Red River College alum Dawna Friesen has been named the best news anchor in Canada, for her efforts in front of (and behind) the camera on nightly news show Global National.

Friesen, who serves as Anchor and Executive Editor of Global National, was named Best News Anchor at last month’s Gemini Awards Industry Gala honouring news & sports, documentary, lifestyle and reality programming.

“I take this one for the team, for Global National,” Friesen said at the event, held Aug. 30, 2011, at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre. “We are not the biggest, but we are the best.”

Friesen, a 1984 graduate of RRC’s Creative Communications program, thanked all the people who work on her show, in particular the reporters “who are out there every day working their butts off.”

During the same ceremony, Global BC’s News Hour was chosen as the nation’s Best Local Newscast, Large Market. Earlier this year, Global Toronto won “best newscast” honours at the Radio-Television News Directors Association of Canada (RTDNA) Awards

“To win Gemini Awards for both Best News Anchor and Best Local Newscast in Canada is proof that Global News has taken its rightful place among the world’s leading news organizations,” said Troy Reeb, Vice-President of Global News.

“This is a tribute to the leadership of Dawna Friesen, the incredibly talented team at Global BC, and the hard work of our teams around the world every day.”

A former Winnipeg resident who grew up on a farm outside the city, Friesen joined the Global team in July 2010, following a distinguished career with CBC and CTV, and most recently as a foreign correspondent for NBC.

While reporting for NBC, she covered some of the decade’s top international stories, including the fall of Iraq and the war on terror, the struggle to bring peace to Afghanistan, the abduction and murder of journalist Daniel Pearl, and the search for suspects in 2004’s Madrid bombings. She earned an Emmy in 2009 for her part in team coverage of Barack Obama’s presidential victory.

Friesen returns to Winnipeg later this year to host RRC’s 2011 Alumni Dinner, taking place Nov. 18, 2011, at The Fairmont Winnipeg.

Click here for more information on the Alumni Dinner, and here for more information on Friesen’s many accomplishments.

Click here for more information on RRC’s Creative Communications program.