WINNIPEG – APTN is excited to announce Cheryl McKenzie is the new executive director of News and Current Affairs.
McKenzie is a proud Anishinaabe and Cree woman from Hollow Water and Peguis First Nations. She began her journey with APTN as a reporter in 2001. In 2005, she played a key role in the launch of APTN’s National News: Daytime, the network’s second live daily newscast as host/producer. She moved on to host and produce APTN’s current affairs program, Contact, in 2007. In 2009, she began hosting and producing APTN InFocus and APTN Investigates. McKenzie came back to the news desk in 2012 to host APTN National News, making history conducting the first Indigenous media outlet interview with a sitting prime minister. With hundreds of broadcast hours under her belt, McKenzie became the executive show producer in 2016.
Throughout her career at APTN, McKenzie has received widespread acclaim and recognition for her work. She was nominated for a Gemini Award and a Canadian Association of Broadcasters award in 2004 for her work on a series of stories about the impact of asbestos-contaminated insulation in on-reserve housing.
“Cheryl brings a breadth of leadership and experience to this role, and the network is pleased that she has taken on the challenge of leading APTN’s award-winning News and Current Affairs team,” says Jean La Rose, APTN CEO. “I know she will work hard with her team and the entire network to carry out APTN’s mission of sharing our people’s stories.”
McKenzie starts her new position on July 22, 2019, and succeeds Karyn Pugliese, who will be departing on July 31, 2019, after seven successful years at the helm of APTN National News. Pugliese has made significant contributions toward media rights and investigative journalism throughout her career. Her work has earned her many awards, including the 2019 Hyman Solomon Award and the Gordon Sinclair Award. Pugliese will attend Harvard University in the fall as a recipient of the twenty-fifth Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship.
