Tony Burman

For the English footballer, see Tony Burman (footballer).

Tony Burman (born 13 June 1948) is the Velma Rogers Graham Research Chair at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.[1]

Previously, he served as Al Jazeera's chief strategic advisor for the Americas, 2010–2011, based in Washington DC.[2] He also served as managing director of the Al Jazeera English network, based in Doha, Qatar, from 2008 to 2010. Prior to this, from 2002 to 2007, he was the editor in chief of CBC News.

In October 2007, Burman received the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's Gordon Sinclair Award for lifetime achievement in broadcast journalism.[3] In October 2009, Arabian Business magazine named him the second most influential non-Arab in the Arab world.[4] Then, in November 2009, the Canadian Expat Association also announced that he had been voted the third most influential Canadian living abroad, behind Michael J. Fox and Wayne Gretzky.[5]

Career

Tony Burman has worked as a journalist in print, radio, television, and online. Although he is now chief strategic advisor for Al Jazeera English, his career started in the 1960s. For most of this time (35 years), he was at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

He is also active in supporting public broadcasting and investigative journalism.

Pre-CBC

Print

As a student in the 1960s, Burman edited two school newspapers, one of which was the Loyola News (of what is now Concordia University). In that role, most notably, he was called upon by the Canadian University Press to investigate the circumstances surrounding the resignations of the editors of the University of Windsor's student paper, the Lance,[6] who had reprinted a controversial essay comparing the status of students at California State University and the status of African Americans in society. His commission concluded the university administration had interfered with the independence of the newspaper and forced the editors out: "the concept of freedom of the press at Windsor is very much in doubt."[7] His arguments in the official report, filed at the CUP office in Ottawa, later became encapsulated as the exemplar case in defending the underground journalism movement; the Canadian counterpart to a larger debate regarding the treatment of a now-classic civil rights essay, The Student as Nigger, as well as other related forms of "challenging" social commentary.

Burman's first professional role was as an Education Reporter at his father's newspaper, the Montreal Star, in the late 1960s. He then spent several years as a freelancer, including a stint in South America, where he found his first big story: Vilcabamba, often called the valley of longevity and reputed to be one of the sources for modern fountain of youth mythologies.

From 1982 to 1984, Burman contributed a dozen essays on international relations to the Globe and Mail.

CBC

Radio

Burman joined the CBC in 1972. He worked for CBC Radio in Montreal as a contributing producer to As It Happens and, later, as executive producer of Cross Country Checkup.

Television

After working in Montreal as a current affairs story editor with the nightly news program City At Six he moved to Toronto, where he ultimately landed as senior writer on The National under the guidance of Lloyd Robertson (1975–76), Peter Kent (1976–78), and Knowlton Nash (1978–88).

From 1980 to 1982, Burman was executive producer of The National and created the redesign of the newscast when it moved in 1982 to its new prime-time slot at 10 p.m. After this, he spent three years based in London (1982–85) for CBC Television news. In London, he and correspondent Brian Stewart were the first North American journalists on the ground to cover the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia, where they found Birhan Woldu (the "face of famine" that inspired both Live Aid and Live 8).[8]

Burman produced many documentaries during his five-year tenure as senior producer with The Journal (1985–90). These included, among others:

In 1989, The Journal also won TV Guide's Most Popular Program Award.

From 1990 to 1993, Burman was chief news editor of CBC Television. In 1993, he returned to The National as executive producer, creating the current hour-long format and successfully addressing management concerns regarding the show's flagging ratings and declining quality (via e.g., Gemini Award nom. 1995, 1996, 1997).

He also led several successful co-productions with other media organizations, including The New York Times and Frontline.[11]

Management

Before returning to produce The National in 1993, Burman spent a year as managing director of CBC's all-news network, CBC Newsworld.

Since his return to management in 1998, Burman served as head of CBC Newsworld until his retirement in 2007. Burman had also been in charge of all journalistic programming since February 2000.[12]

On June 19, 2007, he announced his retirement from the CBC after a 35-year career, effective July 13.

Al Jazeera

Burman's appointment as managing director of Al Jazeera English was announced on 14 May 2008.[13] In this role for two years, he has returned to North America and presently serves as chief strategic advisor for the Americas.[2] This new position is intended to "accelerate expansion in the North American market," following the successful launch of AJE in Canada.[2]

Service

Burman has served on the boards of several charitable organizations. He also travels widely in support of public broadcasting, speaking at universities and conferences around the world (e.g., at Concordia University, Osgoode Hall Law School, UBC Journalism School, Jönköping University, Sweden).

