Radio Canada’s first anchorwoman will speak on
Democracy in the Balance: Journalism in Canada and around the World
The fifth Annual Jeanne Sauvé Address will be given on Friday, 7 November by Céline
Galipeau, Radio- Canada journalist, foreign correspondent, and anchor of the flagship
news program Téléjournal.
One of Canada’s most distinguished journalists, Mme Galipeau earned her reputation as a foreign correspondent early in her career with Radio Canada. Recognized for her humanitarian vision and for the clarity and intelligence of her reporting, she has covered wars in Chechnya, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. She is particularly known for her reports on women’s issues including such difficult subjects as the traditional binding of the feet of Chinese women, and the immolation of Afghani women. Then, in 2009, she became the first female anchor of Radio-Canada’s flagship news program Téléjournal.
Mme Galipeau’s talk will focus on challenges facing journalists today – security risksmultiplication of information sources, lack of financial resources – and the consequences for democracy.
Among the key questions Mme Galipeau will address are:
• the role of traditional media in a world that is increasingly dominated by social media and citizen journalism;
• how publicised fatal attacks on reporters in conflict zones affect the practice of the profession, particularly international coverage;
• given traditional media’s limited financial resources, will journalists be able to continue to exercise their role as democracy’s watchdogs, or will political accountability be eroded by lack of critical coverage and analysis.
A panel discussion will follow Mme Galipeau’s address. The panelists, all alumni of the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation’s Scholars Program, will be joined by Mme Galipeau, and will contribute personal perspectives as journalists and young leaders in ‘media-challenged’ regions.
Panelists include: Gerald Bareebe, the Ugandan investigative journalist whose reporting dominated local and international media throughout the country’s 2011 presidential election; Adam Daifallah, former member of the National Post editorial board and Washington, D.C. correspondent of The New York Sun; Dawa, Bhutan Broadcasting Service’s award-winning broadcaster and anchor; Mirwais Nahzat, regular mediacommentator and contributor to several Canadian documentaries on Afghanistan; Jonathan Sas founder of Press Progress, former Editor-in-Chief of The Mark News and author of a media criticism column for The Tyee.
About the Annual Jeanne Sauvé Address
The Annual Jeanne Sauvé Address is the premier public event of the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation. It celebrates the vision and values of the late Right Honourable Jeanne Sauvé, whose career represented many firsts – the first woman MP elected from Quebec to become a federal cabinet minister, the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House and as Governor General of Canada – and who is an enduring inspiration to today’s young leaders. Announcing this year’s event, Jean-François Sauvé, son of the late Jeanne Sauvé and Chairman of the Foundation that bears her name, evoked his mother’s reputation as an astute political journalist and analyst of public affairs on both English and French radio, in the emerging medium of television, and in print media.
The Inaugural Jeanne Sauvé Address was delivered in 2010 by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, at McGill University. Her talk was titled Youth Engagement in the 21st Century: Inspiring Change in an Era of Globalization. Outstanding Canadian journalist and humanitarian Sally Armstrong delivered the 2011 Jeanne Sauvé Address , The New Revolutionaries: Achieving ‘the Equality Effect’ for Women and Girls Around the World. In 2012, Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson addressed the devastating legacy of Canada’s residential school system. And in 2013, Dr. Sheema Khan spoke on Faith and Freedom: Promoting Religious Diversity and Gender Equality in Canada.