TORONTO -- Bell Media has won 49 awards at the 2020 Radio Television Digital News Association National and Regional Awards, including an innovation accolade for CTV's "Truth Tracker" series during the 2019 federal election and a "Lifetime Achievement" recognition for CTV National News Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme.

The awards were presented virtually on Tuesday due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a pre-recorded message to the RTDNA, LaFlamme thanked the group for the “outstanding service and continued excellence” recognition, which she called an “overwhelming honour.”

“It’s particularly powerful to receive a lifetime achievement award during this time of pandemic,” she said.

“It’s really proven more than ever, the critically important role of good journalism—national and especially local—so people know the truth about what’s happening from both a health and economic perspective.” 

CTV News was also awarded an “Excellence in Innovation” award for its "Truth Tracker" series, which provided real-time fact checking in collaboration between broadcast, radio and digital teams during the 2019 federal election, including identifying falsehoods from leaders and debunking false claims spreading on social media. 

CTV News also won the Sam Ross Award for “Opinion and Commentary” for a segment on terror attacks in New Zealand, and the Ron Laidlaw Award for “Continuing Coverage” for its coverage of the opioid crisis. CTV's investigative series W5 received an honourable mention for its "On the Brink" feature about caribou, while the Bell Media-owned Toronto news channel CP24 won a "technical innovation" award for a morning show interview conducted while driving go-karts.

Longtime CTV News Toronto Anchor Ken Shaw, who recently retired, and CTV Lethbridge News Director Terry Vogt were also recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their work.

“My biggest congratulations to all of our winners and nominees for their valued efforts to deliver trusted journalism each and every day,” said CTV News President Wendy Freeman in a statement.

“We are so proud of all of this year’s winners, including the Lifetime Achievement Awards bestowed upon Lisa LaFlamme, Ken Shaw, and Terry Vogt. They have all served as role models and leaders, displaying journalistic integrity and excellence in their work throughout their storied careers.”