First Asian-Canadian to win top Jack Webster award

By Mata Press Service

Fabian Dawson, the editorial advisor of The Post Group, has been named the recipient of the 2019 lifetime achievement award at this year's Jack Webster Awards.

The award recognizes the careers of senior reporters and editors in Canada who have received distinction in their communities for work of long-lasting significance, clarity, fairness, and innovation.

Dawson becomes the first Canadian of Asian origin to win the award, which is among the highest journalism accolades in Canada, and one that is chosen by an independent juried process.

The Vancouver-based Post Group publishes the South Asian Post, the Asian Pacific Post and the Filipino Post.

Dawson guided the papers to win two Jack Webster Awards.

“Fabian has been instrumental in every editorial aspect of our business,” said Harbinder Singh, the founding publisher of The Post Group.

“He has dedicated much of his career to improving the editorial quality of ethnic newspapers in Vancouver

“Other than the editorial projects we have worked together, Fabian has also been instrumental in helping the Sikh community engage with the Canadian military,” said Singh, who co-authored the book Justice for Jassi with Dawson, which investigated the so-called honour calling 24-year-old Maple Ridge woman, Jaswinder ("Jassi") Kaur Sidhu.

Currently visiting Malaysia, Dawson was with a group of veteran journalists in Kuala Lumpur, as news of the award broke in Vancouver this week.

“I am humbled and honoured to be awarded the 2019 Jack Webster Foundation's Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award, he wrote on Facebook.

“It’s indeed a privilege to be the first Asian-Canadian to win this award. I guess it’s fitting that I am in Malaysia, as this news breaks, the birthplace of my journalism career.”

“In the Malay Mail and the New Straits Times, where I spent much of my career, I was always taught to tell the story from the perspective of the people impacted rather than the prism of politicians, police and special interest groups.

“This has always been fundamental for me,” Dawson told the Malay Mail, crediting his mentor, veteran journalist, Frankie D’Cruz, for much of his success.

“I have worked with him as boss and partner since he was a stringer from Klang for the Malay Mail and New Straits Times and he has always been a wrecking ball who fights with frightening intensity and demonstrates extraordinary fortitude,” said D’Cruz.

“Fabian's inspirational story of resilience and passion is textbook encouragement for young journalists.”

Before migrating to Canada in 1988, Dawson worked at the New Straits Times, Malay Mail and Malaysian Business.

Journalist Fabian Dawson's career has spanned more than four decades in British Columbia and Asia and has had a major impact both in Canada and abroad said a press release by the Jack Webster Foundation.

Born and raised in Malaysia, Dawson, was deputy editor-in-chief of The Province newspaper in Vancouver and was also editor of Vancouverdesi.com, then Canada's largest South Asian news portal. Dawson currently operates SeaWestNews.com and is the editorial consultant for Market One Media Group and several publications in Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Philippines and England.

Dawson’s work, particularly in India, has led to the creation of four documentary films and a made-for-TV movie. In 2004, The Canadian National Newspaper Awards Board of Governors named Fabian as the recipient of 2004 Unsung Hero of Canadian Journalism. In 2006, an investigative team led by Fabian won the Daniel Pearl Award for an investigative series, Abandoned Brides: Canada's Shame, India's Sorrow, in New York. The series also bagged the Rolls-Royce journalism award in England, an award from the Society of News Design and a Webster for best news reporting.

As a journalist, Dawson’s work has taken him all over Asia, Europe, North and Central America. He is a regular on TV and radio talk shows and is a guest lecturer at various schools of journalism. His work, particularly in India, has led to the creation of four documentary films and a made-for-TV movie.

In 2004, The National Newspaper Awards Board of Governors named Dawson as the recipient of 2004 Unsung Hero of Canadian journalism. The NNA awards are the highest honours in Canadian newspaper journalism.

He is also a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, cited as among the top 100 influential South Asians in Vancouver by the Vancouver Sun and was honoured by the Vancouver-based Darpan Magazine and the Chetna Association of Canada for his work within the South Asian media.

In addition, he has been recognized for his contributions by the Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers Society, the Vancouver Fashion Week and the Sikh religious authority in Punjab, India.

Dawson is a much sought-after media commentator on Asian affairs and has been called to speak to Members of Parliament in Canada’s House of Commons on matters pertaining to national security and at international seminars sponsored by organizations like the United Nations. He also speaks regularly at seminars for Canadian police officers, crown prosecutors, and social workers.

Dawson is currently working on a Netflix series based on his investigative journalism.