TORONTO – Another accomplished female journalist is stepping into a lead anchor chair in Canada.
Global Television named Emmy Award-winning journalist Dawna Friesen as anchor and executive editor of its national evening newscast Global National at a press conference in Toronto on Tuesday.
As the London-based correspondent and anchor for NBC News, Today and MSNBC since 1999, Friesen has reported on some of the day’s top international stories from the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Europe and Africa. She was also part of NBC’s team covering the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and won an Emmy Award for her part in NBC’s coverage of the night Barak Obama was elected president of the United States. Friesen (pictured) will make her inaugural broadcast this September, replacing Kevin Newman.
“I’m honoured and excited by the opportunity to return to Canada as part of the Global National team,” Friesen said in a statement. “Kevin and all the staff have created a rock-solid broadcast reputation, one that I want to preserve and develop. I can only hope to connect with Canadians the way he has. It’s a fantastic challenge that I am eager to take on."
Born in Winnipeg and raised in rural Manitoba, Friesen began her news career in Canada in 1985 at a newspaper in Portage la Prairie before moving on to radio and television stations in Brandon, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay and Winnipeg. She went on to work as a correspondent and anchor for both CBC and CTV at the national level in Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto, and also served as a senior parliamentary correspondent.
“Dawna’s credentials and accomplishments are at an elite level – and in keeping with the new generation of anchor and correspondents Canadians have come to rely on at Global National,” said Peter Viner, president of CanWest Broadcasting. “Today’s announcement builds powerfully on the commitment to excellence established by Kevin Newman and the Global National team over the last decade.”
Global National airs weeknights at 5:30 pm/6:30 pm Maritimes on Global and at 7:30 pm NFLD on NTV.
