Their Excellencies Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul with the editorial staff of the London Free Press, a finalist for the 2002 Michener Award. Photo was taken following a ceremony at Rideau Hall, Thursday, April 10, 2003.
L-R: Reporter Jonathan Sher, managing editor Joe Ruscitti; Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, His Excellency John Ralston Saul; reporter Mary Jane Egan, city editor Julie Carl and reporter Randy Richmond.
The Free Press was honoured for solid and persistent city hall reporting that exposed widespread abuses including secret overtime payments and buyouts to senior staff, the failure of managers to keep minutes of meetings, neglect of anti-sexual harassment policy, and the wielding of power by unaccountable bureaucrats that rightly belonged to elected councillors.
The first Michener Award covered the calendar year 1970. Since then, a rich variety of news organizations have had their names inscribed on Michener trophies – print and broadcast, large and small, French and English, East and West. The Michener was also the first national journalism award open to both broadcast and print media. The award goes to the news organization itself, rather than the individual journalists involved in the story.