Special 90 minute presentation on OMNI in BC, Alberta and Ontario, Sunday, July 19th at 9PM TORONTO (July 15, 2009) – While OMNI Television has broadcast the Canadian Ethnic Media Association (CEMA) Awards annually, this year marks the first time that its special coverage of CEMA’s Gala Awards Night will be seen by major market audiences in three provinces on the same evening. Canadian Estonian Marcus Kolga is one of the award recipients.
OMNI’s special presentation highlights the 31st annual presentation of the CEMA Awards and runs 90 minutes, airing Sunday, July 19th at 9:00 p.m. on four OMNI stations as follows:
· Vancouver and Victoria - OMNI in BC (CHNM-TV) – 9:00 p.m. PT
· Calgary - OMNI in Calgary (CJCO-TV) – 9:00 p.m. MT
· Edmonton - OMNI in Edmonton (CJEO-TV) – 9:00 p.m. MT
· Ontario - OMNI.2 (CJMT-TV) – 9:00 p.m. ET
“OMNI is proud to host CEMA’s 31st annual celebration of excellence in media that reflects ethnocultural Canada,” says Madeline Ziniak, National Vice President of OMNI Television. “As OMNI itself marks 30 years of multilingual/multicultural expression, we truly recognize the value of honouring colleagues who have devoted their careers to serving the diverse audiences of this country!”
CEMA Awards winners for 2009 are:
¶ Radio (presented by Laura Albanese, MPP, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Culture)
· News or feature – Paolo Canciani, producer/host, CHIN Radio;
· Editorial or opinion piece – Qais Ghanem, founder and co-host CHIN Radio, Ottawa.
¶ Print (presented by John Miller, Associate Chair of Ryerson's School of Journalism
· News or feature - Stephen Hui, associate editor, The Georgia Straight;
· Editorial or opinion piece – Lucille De Saint-Andre, journalist, novelist.
¶ Television (presented by Karen Thorne-Stone, President and CEO of the OMDC)
· News or feature – Marcus Kolga, producer/director;
· Editorial or opinion piece – Lalita Krishna, producer/director, In Sync Video.
¶ Internet (presented by Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Ontario NDP)
· News or feature – Rajeshni Naidu, writer, cp24.com;
· Editorial or opinion piece – Raaj Kapur Brar, editor and founder of southasianlife.com;
¶ The Sierhey Khmara Ziniak Award was presented to Irene Chu, producer/writer – for her tireless efforts in broadcasting, writing, and the cross cultural initiative of bringing Canada’s Chinese community to a wide multicultural audience through an internet magazine.
The Canadian Ethnic Media Association annually presents awards in each of two categories in print, radio, and internet during a gala evening held at the Velma Graham Rogers Theatre in Toronto on the Friday closest to Canadian Multiculturalism. Co-hosts for this year’s event were Angie Seth of OMNI News: South Asian Edition and Frances D’Souza of CityNews.
Entertainment was provided by an array of diverse performers of many different backgrounds and specialties, including the first public performance of “Canada: Great Country, Our Home,” an original and inspiring composition by 2008 Juno-nominee for Best Reggae Recording, Tony Anthony.
About OMNI Television:
OMNI™ is a free, over-the-air multilingual/multicultural television system committed to positive portrayal and broadcast reflection of Canada’s diversity through the airing of inclusive and accessible programming. With five television stations -- in BC; Alberta (Calgary and Edmonton) and Ontario (OMNI.1 and OMNI.2) – OMNI is available to 16.5 million households in major market areas. As well as specializing in Canadian multilingual/multicultural programming, OMNI carries well-known International series and films – including East Asian Super Cinema and South Asian Bollywood Freetime Movies. OMNI Television is a part of Rogers Broadcasting Limited., a division of Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX: RCI and NYSE: RCI) which is a diversified Canadian communications and media company. For more information visit
www.OMNItv.ca .
About CEMA:
The Canadian Ethnic Media Association (formerly known as the Canadian Ethnic Journalists and Writers Club) was founded in 1978 as an inclusive organization for print, radio and television media; an internet category was added in 2004 to better meet the evolving needs and technology of ethnic journalism practitioners. CEMA publishes a website at
www.canadianethnicmedia.com .
