Arnold Amber, 77

Screengrab from CJFE.org

VETERAN JOURNALIST and free expression advocate Arnold Amber lost his battle against cancer on Monday, September 4. He was 77.

Amber received a master’s degree in political studies from Queen’s University which helped him in covering politics and electoral processes in different countries, including South Africa’s first ever democratic elections in 1994.

He was a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Africa and Europe before joining CBC. He was executive producer of CBC News specials, Inside Media and Newsworld International. He won three national Gemini Awards for his coverage of international news on three different occasions and received a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) in 2014.

He also served as president of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) until 2015. CJFE established what is now an independent International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of media-organizations focused on free expression issues.

As president of CBC Branch of the Canadian Media Guild, Amber led the fight for permanent staff status and pension for most CBC employees.

Tom Henheffer, executive director of CJFE, said, “He was someone who I knew was just dedicated to social justice and to workers’ rights, to journalists’ rights, to free expression. He really, really believed in those things to his core.”(“Free expression advocate Arnold Amber dies at 77”)

“As a friend, he’ll be remembered as someone who always asked about your family and remembered your answer. But it’s his role as a mentor, as a leader and as a thoughtful and smart soul that we will all miss when we’re tackling the next big issue,” former Canadian Media Guild National President Lise Lareau wrote in “The Canadian Media Guild has lost one of its founding fathers”.

Melinda de Jesus, Executive Director of Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility (CMFR) recalls working with him in the IFEX Council.  “His sharp intellect caught the core of issues, involving legal and political questions. It was always good to have him on your side of the debate. For about a decade, we would meet up regularly at IFEX meetings in different cities. It was always fun to pick up the conversation which could be about anything and everything. As a journalist, he had worked in so many places and observed the world with relentless curiosity.”

His colleagues like his family saw the fire of his passion for justice and free expression which energized his advocacy. But they will miss his warmth, and that dry humor, which could be tinged with biting sarcasm.

Amber is survived by his wife, Phyllis, daughters Jeannine and Gillian, and son, David.