TORONTO — CBC/Radio-Canada announced today that long-time executive producer Mark Starowicz is leaving the public broadcaster to launch a new career as an independent producer.
In an email circulated to CBC/Radio-Canada employees this morning, Heather Conway, executive vice-president of English services, said Starowicz had informed CBC of his decision several weeks ago but stayed on until the transition of CBC’s documentary unit was completed.
“Over almost five decades at CBC, Mark has become a giant on the Canadian documentary landscape. His vision and talent have guided generations of reporters and documentary producers to deliver award-winning shows,” Conway wrote.
“The programs Mark created or shaped crowd the CBC’s trophy shelves. Under his leadership, As It Happens became the most popular program in Canadian radio; he created Sunday Morning and built it into a national institution. In television, he created the legendary nightly news and current affairs program The Journal that became the most influential national stage for politics, the arts and documentary reportage,” Conway said.
“After The Journal, Mark pursued his passion for documentaries full-time with programs like The Nature of Things, Witness, Life and Times, Doc Zone, The Greatest Canadian, Love Hate and Propaganda and The Canadian Experience. His team forged co-production alliances with The New York Times, France 5, ZDF Germany, to create internationally acclaimed series like China Rises, Arctic Rush, Battle for Baghdad and India Reborn,” Conway continued.
A champion of public broadcasting and Canadian programming, Starowicz also championed the advancement of women in the CBC, Conway added, saying Starowicz “defied convention by naming two women — Barbara Frum and Mary Lou Finlay — as co-hosts of The Journal. He took chances on young people and mentored literally hundreds of them, many of whom went on to be leaders in Canadian broadcasting.”
Conway said Starowicz’s most enduring legacy may well be Canada: A People’s History, which she called “an epic collaboration of CBC’s French and English networks that crossed the language divide and gave pride of place to our aboriginal heritage. It became the most highly viewed documentary series in Canadian history.”
Starowicz was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2004. His other honours include the Order of Ontario, the Governor General’s Performing Arts award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Canadian Journalism Foundation.
“We are grateful for the leadership Mark has provided over almost 50 years and I know I speak for all of us in saying how proud we are to have been his colleague,” Conway said. “We look forward to working with him down the road.”
