By Frank Moher Calgary Herald columnist Don Martin offered an unfortunate comment during last night’s broadcast of “At Issue,” The National‘s equally unfortunate political affairs panel. Discussing the Conservatives’ plunging poll numbers, Martin derided the “line of pale male faces, with one exception” on their parliamentary front bench. He was sharing the screen at the […]
CBC
Big media stands down
By Frank Moher The star journalists of 2007 didn’t work for The New York Times or The Washington Post or The Globe and Mail. They didn’t work for 60 Minutes or “W-5” or “The Fifth Estate.” The real star journalists of 2007 were the dogged, artless, perseverant investigators and writers, mostly amateur, who continued to […]
Tasering the news
By Frank Moher I recently advised two former journalism students of mine, one working on an article for Chatelaine, the other on a feature for this magazine, that they couldn’t offer money to an interviewee, even though in both cases the interviewee could really use it. That, I explained, is called “chequebook journalism.” And it’s […]
From Toronto? Here, have a CBC show.
By Frank Moher Jian Ghomeshi admitted at the top of a recent broadcast of the new CBC Radio arts show “Q” that some listeners were finding it a bit “Torontocentric.” Gosh, what a surprise. The CBC appoints yet another young man from Toronto as host of a program produced from Toronto, and it turns out […]
Facts, and other dispensable truths
By Frank Moher So, this one should have been easy. At a star chamber-style military trial, the Pentagon releases the transcript of testimony by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, purported Al-Qaeda mastermind, in which he admits to a laundry list of atrocities and would-be atrocities. Not only was he responsible for the 9/11 attacks, it says, but […]
Goodbye, Brave New Waves
This — this is a lament. This is an ode and a eulogy. Good bye Brave New Waves. You shall be missed. It’s been a while since last we spoke. Sorry about that. Been very busy. Please, don’t take it as a slight — everyone’s busy these days — we had our separate lives and […]
Dumb and dumber
By guest blogger Brian Brennan Update to story below: CBC Radio announced on January 18 that it is cancelling the pop-culture show “Freestyle” effective mid-March and replacing it with an as yet unnamed daily arts magazine program hosted by Jian Ghomeshi. A CBC executive told the Globe and Mail “this does not mean an increased […]
myCBC: Integration or homogenization?
“Our reporters will no longer be radio reporters or TV reporters — that particular T-shirt will be put aside and there will be far more contributions to the web, far more mixing and movement among the various networks and platforms.” Tony Burman, CBC News Editor-in-Chief. Things are a-changing at the CBC (yes, again). They’re killing […]
The Duke of Vancouver
By Frank Moher Daryl Duke, the Vancouver-born TV director and producer who died last Saturday, was the real deal. In an industry full off hypesters, especially in B.C., where there are 20 would-be producers for every dollar of financing available, Duke had sufficient credits that he didn’t need to tell you all about them: you […]
Give me my hour back
The past couple of weeks have been pretty nerve-wracking for me. CBC’s The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos is back for a second season and it makes my tummy hurt — the kind of ache that tells me trouble’s coming. I’m scared that Season 2 of The Hour will suck as much as Season 1 did. […]
