Charles Lynch (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Charles Burchill Lynch, (3 December 1919 – 21 July 1994) was a Canadian
journalist and author.
, to Canadian parents, he moved with his family to Saint John, New Brunswick
when he was two weeks old. In 1936, he started his career in journalism with the Saint John Citizen and then moved on to the Saint John Telegraph-Journal, followed by the Canadian Press
in Halifax, Nova Scotia
.
Lynch was appointed Vancouver
bureau chief of the British United Press in 1940. The following year, he was transferred to Toronto
to assume the position of divisional manager.
as a World War II
correspondent. He was one of a small handful of Canadian reporters to accompany troops ashore on D-Day
. Others included veteran correspondent Matthew Halton
of the CBC, Ross Munro
and William Stewart of the Canadian Press
, Ralph Allen
of the Globe and Mail and Marcel Ouimet for Radio-Canada, the CBC's French-language service.
A portrayal of Lynch as a war correspondent on Juno beach is featured in a short scene in the 1962 WWII movie The Longest Day
.
Following the War, Lynch covered the first four months of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials for Reuters.
He then moved with his family to Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil
to become Reuters' chief South American correspondent. Following this, he became the news agency
's chief Canadian correspondent and, finally, New York City
Editor before leaving the news service in 1956 to become the CBC
's United Nations
correspondent.
in 1958 to assume the role of Ottawa
Bureau Chief of Southam News. Lynch thrived as a journalist in Ottawa and by 1960 he was Chief of Southam.
During his time with Southam, Lynch made a historic two-month trip to communist China
in April and May, 1965. As a working journalist, Lynch sent home dispatches vividly describing his impressions of the country's politics and people under Chairman Mao Zedong
. Lynch's uncensored dispatches appeared in Southam papers after making the voyage home by airmail
. The trip is notable because it was sanctioned by the Chinese government - almost unheard of for a journalist at the time - and the fact that it chronicles life in China from a Western
perspective less than a year before the start of the Cultural Revolution
. Lynch's dispatches were ultimately edited and compiled into what became the journalist's first book: China, One Fourth of the World, which became a Canadian best-seller. The book is now out of print.
In his role as Southam News Chief, Lynch frequently worked with CBC television as a political expert. To watch a November 22, 1959 clip of Lynch interviewing Minister of External Affairs Howard Green about Canada's election to the UN Security Council, click here: http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/peacekeeping/clips/3730/. From 1970 to 1974 - while still acting as Southam News Chief - Lynch co-hosted the CBC television program Encounter. The show was CBC's venue for questioning Canada's major political figures, including Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
, former Prime Minister Lester Pearson, Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed
, and former NDP leader Tommy Douglas
. Lynch's co-host was CBC parliamentary reporter Ron Collister and third guest host. Lynch and Collister were replaced in 1974 by Doug Collins
and Elizabeth Gray
.
as an acknowledgment of "the vitality, insight and integrity he has shown during his forty years of reporting the news".
In 1981 he was inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame
.
Despite the fact that Lynch had never attended university, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from Mount Allison University
.
In 1998, the National Press Club of Canada established the Charles Lynch Award
in his honour. The award is given out annually in recognition of a Canadian journalist's outstanding coverage of national issues.
Lynch was the father of Andrew Lynch
, a notable publisher and journalist in the city of Victoria, British Columbia
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
journalist and author.
Biography
Born in Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, to Canadian parents, he moved with his family to Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
when he was two weeks old. In 1936, he started his career in journalism with the Saint John Citizen and then moved on to the Saint John Telegraph-Journal, followed by the Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...
in Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
.
Lynch was appointed Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
bureau chief of the British United Press in 1940. The following year, he was transferred to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to assume the position of divisional manager.
Reuters Years
In 1943, Lynch joined Reuters News AgencyReuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
as a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
correspondent. He was one of a small handful of Canadian reporters to accompany troops ashore on D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
. Others included veteran correspondent Matthew Halton
Matthew Halton
Matthew Henry Halton was a Canadian television journalist, most famous as a foreign correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during World War II....
of the CBC, Ross Munro
Ross Munro
Robert Ross Munro, OBE, OC was the Canadian Press's lead war correspondent in Europe in World War II. He covered a Canadian raid in Spitsbergen, the 1942 raid on Dieppe, the Allied landings in Sicily, the Italian campaign, D-Day and the campaign in Northwestern Europe...
and William Stewart of the Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...
, Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen (journalist)
Ralph Allen was a Canadian journalist, editor, and novelist.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he was raised in Oxbow, Saskatchewan. At sixteen he became a sports reporter for The Winnipeg Tribune, before moving to Toronto's renowned The Globe and Mail where he served as a war correspondent during the...
of the Globe and Mail and Marcel Ouimet for Radio-Canada, the CBC's French-language service.
