Award-winning journalist Dawna Friesen is a television journalist from Canada, who is currently the executive editor and chief anchor of Global National.
Previously, Dawna was a foreign correspondent for NBC News. A native of Winnipeg, Dawna Friesen worked for CBC and CTV before being hired by NBC in 1999. She was based in the London office but has also traveled the world covering international events. Speaking at a press conference (for taking on the role of Global’s late-night newscast in 2010), Ms. Friesen said it was a great honor for her to inherit the post of news anchor and the title of managing editor of the Global National newscast.
Dawna Friesen: A Short Biography Future TV Journalists Must Check Out!
1. Dawna Friesen Age
Canadian television journalist Dawna Friesen is 56 years old as of 2021.
She celebrates her birthday on October 8, every year as she was born on October 8, 1964, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
2. Dawna Friesen Height
The chief anchor for Global National stands at a height of 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) tall and she has a weight of 55 kgs (121 lbs).
3. Dawna Friesen Education
Canadian television journalist Dawna Friesen initially lived with her family in St. Albert, Alberta, and graduated from her high school: Paul Kane High School in 1981.
Dawna then shifted back to Manitoba to go to Red River College and worked as a waitress when she was growing up and studied communications and journalism at Red River College.
Dawna went on to graduate from RRC’s Creative Communications program in 1984, as well as start her career in journalism working in Saskatoon, Brandon, Thunder Bay, and Winnipeg.
In 1993, she received a Southam Fellowship for Journalists from the University of Toronto and in 2009, she took home the Distinguished Alumni Award from Red River College.
4. Dawna Friesen Family
The future chief anchor for Global National was raised on a farm west of Winnipeg; her parents were nonobservant Mennonites where Dawna’s father put her work on the farm, and the young Dawna learned many skills such as how to drive a tractor when she was six.
Dawna’s mother on the other hand was active in local politics and this may have influenced the young girl to have bigger dreams.
Even before Dawna Friesen re-married on July 28, 2018, to Rick Anderson after she divorced Tom Kennedy, both of her parents developed dementia.
Due to her parents struggling, Dawna was featured in a 16×9 program about dementia and how families cope with it in 2014.
The identity of Dawna’s parents is still unclear.
5. Career
Friesen has been everywhere during her more than 30 years as a journalist.
From small-town Canada to the front lines of history, she worked as a senior foreign correspondent for NBC News, Prior to joining Global National. Although Friesen was based in London, during her 11 years there, she travelled extensively across Europe and the Middle East, covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, spending months in Gaza and Israel during the conflict there, following the disappearance (and murder) of journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, and covering news in Russia, including terrorist attacks in Moscow and Beslan.
Shifting gears, most recently Friesen anchored Global News’ coverage of America Votes from Washington, D.C. when Donald Trump was elected President in 2016.
She also appeared anchoring NBC Nightly News, Today, and MSNBC, and she even received an Emmy award for election night coverage when President Barack Obama won his first term.
Before that, Friesen worked her way up through the ranks as a journalist in Canada, Dawna Friesen worked for CBC and CTV before being hired by NBC in 1999
A native of Winnipeg her jobs included working as a Parliamentary correspondent for CTV News, a national reporter in Toronto and back-up host for Canada AM, a reporter for CBC News in Vancouver and Saskatoon, and at radio and TV stations in Ontario, Brandon, Thunder Bay, Manitoba, and Winnipeg.
In September 2001, Global replaced Canada Tonight with a new newscast, Global National, hosted by Kevin Newman until 2010 and Dawna Friesen since. It was broadcast from the network’s new national news center to the CHAN-TV studio in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Friesen returned from London in 2010 to join Global National as Veteran Kevin Newman caused the surprise by announcing his departure after ten years at the helm of the television news. Dawna Friesen who was based in the London office decided to take the job as Global’s late-night newscast.
Speaking at a press conference, Ms. Friesen said it was a great honor for her to inherit the post of news anchor and the title of managing editor of the Global National newscast.
It’s a homecoming for me, added Dawna Friesen, who always knew she would one day return to Canada. The Award-winning journalist has since taken to the screen to break many news stories on location such as the shooting at the mosque in Quebec City.
She also broke the news of the wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and covered the shooting deaths of RCMP officers in Moncton, New Brunswick, and the terrorist attack in Paris, France.
6. Dawna Friesen Husband
Dawna first wed ex-Tom Kennedy but then divorced him and immediately married her now husband Rick Anderson on July 28, 2018, after she divorced.
When she’s not in the office, the journalist enjoys reading, travelling, staying up to date on world events, and spending time with her son.
7. Awards
In 2015, the Global National team took home Best National Newscast at the 2015 Canadian Screen Awards (CSA).
In 2013, Global National took home the Edward R. Murrow Overall Excellence Award for Network Radio and Television, which made history for being the first Canadian program to earn that recognition in the award’s 42-year history.
In 2011, Dawna was awarded the Gemini Award (now CSA) for Canada’s Best News Anchor.
In 1993, she received a Southam Fellowship for Journalists from the University of Toronto and in 2009, she took home the Distinguished Alumni Award from Red River College.
Dawna received an Emmy award for election night coverage when President Barack Obama won his first term.
