Bob McKeown honoured with CJF Lifetime Achievement Award
Toronto – March 18, 2025 — The Canadian Journalism Foundation’s (CJF) Lifetime Achievement Award this year goes to Bob McKeown in recognition of his decades-long record of excellence in investigative journalism, reporting from more than 60 countries and winning dozens of awards and honours as a reporter, host producer, writer and documentary filmmaker.
“Bob McKeown is the journalists’ journalist — an investigative reporter who can be proud of a lifetime of doing important journalism that matters,” says Lifetime Achievement Award jury chair and CJF Board chair Kathy English. “His impactful work has consistently exposed numerous issues of vital importance for many years, right up to the current day. Bob has shown tremendous courage in taking on stories about powerful people and broken systems, leading his team to produce outstanding investigative journalism, regardless of the threats they faced.”
McKeown will be honoured at the CJF Awards ceremony on June 12 at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto. For tickets, tables and sponsorship opportunities, see contact information below or visit the CJF Awards page.
McKeown began his journalism career as a freelance sports commentator while still playing with the Ottawa Rough Riders, before joining CBC Television in 1975. From 1981 to 1990, he co-hosted CBC’s flagship investigative program The Fifth Estate and produced, wrote and directed critically acclaimed documentaries including The Boys on the Bus, Les Canadiens and Strangers in a Strange Land. In 1990, he left the CBC for some two decades, first with CBS News (1990-1995) and then NBC’s Dateline (1995-2002). As a CBS correspondent, he received an Emmy award for his coverage of the Persian Gulf War. During his tenure with NBC, McKeown reported extensively on September 11 and the Oklahoma City bombing; tracked down war criminals; covered hurricanes and tornadoes; broadcast live from the wreck site of the Titanic and was bitten by a shark on camera.
Following McKeown’s return to The Fifth Estate in 2002, where he remained until his retirement last November, his work included investigations into the Costa Concordia wreck, concussions and CTE in the CFL and NHL. His Michener-nominated work on former fashion mogul Peter Nygard, later convicted of sexual assault, provoked an unprecedented criminal libel suit against McKeown and other Fifth Estate journalists, which Nygard dropped a decade later. After 31 years with The Fifth Estate, McKeown made his final appearance on the show in November 2024 as host of the program’s 50th anniversary special.
“Working with Bob McKeown when he began at The Fifth Estate, I have witnessed with admiration his unparalleled career of nearly half a century,” says the Right Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, a member of the CJF Lifetime Achievement Award jury. “Bob has personified integrity, expertise and commitment. His pursuit of stories that have changed our perceptions of society and his revelations of wrongdoing have made Canada a better place.”
McKeown has received dozens of prestigious accolades throughout his career, including two Edward R. Murrows, two Gracies, two National Headliners, a National Press Club award and multiple Canadian Screen Awards. His work has earned him two Emmy Awards and two Gemini Awards, recognizing his excellence in broadcast journalism. His 2018 Fifth Estate investigation that exposed industry lobbying behind lax safety standards on school buses won the 2019 Canadian Hillman Prize. In 2021, he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for his outstanding contributions to investigative reporting.
A personal advocate for sports safety, McKeown has publicly addressed the issue of concussions in professional sports, drawing from his own experiences in football. In 2016, he announced plans to donate his brain to the Canadian Sports Concussion Project to aid research on sports-related brain injuries.
McKeown joins a distinguished group of CJF Lifetime Achievement Award winners including: Phillip Crawley, Haroon Siddiqui, Michèle Ouimet, Kim Bolan, John Honderich, Thaioronióhte Dan David, Peter Mansbridge, Jean Pelletier, Lloyd Robertson, Michel Auger, Peter Bregg, Jack Sigvaldason, Lise Bissonnette, Joe Schlesinger, Sally Armstrong, Knowlton Nash, June Callwood and Trina McQueen.
The Lifetime Achievement Award jury members are:
Chair – Kathy English, chair, The Canadian Journalism Foundation;
Isabel Bassett, former chair and CEO of TVOntario/TFO;
The Right Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, co-chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, former governor general of Canada (1999-2005);
Hamlin Grange, veteran broadcast journalist and principal consultant, DiversiPro;
Chantal Hébert, political columnist, le Devoir, l’Actualité, CBC, Radio-Canada; and
Marina Strauss, CJF board member and fund development co-chair and longtime former reporter and columnist at The Globe and Mail.
About The Canadian Journalism Foundation
Founded in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation promotes, celebrates and facilitates excellence in journalism. The foundation runs a prestigious awards and fellowships program featuring an industry gala where news leaders, journalists and corporate Canada gather to celebrate outstanding journalistic achievement and the value of professional journalism. Through monthly J-Talks, a public speakers’ series, the CJF facilitates dialogue among journalists, businesspeople, academics and students about the role of the media in Canadian society and the ongoing challenges for media in the digital era. The foundation also fosters opportunities for journalism education, training and research.
