CTV - local, BC and national TV

I wasn’t a fan.

I hated the preview spots they’d do each night in the lead up shows. That might now have been her fault, but they sucked.

Lisa LaFlamme was hard to watch the past couple years. You could tell she was biased by the comments she made after each news story played. Her job is to deliver the news, not give us her personal opinion.

 

Completely agreed. Though I normally agreed with her comments ideologically, the nightly news isn't the forum form them. Just the facts, please.

Omar has been strong at sitting in over the past few years. He's a good replacement.

 

I doubt this is at all about age or gender. Sandie Rinaldo has held the weekend seat for much longer.

Lloyd Robertson was 77 when he retired as anchor, so I don't know if age is playing into it.

Lloyd Robertson was 77 when he retired as anchor, so I don't know if age is playing into it.

Lloyd Robertson is also a man.

…

Edited by dasmo, 16 August 2022 - 01:44 AM.

One high-level CTV National News source provided Canadaland with a thorough account of today’s events, aspects of which were corroborated by other sources.

CTV National News staff found out about LaFlamme’s exit at the same time as the public, stunning CTV team members who were spoken with for this story.

LaFlamme clashed with Melling on two key issues: one, as previously reported by The Toronto Star, was a dispute about the size of the budget CTV News had dedicated to coverage of the Ukraine war – LaFlamme wanted more resources than Melling wished to provide. 

In another instance, LaFlamme stood up for her executive producer Rosa Hwang when Melling tried to shuffle her off of the CTV National News broadcast and into a role at their local Toronto news channel, CP24. 

But the issues that CTV journalists have with Melling run deeper. “He’s a company man,” says the high-level CTV source.  “He does not stand up for the journalists…He doesn’t like it when women push back and he brags about how he’s destroyed careers of anyone who dares push back.”

Melling also allegedly interfered with CTV’s news coverage, breaking a promise Bell Media made after a prior incursion from an executive into the newsroom. 

In April of 2015, Bell Media’s then-president and CEO George Cope ousted Bell Media president Kevin Crull for interfering in CTV News coverage, and vowed that “the independence of Bell Media’s news operations is of paramount importance to our company and to all Canadians. There can be no doubt that Bell will always uphold the journalistic standards that have made CTV the most trusted brand in Canadian news.” 

Our high-level source at CTV National News alleges that Melling broke this vow today, when he seized control of the newsroom to shape its coverage of LaFlamme’s ousting. 

“Melling determined the copy that went into the show about LaFlamme’s departure,” they tell Canadaland. 

Also, “he wanted a talkback with Omar (Sachedina),” LaFlamme’s replacement. 

However, the newsroom resisted this directive, feeling that it would be inappropriate and disloyal to LaFlamme for CTV to include a segment with her replacement while denying her the opportunity to address her viewers.

Melling conceded the point, Canadaland is told. 

_______________________________________________

In a press release, Bell called it a “business decision.”

If there is a business case to be made for firing the anchor of Canada’s top-rated newscast, Melling has allegedly kept it to himself. 

“He’s never articulated any sort of semblance of a vision to any senior leader in the newsroom,” says the source.

The source believes that the Melling has consistently demonstrated a lack of respect for women in senior roles in the newsroom and that he fired LaFlamme in order to seize control of CTV News and to send a message.

“Lisa was the most powerful woman at CTV News and he managed to get rid of her. This is about the corporatization of news. This is about this toxic work environment that Michael Melling in his short tenure has created in the newsroom…

https://www.canadala...says-colleague/

Not quite as shocking as Hudson Mack switching over to CTV.

Then CHEK took Perkins.

Do people under 30 even ‘watch’ the news? Like, do people still tune in to the local newscast? I haven’t had cable in six or seven years.

SATIRE:

 

 

 

 

 

CTV and their owner Bell Media have expressed their deepest regrets over their recent decision to unceremoniously fire CTV National News anchor Lisa Laflamme, when clearly she should’ve been fired eight years ago on the day she turned fifty.

