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Bill MacPherson (1927-1995)
Farewell to a champion of public interestVeteran journalist Bill MacPherson
advised & worked with the Governor General to create the Michener Award
for meritorious public service in journalism.
By Christopher Young - Ottawa Citizen correspondent - Friday, June
23, 1995
Six weeks before he died of leukemia, Bill MacPherson made a
difficult and draining effort. He went out for dinner, and made it
look easy. He wore a smart blue suit and his familiar friendly
smile, both of which helped to disguise his gaunt frame and shrunken
neck. He carried a small battery-operated electronic voice machine,
which he had been using since cancer forced the removal of his
larynx and esophagus more than two years ago. With characteristic
determination, he had mastered the use of this device to converse in
a monotone, replacing his natural voice.
This was no ordinary dinner, but an elegant banquet at Rideau Hall,
hosted by Gov. Gen. Romeo LeBlanc, who made a point of paying
tribute to MacPherson's outstanding career and the spirit of
positive public service he brought to it. The occasion was the
annual presentation of the Michener Awards for journalism, an idea
that MacPherson had proposed to former governor general Roland
Michener on his departure from office in 1974. LeBlanc is the fifth
governor general since Michener to present the awards in a ceremony
at his official residence, and the first who was once a professional
journalist himself.
Bill's service to the Michener Awards Foundation had also been
recognized two years earlier by Mr.LeBlanc's predecessor at
Government House, the Hon. Ray Hnatyshyn in these words:
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Ray Hnatyshyn & Bill MacPherson |
"This is the time for honouring organizations, not
individuals, but with us, this evening, is one newsman who so
embodies the sort of individual all good journalists aspire to
become, that I hope you will forgive me for making an exception. I refer, of course, to Bill MacPherson. MacP was born in
Saskatchewan, which explains a lot, but made his name in
journalism over a 30 year career with the Ottawa Citizen. His
integrity, his ability, his energy, his insight and his
professionalism have set the standard today, much as Pulitzer's
retiring words set the goals at the turn of the century. Without MacP, there would have been no Michener Award, for
it was Bill who convinced Roland Michener to lend his name to this
recognition of investigative journalism as a vital team
sport."
Unlike most other awards in the field, which are for individuals,
the Michener Awards are given to organizations - newspapers, wire
services, radio and television broadcasting units - for projects
judged to have performed important services in the public interest.
This was an area that MacPherson thought was lacking in public
recognition and in need of greater encouragement. Notable as a team
leader rather than an individual star, he was managing editor of the
Ottawa Citizen at the time.
MacPherson was appointed secretary of the Michener Awards, a
position he had held ever since, assisted by two former Ottawa
bureau chiefs of The Canadian Press; Fraser MacDougall and Arch
MacKenzie. (Suggestions of a Scottish conspiracy are denied.)
MacPherson and his wife Jackie provided a room in their house as an
office for dealing with the paperwork involved in soliciting and
judging all the newspaper clippings and broadcast tapes that are
entered each year.
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An aspen was planted in the
arboretum at the Ottawa Experimental Farm in Bill MacPherson's memory. The tree with appropriate plaque, is located in
the northeast quadrant just off the traffic circle on Prince of Wales Drive. |
As managing editor, he eschewed the eruptions of fire and brimstone
that tradition associates with that position. His style of
leadership combined encouragement with constructive criticism. I
worked with him in Winnipeg and Ottawa for many years and never saw
him lose his temper. When he disagreed on a professional question,
he liked to quote a line from Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, a satire on
inept reporters and megalomaniac press lords. In the novel, this was
as far as a Fleet Street underling dared to go in disagreement with
his tyrannical chief: "Well, up to a point, Lord Copper."
The pose was ironical. MacPherson's own opinions were forceful,
constructive and consistent; he just didn't express them in a
belligerent way.
His devotion to journalism also consumed his spare time. He had been
president of the National Press Club, which he helped to found when
its predecessor, the Ottawa Press Club, was judged by members to be
inadequate for the capital city. He devoted many hours to writing
witty songs for annual dinners of the Parliamentary Press Gallery,
and often sang them on stage himself.
 His departure after 30 years at the Citizen was in accordance with
the compulsory retirement age of 65, but, sadly, it coincided with
the discovery of cancer in his larynx and esophagus. After two and a
half years of therapy, including major surgery, he developed fatal
leukemia.
For the many ways in which he enriched our lives, Bill MacPherson
will be missed and mourned by his devoted wife Jackie; by his
sisters, retired ambassador Marion MacPherson, of Ottawa, and Joan
MacPherson, of Regina; by his four children; and by an incalculable
list of friends inside and outside the world of newspapers and other
media.
Christopher Young is a Southam News columnist who was a
longtime friend and associate of Bill MacPherson.
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