CBC News is pleased to announce Erica Johnson will be the new reporter for its investigative news segment Go Public, beginning February 1, 2016.
Go Publicis an award-winning investigative news segment featuring stories that hold those in power accountable. The stories all come from people wanting to “go public.” Based out of Vancouver,Go Publicstories are featured on all local and national CBC platforms. Go Public’sCalgary-based reporterRosa Marchitelli, will continue to investigate stories for this segment.
“Erica is a phenomenal investigative journalist,” says Jennifer McGuire GM and Editor-in-Chief, CBC News, English Services. “These kinds of moves speak to the diversity of talent and programming at CBC News. We’re thrilled for Erica and for CBC Vancouver.”
With this move, Johnson, who is based in Vancouver, will be leaving marketplace, CBC Television’s prime-time investigative consumer show. Johnson joinedmarketplaceas a reporter in 2000, and became a host of the program the following year. She is a four-time Gemini nominee for best host of a news/information series, and won a Leo Award for best host of an information series. Among other television and radio awards, Johnson has won a Freddie, a New York Festival Award, a Golden Sheaf Award, a Gabriel Award, and several RTDNA and Jack Webster Awards.
Johnson says she is ready for a new challenge, after hosting marketplace for 15 years. “Go Public - like marketplace - is all about fighting to right wrongs. So this move is a natural fit.”
“My years with marketplace have been an incredible experience,” says Johnson. “I’ve enjoyed being part of such a driven and dedicated team and I’m thrilled to be given the opportunity to continue doing investigative, advocacy journalism with the team at Go Public.”
After winning a scholarship from the Canadian Association of Journalists, Johnson travelled to Kenya to produce an award-winning documentary for The National, focusing on the lack of education opportunities for Kenyan girls. She also produced an award-winning radio documentary for The Current, examining the disturbing trend of babies being abandoned in remote regions.
Johnson began her journalism career in radio in 1987, working at several private radio stations, including CFRB in Toronto, where she reported, hosted and became the first woman at the station to read morning newscasts. Johnson joined the CBC in 1990 as a radio news reporter in Toronto, becoming a national radio reporter and hosting various CBC radio programs, including Radio Noon and Ontario Morning.
In 1993, Johnson moved from radio to CBC Television, helping to launch The Health Show and filing for The National. She then moved from Toronto to Vancouver to be the health reporter for Vancouver’s supper-hour news program and anchor the weekend news.
Canadians can reach Go Public with their stories by email at gopublic@cbc.ca or by using the story submission form on cbc.ca/news/gopublic. Identity will be kept confidential, unless Go Public does a story and the participant agrees.
Fans can engage with Erica Johnson on twitter @cbcErica and with Go Public on twitter @cbcgopublic.
Canadians can engage with Marketplace on twitter @cbcmarketplace, and on facebook at CBCNews:Marketplace
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About CBC News
For more than 75 years, CBC has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBCRadio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight aboriginal languages.
A space for us all is CBC/Radio-Canada’s new strategy to modernize the public broadcaster and ensure that it continues to fulfill its mandate for Canadians and for future generations. Through to 2020, it will increase its investment in prime time television programming, and continue to create radio programs of the highest quality, while promoting the development of digital and mobile platforms and content.
For further information, please contact:
Nicola Makoway, publicist, CBC News
