THE Embassy of Canada announced on Monday that veteran journalist Eileen G. Mangubat is the 2013 Marshall McLuhan Fellow.
In a statement sent to media firms, the embassy said Mangubat, publisher and acting editor-in-chief of Cebu Daily News, is recognized for her noteworthy efforts to steer and maintain an independent and professional community press in Cebu. Mangubat is the third community journalist to receive the McLuhan Fellowship.
The Marshall McLuhan Fellowship, named after the world-renowned Canadian communication scholar, is the Embassy of Canada’s flagship media advocacy initiative. Launched in 1997 to encourage responsible journalism in the Philippines, the Fellowship underlines Canada’s belief that strong media is essential to a free and democratic society.
The program, with financial support from Sun Life of Canada, provides the winner with a study tour to Canada. This will be an opportunity to interact with media counterparts and to discuss current governance issues with Canadian government officials and members of civil society. The winner will also have the chance to sit as a fellow at the McLuhan Institute in Toronto.
Canada’s Ambassador to the Philippines Neil Reeder will present the award to Mangubat today at the Marcelo B. Fernan Press Center in Lahug, Cebu City where she will have her inaugural lecture.
The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) assists the embassy in choosing a journalist who has either published an outstanding piece of investigative report or holds a collective body of journalistic work that contributes to positive change in the social arena that has raised the level of public discourse in a relevant issue.