Tony Burman (born 13 June 1948) is a Canadian broadcaster, journalist and university official. Starting in the 1960s, Burman has worked as a journalist, in print, radio, television, and online. For most of this time (35 years), he was at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Later he joined Al Jazeera English. He is also active in supporting public broadcasting and investigative journalism.
From 2002 to 2007, he was the editor in chief of CBC News. He also served as managing director of the Al Jazeera English network, based in Doha, Qatar, from 2008 to 2010. Burman served as Al Jazeera's chief strategic advisor for the Americas, 2010–2011, based in Washington DC.[1] Starting in 2011, Burman served as the Velma Rogers Graham Research Chair at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[2]
In October 2007, Burman received the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's Gordon Sinclair Award for lifetime achievement in broadcast journalism.[3] In October 2009, Arabian Business magazine named him the second most influential non-Arab in the Arab world.[4] Then, in November 2009, the Canadian Expat Association also announced that he had been voted the third most influential Canadian living abroad, behind Michael J. Fox and Wayne Gretzky.[5]
As a student in the 1960s, Burman edited two school newspapers at Concordia University), one of which was the Loyola News (now The Concordian (Montreal)). In that role, most notably, he was called upon by the Canadian University Press to investigate the circumstances surrounding the resignations of the editors of the University of Windsor's student paper, the Lance,[6] who had reprinted a controversial essay comparing the status of students at California State University and the status of African Americans in society. His commission concluded the university administration had interfered with the independence of the newspaper and forced the editors out: "the concept of freedom of the press at Windsor is very much in doubt."[7] His arguments in the official report, filed at the CUP office in Ottawa, later became encapsulated as the exemplar case in defending the underground journalism movement; the Canadian counterpart to a larger debate regarding the treatment of a now-classic civil rights essay, The Student as Nigger, as well as other related forms of "challenging" social commentary.
Burman's first professional role was as an Education Reporter at his father's newspaper, the Montreal Star, in the late 1960s. He then spent several years as a freelancer, including a stint in South America, where he found his first big story: Vilcabamba, often called the valley of longevity and reputed to be one of the sources for modern fountain of youth mythologies.
From 1982 to 1984, Burman contributed a dozen essays on international relations to The Globe and Mail.
Burman joined the CBC in 1972. He worked for CBC Radio in Montreal as a contributing producer to As It Happens and, later, as executive producer of Cross Country Checkup.
After working in Montreal as a current affairs story editor with the nightly news program City At Six he moved to Toronto, where he ultimately landed as senior writer on The National under the guidance of Lloyd Robertson (1975–76), Peter Kent (1976–78), and Knowlton Nash (1978–88).
From 1980 to 1982, Burman was executive producer of The National and created the redesign of the newscast when it moved in 1982 to its new prime-time slot at 10 p.m. After this, he spent three years based in London (1982–85) for CBC Television news. In London, he and correspondent Brian Stewart were the first North American journalists on the ground to cover the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia, where they found Birhan Woldu (the "face of famine" that inspired both Live Aid and Live 8).[8]
Burman produced many documentaries during his five-year tenure as senior producer with The Journal (1985–90). These included, among others:
In 1989, The Journal also won TV Guide's Most Popular Program Award.
From 1990 to 1993, Burman was chief news editor of CBC Television. In 1993, he returned to The National as executive producer, creating the current hour-long format and successfully addressing management concerns regarding the show's flagging ratings and declining quality (via e.g., Gemini Award nom. 1995, 1996, 1997).
He also led several successful co-productions with other media organizations, including The New York Times and Frontline.[11]
Before returning to produce The National in 1993, Burman spent a year as managing director of CBC's all-news network, CBC Newsworld.
Since his return to management in 1998, Burman served as head of CBC Newsworld until his retirement in 2007. Burman had also been in charge of all journalistic programming since February 2000.[12]
On June 19, 2007, he announced his retirement from the CBC after a 35-year career, effective July 13.
Burman's appointment as managing director of Al Jazeera English was announced on 14 May 2008.[13] In this role for two years, he has returned to North America and presently serves as chief strategic advisor for the Americas.[1] This new position is intended to "accelerate expansion in the North American market," following the successful launch of AJE in Canada.[1]
Burman has served on the boards of several charitable organizations. He also travels widely in support of public broadcasting, speaking at universities and conferences around the world (e.g., at [Concordia University],[14] Osgoode Hall Law School,[15] UBC Journalism School,[16] and Jönköping University[17]
In November 2009, he delivered the annual Clissold Lecture at the University of Western Ontario.[18] In 2010, he delivered the Minifie Lecture at the University of Regina[19] and the keynote address at Media Democracy Day 2010.[20] In 2011, he was the "headline" speaker at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, journalism ethics conference.[21]
In an article published by the Toronto Star on September 7, 2012, Burman stated that the recent decision by the government of Stephen Harper to sever diplomatic relations with Iran was evidence that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is Canada's "new foreign minister". His day job may be prime minister of Israel, but Canada’s abrupt actions against Iran seem to confirm that the Harper government’s outsourcing of Canada’s Middle East policy to Jerusalem is now complete." He further stated that "There is little else to conclude from Canada’s unwise decision to move unilaterally on Iran at this moment"
Burman wrote that the Canadian government has adopted a "passionate pro-Israeli stance" and "has gained the reputation throughout the Middle East of being a passionate warrior on behalf of Israel’s foreign ministry." Burman cited "references in the Israeli media about Canada’s unwavering support of the Israeli government" to support his claim. He concluded the article by stating that "reflecting on its recent actions, we may have to wait until our government checks with its new foreign minister in Jerusalem before we get some answers."[22]
Burman, T. (2009). World Perspectives: Ignoring the World at our Peril. In J. Owen & H. Purdey, International News Reporting: Frontlines and Deadlines[23] (pp. 127-143). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley.