Ken Whyte

The Canadian Journalism Project has named Ken Whyte, editor and publisher of Maclean's since 2005, Canadian Newsperson of the Year for 2008.

Whyte received 59.9% of the 1479 votes cast, beating out fellow nominees David Beers, Bernard Derome, Chantal Hebert, Stephanie Nolen and Graeme Smith to win the award.

Whyte is the first person to win this particular acclamation.

With the world's newsweeklies among the most endangered of print species, Ken Whyte’s revitalized Maclean’s magazine gives Canadians talking points week after week. Whyte takes more risks and provokes more bile than any ever expected of this grand national institution, but it's clear the editor-publisher's chief leaning is against the dull. Between weathering the economic storm and battling two Human Rights Commission complaints, Whyte found time this year to pen a tome about the early career of another era's controversial newsperson, The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst.

J-Source.ca promises an exclusive interview with Whyte next week.