Handout photo Michelle Lang shares a laugh with a
Canadian soldier in Afghanistan.
03 March 2010
Unions donate $2,000 to fellowship
honouring
reporter killed in Afghanistan
CWA Canada and its largest Local, the Canadian
Media Guild, have each donated $1,000 to a journalism fellowship
set up in memory of a Calgary Herald reporter killed
in Afghanistan.
The Michelle Lang Fellowship in Journalism will give a recent
Canadian university graduate the chance to combine a passion
for writing with an interest in current events. The first
one is expected to be awarded this fall.
Canwest Publishing set up the trust, which is to continue
in perpetuity, after the 34-year-old reporter was killed
by a roadside bomb on Dec. 30, while on assignment for Canwest
News Services. Four Canadian soldiers also died in the blast.
The fellowship will award up to $10,000
annually to fund a "special news project ... that would address the goals
Michelle aspired to in her daily journalism: telling stories
that have gone unreported or unnoticed on topics of social
significance."
In addition, Canwest is to fund the salary of a full-year
internship for the fellow: six months at the Calgary
Herald and six months at Canwest News Service in Ottawa.
The award-winning reporter's death "touched us all," says
Lise Lareau, president of the Canadian Media Guild. "A
couple of our members were in Kandahar with Michelle, many
knew her, and her death forced everyone to reflect on the
sacrifices that are made by people in newsgathering at a
time of war."
The trust was established with an initial investment of
$100,000. David, Gail and Leonard Asper personally donated
$20,000; the remainder came from Canwest Publishing. Contributions
can be made at any Scotiabank branch in Canada.
