Harvey Oberfeld
Encyclopedia
Harvey Oberfeld is a Canadian journalist. Now retired, he maintains a personal blog featuring personal anecdotes and opinion pieces about current events.
, Quebec
, he graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) in Montreal. While attending university he was a reporter for The Georgian campus newspaper. His stories on the possible cancellation of the scheduled Youth Pavilion at Expo 67
for lack of adequate capital/operational funding led to wider media coverage and substantial new corporate contributions that saved the Pavilion; Oberfeld was appointed to the Youth Advisory Committee for Expo 67
.
Print
After graduating, Oberfeld took his first daily newspaper job at the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, covering, among other stories, the early court appearances of David Milgaard
who was wrongfully convicted for the 1969 murder of Saskatoon nursing student Gail Miller.
After moving to the Regina Leader-Post
for two years, Oberfeld joined The Vancouver Sun
in 1971, initially covering the Burnaby and then Vancouver
city halls, and then becoming Suns first regional affairs reporter, inaugurating full-time coverage of the Greater Vancouver Regional District as it assumed a larger role in regional services.
Oberfeld was promoted to the Suns Victoria
Bureau in 1974, covering the BC Legislature under the NDP government of Premier Dave Barrett
and then the Social Credit
government of Premier Bill Bennett
.
In 1981, BCTV moved Oberfeld to Ottawa
where he became the station's first full time bureau chief during Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's final term in office. He also covered Parliament Hill under Prime Ministers John Turner
and Brian Mulroney
. Oberfeld returned to Vancouver
in 1989 where he did political and investigative reporting for BCTV / Global until he was retired in 2006.
Oberfeld currently writes a blog
called Keeping it real ....
Life and career
Born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, he graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) in Montreal. While attending university he was a reporter for The Georgian campus newspaper. His stories on the possible cancellation of the scheduled Youth Pavilion at Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
for lack of adequate capital/operational funding led to wider media coverage and substantial new corporate contributions that saved the Pavilion; Oberfeld was appointed to the Youth Advisory Committee for Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
.
David Milgaard
David Milgaard is a Canadian who was wrongfully convicted for the murder and rape of nursing assistant Gail Miller.- Arrest and trial :...
who was wrongfully convicted for the 1969 murder of Saskatoon nursing student Gail Miller.
After moving to the Regina Leader-Post
Regina Leader-Post
The Regina Leader-Post is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and now a member of the Postmedia Network.The newspaper was first published as The Leader in 1883, by Nicholas Flood Davin...
for two years, Oberfeld joined The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
in 1971, initially covering the Burnaby and then 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,...
city halls, and then becoming Suns first regional affairs reporter, inaugurating full-time coverage of the Greater Vancouver Regional District as it assumed a larger role in regional services.
Oberfeld was promoted to the Suns Victoria
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...
Bureau in 1974, covering the BC Legislature under the NDP government of Premier Dave Barrett
Dave Barrett
David Barrett, OC , commonly known as Dave Barrett, is a retired politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada...
and then the Social Credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...
government of Premier Bill Bennett
Bill Bennett
William Richards Bennett, PC, OBC , commonly known as Bill Bennett, was the 27th Premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia 1975–1986. He is a son of the former Premier, W. A. C. Bennett. He was a 3rd cousin, twice removed, of R.B...
.
Television
In 1979, Oberfeld joined BCTV's Legislative Bureau, making the switch to television during the station's "Golden Era" under News Director Cameron Bell and Assignment Editor Keith Bradbury. Their strategy of hiring accomplished newspaper reporters to bolster the flagship News Hour news program helped propel BCTV to the top of the ratings, a position it still holds under its new owners CanWest Global. Oberfeld was a key reporter in the station's coverage of British Columbia's "Dirty Tricks Scandal", which eventually saw eight B.C. government employees lose their jobs amidst allegations of election-boundary interference, phoney letters-to-the-editor and secret election-fund bank accounts.In 1981, BCTV moved Oberfeld to 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...
where he became the station's first full time bureau chief during Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's final term in office. He also covered Parliament Hill under Prime Ministers John Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
and Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
. Oberfeld returned to 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,...
in 1989 where he did political and investigative reporting for BCTV / Global until he was retired in 2006.
Oberfeld currently writes a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
called Keeping it real ....
Awards
During his career, Oberfeld won several regional and national journalism awards including:- Canadian Association of JournalistsCanadian Association of JournalistsThe Canadian Association of Journalists or L'Association Canadienne des Journalistes in French is one of several Canadian organizations of journalists. It was created to promote excellence in journalism and encourage investigative journalism...
' Award (1990) for Outstanding Investigative Reporting in Canada by a Regional Television station - Webster Award for Best Reporting of the Year (1991-Television)
- Webster Award for Excellence In Legal Journalism (2004)
- Canadian Association of BroadcastersCanadian Association of BroadcastersThe Canadian Association of Broadcasters was the national voice of Canada's private broadcasters, representing the vast majority of Canadian programming services, including private radio and television stations, specialty, pay and pay-per-view services....
Gold Ribbon Award (1991) for a News Series - Radio-Television News Directors Association of Canada Dan MacArthur Awards (1991- Regional and National)
- BC Association of Broadcasters Award (1996) for Best Reporting-Television