
Jim Williamson, executive producer, the fifth estate, with His Excellency David Johnston, Governor General of Canada. Photo was taken following presentation of the Michener Award at a ceremony held in Rideau Hall, Ottawa, June 14, 2011.
The program received the 2010 Michener Award for its reporting on the incarceration and death of Ashley Smith, a seriously troubled teenager who spent the last four years of her life behind bars for a minor offence.
The Michener Award, founded in 1970 by the late Right Honourable Roland Michener, then Governor General, goes to a news organization. The judges’ decisions are heavily influenced by the degree of public benefit generated by the print and broadcast projects submitted for consideration.