Dave Obee, the editor-in-chief of the Times Colonist, will receive the 2017 Bill Good Award at the Jack Webster journalism awards in October, the Jack Webster Foundation announced Monday.
The award recognizes a B.C. journalist, leader or educator who has made a significant impact in journalism and in the community-at-large. It is named after Vancouver broadcaster Bill Good in honour of his retirement in 2014 after a 50-year career.
“The Bill Good award is a huge honour,” Obee said. “Bill Good set the standard for excellence in journalism and in community service. It is humbling to see my name next to his.”
Obee was born in Fernie and has been a journalist since 1972. He started his career as a reporter at the Kamloops Daily Sentinel, and at 22 was named city editor of the Kelowna Daily Courier.
He came to the Times Colonist in 1997 after a decade at the Calgary Herald. Obee was managing editor of the Times Colonist for three years, then editorial page editor for 12.
He became editor-in-chief of the Times Colonist in 2012.
Obee is one of the founders of the annual Times Colonist book sale, a hugely popular community event that has raised more than $4.5 million for local schools and literary organizations.
He is also well-known for his genealogical and historical research and writing. He wrote Making the News, a history of Greater Victoria as reported in local newspapers, in 2008, and three years later wrote The Library Book, a history of libraries throughout British Columbia.
The author of a dozen books on local history, libraries and genealogy, he has given more than 600 presentations at genealogy and history conferences in Canada, the United States and Australia.
Obee is a member of the board of Canada’s History Society, and heads the committee that chooses the winner of the annual Pierre Berton Award for history in popular media. He also serves on advisory committees for Library and Archives Canada and the Ancestry.ca genealogy website.
In 2012, the University of Victoria gave Obee an honorary doctorate in recognition of his work as a journalist and historian.
“To be successful, a journalist needs to be part of the community,” he said. “The more people you know, the more people you talk with, the more connected you are, the better you will be at taking the news to a wider audience.
“Our community involvement is one of the reasons why the Times Colonist remains a vibrant part of life in Greater Victoria,” Obee said. “The future of journalism is secure when we acknowledge and respect the importance of our role in the community.”
Obee will receive the award at the 31st annual Jack Webster Awards in Vancouver on Oct. 12.
Three Times Colonist reporters are finalists in the awards. Katie DeRosa is nominated in the feature/enterprise reporting category for a story about a man living in a shed. The story highlighted the revolving door of the criminal justice system.
Louise Dickson and Lindsay Kines are vying for the legal journalism award for stories on a sheriffs shortage that led judges to dismiss charges against a pair of accused drug dealers.
The winners in these categories will be announced at the awards ceremony.
