By Mata Press Service

Veteran journalist, John Daly, one of the most recognisable TV news faces in BC over the past four decades, is this year’s recipient of the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award, Western Canada's preeminent media accolade.

The award epitomizes the impact and vital role that a trustworthy, hard-hitting journalist has on our communities, said the Jack Webster Foundation.

Daly's nearly four decades reporting for BCTV, and then Global, saw him working on such significant provincial breaking news stories as the Surrey Six murders, the downfall of a premier and gang warfare.

“If it weren’t for great bosses - News Directors, Assignment Editors, Producers ... I wouldn’t be getting The Hutch’ ... these women and men gave me the opportunity to work on important stories, to try to live up to the confidence they had placed in me, and to try to give the listeners and viewers what they deserve,” Daly told Matapress.

“Behind this very appreciative and humble broadcast reporter are dozens of superb camera men and women, audio and video editors, and producers without whose hard work and talent, I would never be receiving the Bruce Hutchinson Lifetime Achievement Award.”

“John is a reporter’s reporter,” said Fabian Dawson, last year’s recipient of the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award.

“So many of us have been chasing his stories for so many years…It was like you had to get the Daly News before you went about doing the daily news,” said Dawson, the editorial advisor for the Post Group of newspapers, which publishes the South Asian Post, The Filipino Post and the Asian Pacific Post and a former deputy editor of the Vancouver Sun and The Province.

Daly, notably, won the very first Webster award in 1987 for Best Reporting of the Year, and has passed his considerable skills on to new generations of journalists by teaching interviewing techniques and investigative reporting at both BCIT and UBC. He is also an oft-requested speaker at journalism conferences and for other professional organizations.

An active member of the Investigative Reporters & Editors association, Daly was also awarded the RTNDA Canada Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

Today, Daly, who is semi-retired picks up the microphone every Saturday morning with his CKNW radio talk show, Back on the Beat. The Jack Webster awards will be presented December 8th, in an online ceremony at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time.