Two award-winning visiting professors with international journalism experience from South Africa and Asia for news outlets such as The New York Times, CBS News, the Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail are joining the UBC School of Journalism.
The two journalists, Sarah Carter, CBS News Johannesburg Bureau Chief, and Miro Cernetig, Vancouver Sun columnist and documentary filmmaker, will be the Canwest Visiting Professors for 2008 and 2009.
The School of Journalism has invited two visiting professors instead of one this year to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
“We are beginning our second decade of growth and achievement,” said UBC School of Journalism Director and Associate Professor Mary Lynn Young. “What better way to mark the occasion than by recognizing journalism excellence and making it available for our students.
Carter received a 2001 Peabody Award for a CBS News 60 Minutes one-hour special, “Death by Denial” on AIDS in Africa and has been responsible for CBS coverage of Africa since 1997.
Sarah Carter
Cernetig’s writing and documentary work have earned him three National Newspaper Award nominations, a Gemini nomination, The Bronze Plaque from the Columbus International Film Festival and a Writers Guild of Canada nomination for best writing in 2007.
As a CBS News producer and reporter, Carter has covered every major news event in Africa as well as reporting on conflicts in Pakistan, Indonesia and the Middle East. She has also interviewed world leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Mobutu Sese Seko and Fidel Castro.
Before joining CBS News, Carter worked as a video journalist for The New York Times, Video News International where her reports played on Nightline, Roving Report and NHK. Carter traveled to South Africa in 1994, and filed freelance reports for Maclean’s Magazine, NPR, MTV and many other media organizations.
She was awarded News Story of the Year award from the National Association of Black Journalists for a story in Darfur 2007 and was a Livingston Award Finalist for a 2003, 60 Minutes investigation into an American Doctor and his links to South Africa’s Apartheid-era Chemical and Biological Warfare program.
Cernetig joined the Vancouver Sun after two decades of covering politics, business and cultural affairs around Canada, Asia and the United States. Before starting his column, Cernetig was the bureau chief for The Globe and Mail in China, Vancouver, Edmonton, the Arctic, and New York. He was also Quebec bureau chief for The Toronto Star and most recently served as The Vancouver Sun’s political correspondent in Victoria.
Miro Cernetig
Cernetig is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker, having directed and written four prime-time documentaries, which have aired on the CBC national network and many national broadcasters around the world.
In 2001, he won the National Newspaper Award for international reporting. Cernetig was nominated for a Jack Webster award, along with Sun reporter Lori Culbert, for a 2006 investigation into the death of a foster child. That series resulted in The Vancouver Sun being given a citation for meritorious public service journalism by the Michener Foundation.
Cernetig will teach in the Integrated Journalism (iJournalism) course in the Fall term to assist with election coverage while Carter joins the School in January 2009 to teach in Media Ethics and International Reporting.