In November 2009, he delivered the annual Clissold Lecture at the University of Western Ontario.[14] In 2010, he delivered the Minifie Lecture at the University of Regina[15] and the keynote address at Media Democracy Day 2010.[16] In 2011, he was the "headline" speaker at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, journalism ethics conference.

2012 Statements On Canada-Israel Relations

In an article published by the Toronto Star on September 7, 2012, Burman stated that the recent decision by the government of Stephen Harper to sever diplomatic relations with Iran was evidence that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is Canada's "new foreign minister. His day job may be prime minister of Israel, but Canada’s abrupt actions against Iran seem to confirm that the Harper government’s outsourcing of Canada’s Middle East policy to Jerusalem is now complete." He further stated that "There is little else to conclude from Canada’s unwise decision to move unilaterally on Iran at this moment"

Burman wrote that the Canadian government has adopted a "passionate pro-Israeli stance" and "has gained the reputation throughout the Middle East of being a passionate warrior on behalf of Israel’s foreign ministry." Burman cited "references in the Israeli media about Canada’s unwavering support of the Israeli government" to support his claim. He concluded the article by stating that "reflecting on its recent actions, we may have to wait until our government checks with its new foreign minister in Jerusalem before we get some answers."[17]

Recent scholarship

Burman, T. (2009). World Perspectives: Ignoring the World at our Peril. In J. Owen & H. Purdey, International News Reporting: Frontlines and Deadlines (pp. 127-143). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley.

Thoughts on journalism

References

  1. Vukets, Cynthia (2011-07-06). "Toronto News: Former chief of CBC, Al Jazeera headed back to Canada". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  2. 1 2 3 Al Jazeera English (2010-05-17). "Tony Burman to assume new position at Al Jazeera to accelerate expansion in North America". CNW Group. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  3. "22nd Annual Gemini Awards". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Archived from the original on 2008-02-07.
  4. "The Expat 50: 2# Tony Burman". Arabian Business. 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-08-15.
  5. "Michael J. Fox Voted Most Influential Canadian Living Abroad" (Press release). Canadian Expat Association. 2009-11-07.
  6. "Windsor paper shafted: CUP to examine dispute" (PDF). The Ubyssey (Vancouver). 1968-01-12. p. 13.
  7. "University of Windsor 'guilty of intervention'" (PDF). The Ubyssey (Vancouver). 1968-01-23. p. 9.
  8. Stewart, Brian (2004-12-02). "Strange Destiny". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2013-03-17.
  9. "Le Devoir wins 1989 Michener Award". The Michener Awards Foundation. 1990-06-19.
  10. Griffith-Greene, Megan (March 2004). "Master and Commander". Ryerson Review of Journalism. ISSN 0838-0651.
  11. "Credits | Son Of Al Qaeda | FRONTLINE". PBS. 2004-04-22. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  12. "Burman named to head CBC TV news". CBC News. 2000-01-27. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  13. "Tony Burman appointed as Managing Director at Al Jazeera English". Qatar Living. 2008-05-14. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07.
  14. "The Clissold Lecture: 2009 - Tony Burman". Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario. 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  15. "Director of Al Jazeera English to deliver landmark 30th Anniversary James M. Minifie Lecture" (Press release). University of Regina. 2010-03-22.
  16. "Renowned News Chief to Speak on Journalism's Future". School of Communication, Simon Fraser University. 2010-09-16. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  17. Burman, Tony (2012-09-07). "What has prompted Canada’s move against Iran?". Toronto Star.
  18. MacDonald, Gayle (2001-10-17). "Media can't sate news hunger". The Globe and Mail.
  19. Burman, Tony (2003-06-25). "The CBC responds to CBC Watch". Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  20. Burman, Tony (2006-04-03). "Web lifts 'citizen journalism' to new level". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19.
  21. Burman, Tony (2006-04-18). "Reading websites and tea leaves". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19.
  22. Lin, Jean (2012-05-19). "Credibility vital in news reporting: expert". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  23. "CBC backs 'very important' journalism meet set for 2007" (PDF). The Wire (Canadian Association of Journalists): 2. Spring 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-14.
  24. Burman, Tony (2006-09-14). "For media, Montreal shooting was history on the run". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2013-04-05.
  25. "And now the news news". Toronto Star. 2006-12-01.
  26. "CBC Pulls Plug on Canada Now". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). 2006-11-30. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  27. Qazi, Sarmad (2008-05-16). "Jazeera English sets sights on N America". Gulf Times. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24.
  28. 1 2 3 "Close Encounters". Qatar Happening. 2009-11-01. Archived from the original on February 27, 2010.
  29. 1 2 3 Macdonald, Gayle (2011-08-19). "Tony Burman, Al Jazeera and the future of news". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). Retrieved 2012-05-25.

External links

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