covering the 1987 Edmonton tornado, piloting and reporting from an aircraft right after it hit and winning a Best Single News Coverage Worldwide award for himself and CHQT. His career started at age 19 in 1954 at CKCK Radio in Regina as an all-night announcer. He became a reporter in 1960 in a move to CFRN Edmonton and later CJCA in 1962 and was News Director by 1964. Outside the broadcast booth, Murray also worked in the private sector with the Edmonton Convention Bureau and was Supervisor of Media Services for Syncrude before returning to CHQT in 1979. He has also served as Secretary of the Edmonton Media club, and was president of the Press Gallery for 5 years. Murray Blakely retired in 1996.

CENTRAL REGION

Radio - Warren Beck

Warren Beck is a broadcast veteran who, at the age of 78, is still going strong in his position as News Director at CKPC AM & FM in Brantford, Ontario. He was born and raised in St. Thomas, Ontario where he began working at CHLO Radio on a part-time basis while still in high school. In a career that has spanned more than 60 years, Warren has been an operator, reporter, cameraman, anchor, news director and a broadcast program instructor. He has served on industry boards and associations, including RTDNA, and has been actively involved in his community.

Television - Dave Wright (posthumously)

Dave Wright was one of broadcasting's great visionaries. Wright's career began in radio in 1950 at Sudbury radio station CHNO, and he worked as announcer, consultant and manager in markets including Barrie, Kitchener, Cornwall, Toronto and Montreal. He returned to the airwaves fulltime as Sports Director at Toronto's CHUM Radio in 1972, and then moved to Halifax for CJCH radio's morning talk show. Soon he was hosting shows on CJCH-TV, an evening show I-D later renamed The Notebook, which in 1982 became Live at 5. It was part of the country's first 90-minute block of news programming. Wright's vision would reinvent the way viewers watched news. He had a casual and conversational style - and no anchor desk. Viewers got their first glimpse into a working newsroom. The US markets soon came calling, and he headed to Boston in 1986. A couple of years later he returned to anchor the ATV Evening News, working there till retirement in 1993. Wright passed away in February 17, 2011 following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 82.

ATLANTIC REGION

Radio - Rick Howe

Rick Howe is the host of "The Rick Howe Show" on News 95.7 radio that is heard across the Maritimes. A self-declared army brat, Howe has lived across Canada and in Europe and now lives in Fall River, Nova Scotia. His career began in 1972 and has worked in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in. Now entering his fifth decade as a radio journalist, Rick has been an eyewitness to some of the region's biggest news stories, from the 1977 Saint John police lock-up fire to Pictou County's Westray Mine disaster, and the 13th Tribe motorcycle gang's hijacking of the Princess of Acadia ferry. He is also author of Radio Talk, a book that takes you inside the news and shares little-known details about stories familiar to residents of Canada's East Coast. Rick has two children and one grandchild and is married to CBC television journalist Yvonne Colbert.

Television - Steve Murphy

Steve Murphy's career in broadcasting began in 1977 working at his hometown Saint John, NB radio station CFBC. Three years later he moved to Halifax to host the CJCH talk show Hotline. Most of Murphy's career has been in front of the television camera, as an inaugural member of Live at 5 in the mid-eighties and since 1993 as anchor of CTV News at 6. Steve has anchored more than 5,000 newscasts including hundreds of remote shows from Canada, the United States and United Kingdom. His memoir "Before the Camera" is a best-seller and was his 2002 book "Life at 5: The Story Behind its Success." Steve has also contributed countless volunteer hours as Chair of the Christmas Daddies Fundraising Association since 1982 and has hosted the IWK Telethon for 15 years.

Lifetime Achievement Award recipients will be honoured in their region at the following conferences:

BC Region, Vancouver - British Columbia Institute of Technology - April 14, 2012

Prairie Region, Winnipeg - Red River College - April 14, 2012

Atlantic Region, Halifax - Nova Scotia Community College - April 14, 2012

National Conference, Toronto, Sheraton Centre Hotel   -- June 21-23, 2012

RTDNA Canada is the voice of electronic journalists and news managers in Canada. The members of RTDNA Canada recognize the responsibility of electronic journalists to promote and to protect the freedom to report independently about matters of public interest and to present a wide range of expressions, opinions and ideas. The RTDNA Canada Code of Ethics, adopted by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, is used to measure fairness and accuracy in the profession.