2024 Ross Munro Laureate
Kevin Newman
Kevin Newman was a
familiar face to television viewers in Canada and the United States for forty years. His career as a News Anchor and Journalist took him to every major hotspot in the world, and every major city in North America. He has earned a reputation for integrity, passion, and innovation through his work at the News divisions of CTV, ABC, Global and CBC.
He recently retired as Host and Managing Editor of CTV News’ Investigative series ‘W5’ and back-up anchor of Canada’s #1 Newscast CTV National News.
During his decade as the Founding Anchor & Executive Editor of ‘Global National’, Kevin led a team which developed and built a new national newscast which became #1 five years after its launch.
His career at ABC News in the United States included hosting Good Morning America, reporting for Nightline with Ted Koppel, and substitute anchoring and reporting for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.
Kevin has also produced multiple international award-winning documentaries, podcasts and a reality show series through his own company, NewMan Media Ltd.
Kevin’s career in Journalism has garnered multiple Emmy Awards in the United States, and Gemini Awards in Canada including ‘Best Anchor’. He was part of the Peabody-Award winning team at ABC News which covered the arrival of the Millennium. His international reporting includes coverage from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Moscow, Israel, London and Washington. He has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the RTDNA & Western University.
Kevin served for seven years on the Board of Directors of Canada’s leading tech start-up incubator, ‘Communitech’ in Waterloo Ontario, one of six Hubs partnered with Google in the world. Kevin volunteers to assist Veterans organizations helping Canadian soldiers transition to civilian work, and recently advised Kijiji on how to adapt its jobs site to better identify qualified veterans.
Kevin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from his alma mater, Western University Canada, in June 2011. He has co-authored a national best-selling memoir with his son, Alex, ‘All Out’ published by Penguin Random House in the U.S. and Canada. He has been married to his wife Cathy since 1986. Along with Alex, an award-winning advertising Creative Director in Sydney Australia, they have a daughter Erica who is Production Manager at Industrial Brothers Animation in Toronto.
About the Ross Munro Award
The Ross Munro Award recognizes Canadians whose outstanding service to their craft is a testament to the power of national defence and security storytelling in journalism, videography, photojournalism, or authorship.
Award recipients demonstrate professional excellence and objectivity in coverage of national defence and security issues, providing insight, analysis, or examination of the context.
Areas of focus include the Canadian Armed Forces, departmental and national security agencies and must contribute to a wider public awareness and national discussion. Works of distinction demonstrate the importance of sharing stories that impact all Canadians and strengthen and preserve democratic values.
Past Recipients
2002: Stephen Thorne, Legion Magazine | 2003: Garth Pritchard, documentary filmmaker, director, and cinematographer | 2004: Sharon Hobson, Jane’s Defence Weekly | 2005: Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star | 2006: Christie Blatchford, Globe and Mail | 2007: Matthew Fisher, National Post | 2008: Alec Castonguay, Radio Canada | 2009: Brian Stewart, CBC | 2010: Murray Brewster, CBC | 2011: Rosie DiMano, Toronto Star | 2012: Adam Day, Legion Magazine | 2013: (Hiatus) | 2014: Louie Palu, National Geographic | 2015: Chris MacLean, FrontLine Defence | 2016: Richard Madan, CTV News | 2021: Mercedes Stephenson, Ottawa Bureau Chief/Host, Global News | 2022: Sharon Adams, Writer, Legion Magazine | 2023: Steven Chase Senior, Parliamentary Reporter, The Globe and Mail and Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief, The Globe and Mail
Robert Ross Munro, OBE, OC (September 6, 1913 – June 21, 1990)
Ross Munro was the Canadian Press’s lead war correspondent in Europe in World War II. He covered a Canadian raid in Spitsbergen, the 1942 raid on Dieppe, the Allied landings in Sicily, the Italian campaign, D-Day and the campaign in Northwestern Europe. His memoirs of the campaigns, published as From Gauntlet to Overlord, won the Governor General’s Award for English-language non-fiction in 1945. He later covered the Korean War, and after retiring as a war correspondent became publisher of the Vancouver Daily Province, the Winnipeg Tribune, and the Edmonton Journal. Munro was appointed OBE in 1946 and OC in 1975.
