The best in B.C., the best in Canada - and now - the best news coverage in the world.

CTV Vancouver made Canadian journalism history Monday evening at a gala in New York City as it was presented with the prestigious Edward R Murrow Award for Overall Excellence – Large Market Television. 

The award, as chosen by the U.S. arm of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), is a first for a Canadian major market television station in the 45-year history of the “Murrows.”

ABC News was awarded this year’s prize in the network and radio categories, while the Washington Post was recognized for newspaper reporting. 

2016 Murrow Award winners were selected from more than 4,300 entries submitted from news organizations around the world.

Overall Excellence submissions must demonstrate an exceptional level of journalism and production quality throughout the organization. CTV Vancouver’s winning entry included on-air and online breaking news reporting, as well as examples of investigative, consumer and human interest stories.

In attendance for the Edward R Murrow Award presentation at Gotham Hall in New York City were Assistant News Director/Managing Editor Ethan Faber, CTV Vancouver News Director Les Staff, Senior Director Charles Wright, CTV News at 11:30/Breaking News Anchor Norma Reid and CTV News at Six Co-Anchor Mike Killeen. 

Edward R Murrow Award

Photo by Filip Wolak

“You can’t get any better than the best in the world,” said Staff. “And the best thing is the fact that the award recognizes everyone in our newsroom – from online and broadcast, to our photographers, editors and all the other people behind the scenes who work so hard every day.”

Faber added: “To be recognized for our journalism at this level while at the same time achieving record-high ratings shows that newsrooms don’t have to sacrifice quality to grow audiences – and I believe that’s a very important message for our industry.”

The “Best in the World” Murrow comes on the heels of CTV Vancouver’s newscast - CTV News at Six with Mike Killeen and Tamara Taggart - being named Canada’s Best Local Newscast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television last March. Also this year, CTV News at Six was named BC’s Best Newscast – Large Market TV - by the Canadian arm of the RTDNA.

Mike Killeen and Ethan Faber

Photo by Filip Wolak