CBC producer Michelle Metivier accepts the 1996 Michener Citation of Merit from Governor General Romeo LeBlanc on behalf of the fifth estate.
The CBC-TV current affairs program was honoured for 'On the Beach', an investigation into the court martial of Lt.-Comdr Dean Marsaw who was found guilty of physical and verbal abuse of his crew members aboard the submarine Ojibwa between 1991 and 1993. He was stripped of his rank and dismissed from the navy. The report provided evidence which clearly demonstrated the naval officer was the victim of a frame-up.
The Citation was presented at the annual Michener Foundation award ceremony held this year at Rideau Hall on May 1, 1997.
The Michener Award for meritorious public journalism, sponsored by the Michener Awards Foundation, was launched in 1970 under the auspices of the late Roland Michener, then governor general. The award is for outstanding and disinterested public service in journalism. It is presented annually to a news organization - newspapers, broadcasting stations and networks, news agencies and periodicals are eligible - rather than an individual.