By now most people have heard the
news about CTV News National
anchor Lisa LaFlamme being fired
without cause. I'm not going to re-
hash the opposing claims as I
wanted to highlight one aspect of
the story that sometimes gets
overlooked.
news about CTV News National
anchor Lisa LaFlamme being fired
without cause. I'm not going to re-
hash the opposing claims as I
wanted to highlight one aspect of
the story that sometimes gets
overlooked.
Dispute Over Jubilee Coverage.
At this time I would like to introduce the second player in this
story; Michael Melling. Michael is a vice-president of Bell
Media which owns CTV News. He is currently on leave to
'spend more time with his family'.
Apparently, one of the issues that caused bad blood between
LaFlamme and Melling was the vice-president's initial refusal
to send a news crew to London to cover the Platinum Jubilee
celebrations. A staff member has quoted Melling as saying at
the time, "We’re not going. Cancel. It’s not worth it. Let’s
cover it from Toronto" and that it 'wasn't worth the expense'.
Lisa LaFlamme is reported to have replied, "We have to cover
the Queen! She’s Canada’s Queen too."
After more back and forth a reduced team was allowed to go
but they had to give up a shooting location near the event for
one much further away.
Lloyd Robertson, Lisa LaFlamme's predecessor, was also a
strong supporter of covering the monarchy and became an
honorary member of the Monarchist League of Canada in
1995. With both long-time news anchors out of a job it does
raise questions about future coverage of royal news.
story; Michael Melling. Michael is a vice-president of Bell
Media which owns CTV News. He is currently on leave to
'spend more time with his family'.
Apparently, one of the issues that caused bad blood between
LaFlamme and Melling was the vice-president's initial refusal
to send a news crew to London to cover the Platinum Jubilee
celebrations. A staff member has quoted Melling as saying at
the time, "We’re not going. Cancel. It’s not worth it. Let’s
cover it from Toronto" and that it 'wasn't worth the expense'.
Lisa LaFlamme is reported to have replied, "We have to cover
the Queen! She’s Canada’s Queen too."
After more back and forth a reduced team was allowed to go
but they had to give up a shooting location near the event for
one much further away.
Lloyd Robertson, Lisa LaFlamme's predecessor, was also a
strong supporter of covering the monarchy and became an
honorary member of the Monarchist League of Canada in
1995. With both long-time news anchors out of a job it does
raise questions about future coverage of royal news.
Michael Melling; Republican or Ass?
Upon learning about the events described above I began to
wonder whether Michael Melling's actions were driven by
ideological, cost-benefit, or personal considerations. This is
somewhat hard to gauge as Michael has kept a fairly low
public profile and his coverage of news events in his former
career as a journalist don't touch on the monarchy.
Obviously, journalists with an awareness of the monarchy's
importance are ones I would like to see succeed. Bell Media
has not said that they will rehire Lisa LaFlamme, nor have
they said they will fire Michael Melling. Most likely they are
hoping their turn as 'newsmakers' will be brief.
wonder whether Michael Melling's actions were driven by
ideological, cost-benefit, or personal considerations. This is
somewhat hard to gauge as Michael has kept a fairly low
public profile and his coverage of news events in his former
career as a journalist don't touch on the monarchy.
Obviously, journalists with an awareness of the monarchy's
importance are ones I would like to see succeed. Bell Media
has not said that they will rehire Lisa LaFlamme, nor have
they said they will fire Michael Melling. Most likely they are
hoping their turn as 'newsmakers' will be brief.
Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour
A Kisaragi Colour
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