A portrayal of Lynch as a war correspondent on Juno beach is featured in a short scene in the 1962 WWII movie The Longest Day
The Longest Day (film)
The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
.
Following the War, Lynch covered the first four months of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials for Reuters.
He then moved with his family to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
to become Reuters' chief South American correspondent. Following this, he became the news agency
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
's chief Canadian correspondent and, finally, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Editor before leaving the news service in 1956 to become the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
correspondent.
Southam Years
Lynch moved back to CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1958 to assume the role of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
Bureau Chief of Southam News. Lynch thrived as a journalist in Ottawa and by 1960 he was Chief of Southam.
During his time with Southam, Lynch made a historic two-month trip to communist China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in April and May, 1965. As a working journalist, Lynch sent home dispatches vividly describing his impressions of the country's politics and people under Chairman Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
. Lynch's uncensored dispatches appeared in Southam papers after making the voyage home by airmail
Airmail
Airmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...
. The trip is notable because it was sanctioned by the Chinese government - almost unheard of for a journalist at the time - and the fact that it chronicles life in China from a Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
perspective less than a year before the start of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. Lynch's dispatches were ultimately edited and compiled into what became the journalist's first book: China, One Fourth of the World, which became a Canadian best-seller. The book is now out of print.
In his role as Southam News Chief, Lynch frequently worked with CBC television as a political expert. To watch a November 22, 1959 clip of Lynch interviewing Minister of External Affairs Howard Green about Canada's election to the UN Security Council, click here: http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/peacekeeping/clips/3730/. From 1970 to 1974 - while still acting as Southam News Chief - Lynch co-hosted the CBC television program Encounter. The show was CBC's venue for questioning Canada's major political figures, including Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
, former Prime Minister Lester Pearson, Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed
Peter Lougheed
Edgar Peter Lougheed, PC, CC, AOE, QC, is a Canadian lawyer, and a former politician and Canadian Football League player. He served as the tenth Premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985....
, and former NDP leader Tommy Douglas
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas, was a Scottish-born Baptist minister who became a prominent Canadian social democratic politician...
. Lynch's co-host was CBC parliamentary reporter Ron Collister and third guest host. Lynch and Collister were replaced in 1974 by Doug Collins
Doug Collins
Paul Douglas "Doug" Collins is a retired American basketball player, a former four-time NBA All-Star and currently the head coach of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers.-High school and college:...
and Elizabeth Gray
Elizabeth Gray
Elizabeth Gray is a Canadian radio broadcaster, who has been a host and documentary producer for CBC Radio.Previously a researcher on Cross-Country Checkup and a substitute host on This Country in the Morning and Morningside, Gray took over from Barbara Frum as cohost of As It Happens in 1981.In a...
.
Awards
In 1977, Lynch was made an Officer of the Order of CanadaOrder of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
as an acknowledgment of "the vitality, insight and integrity he has shown during his forty years of reporting the news".
In 1981 he was inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame
Canadian News Hall of Fame
The Canadian News Hall of Fame is a museum that honours individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to journalism in Canada. The Hall of Fame is operated under the auspices of the Toronto Press Club and is housed within the Ontario Club at 30 Wellington St. W. in Toronto...
.
Despite the fact that Lynch had never attended university, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
.
Retirement
In 1984, he retired and became a freelance writer.In 1998, the National Press Club of Canada established the Charles Lynch Award
Charles Lynch Award
The Charles Lynch Award is an annual award presented to a Canadian journalist in recognition of outstanding coverage of national issues as selected by their colleagues in the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery....
in his honour. The award is given out annually in recognition of a Canadian journalist's outstanding coverage of national issues.
Lynch was the father of Andrew Lynch
Andrew Burchill Lynch
Andrew Burchill Lynch was an early partner and, later, publisher of Monday Magazine, a left-wing alternative weekly newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada....
, a notable publisher and journalist in the city of Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
.
Selected bibliography
- China, One Fourth of the World (1965)
- You Can't Print That! (1983, ISBN 0-88830-245-2)
- Our Retiring Prime Minister (1983, ISBN 0-7704-1827-9)
- Race for the Rose: Election 1984 (1984, ISBN 0-458-98460-4)
- A Funny Way to Run a Country: Further Memoirs of a Political Voyeur (1988, ISBN 0-88830-294-0)
- The Lynch Mob: Stringing Up Our Prime Ministers (1988, ISBN 1-55013-108-7)
- Up from the Ashes: The Rideau Club Story (1990, ISBN 0-7766-0310-8)
- Fishing With Simon (1991, ISBN 0-13-318809-4)