 

“We cannot apologize enough to our viewers for subjecting them to the sight of a woman who is almost sixty years old,” a spokesperson from CTV said while announcing LaFlamme’s forced retirement. “Women over the age of fifty should not be anchoring the news, they should be taking it easy by knitting, gardening, or playing with their great-grandchildren.”

 

 

 

 

https://www.thebeave...-she-turned-50/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 August 2022 - 07:21 AM.

This is all BS that they fired her because she was a 58 year old woman.

Sandie Rinaldo, the weekend host, is a 72 year old woman.

anyway, Omar Sachedina is from BC, so good luck to him, until he gets fired for budget cuts.

I know Omar, he is a quality guy. I am sure that when Bell looked at ratings, economics and future direction of news media they came to the only logical answer.

#ethnicisthenewwoman

^ Lets be honest. If you go to any major market in this country, 80%+ of the population is non-WASP. It makes sense to have leadership roles in media and public facing organizations held by the groups that those organizations are serving.

 

I feel badly for white women who have spent decades working towards equality, only to now be lumped in with white men as the demographic that needs to be moved out to make room for a more representative one.

Maybe he’s just better than her? They don’t have the budget to keep both.

But yes, certainly the population growth isn’t white.

I can't comment on who is better but Omar is excellent at his job and a great choice for the role.

The parent company of CTV News says it will launch a workplace review conducted by an independent party amid criticism of its dismissal of Lisa LaFlamme from her role as chief anchor.

Bell Media said in a statement Friday it "regrets" the way in which LaFlamme's departure was handled, as it "may have left viewers with the wrong impression" that her storied career wasn't valued.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...eview-1.6556090

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 August 2022 - 11:07 AM.

This decision has zero to do with Laflamme being a woman - grey haired or otherwise. BCE is and has always all about the $, period, full stop. Always has been, always will be.

 

Remember too this is the same hack outfit that promotes the "Let's Talk" mental health campaign and just two years ago - during the same week of said campaign of compassion and respect and understanding - nevertheless s*** canned a bunch of Bell staff right across the country, which I'm pretty sure did little for *their* mental health. Optics? As if BCE cares one whit about optics.

 

Above all LL was being paid in excess of $700k fronting a news division which like all news departments virtually everywhere is a shrinking industry in 2022. Virtually no one under 35 watches traditional network news these days which should be no surprise given the pervasiveness of the digital universe and the bazillion platforms where (potential) younger viewers can and do get their information, daily news or otherwise.

 

No doubt there was some 'personality' involved here be it Laflamme herself, or Michael Melling (vice president of news at Bell Media) or - if reports can be believed - Lisa's own PA ,Lisa Hwang, who according to several sources both in and outside of Bell, is apparently quite the piece of work.....

 

Regardless, at the end of the day, as its BCE you can bet the main driver for this decision was $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Edited by AllseeingEye, 21 August 2022 - 10:16 PM.

^ Right and that $$$ is advertising $$$ which is tied to having publicly facing talent who represent the communities they are trying to reach.

The other point that struck me is that LL had a great 35 run - how many people even on this board can say the same? Longest I've ever been with one firm is 7 years, and twice I've had (tech) companies literally implode and go under right beneath me, and another that shut down its Canadian operations within a year of me leaving.

 

Offhand in my circle of family and friends the only person I know who had that kind of service with one org was my mother, who was an OR/Emerg nurse for her entire 39 year career @ RJH. In mass media 35 years with one employer is very, very rare, practically unheard of. Dad was in radio/TV for 25 years but that spanned three different companies. Whatever the reason(s) behind LL's removal she had an extremely stable and solid run, which most Canadians are never afforded, and would probably sell a kid or two for especially in uncertain economic times.

What a soap opera.



CTV vice-president Michael Melling has gone on leave after the ouster of news anchor Lisa LaFlamme.

"I want to let you know that Michael Melling has decided to take leave from his current role effective immediately to spend time with his family," an company internal memo obtained by CBC News said.

"His decision reflects our shared desire to support the newsroom and do what's best to help the team move past the current circumstances to focus on delivering the stories that matter to Canadians."

https://www.cbc.ca/n...versy-1.6564092




In what world can Melling fire LaFlamme, a super high profile position, without the support of the board or whoever he answers to?

And is “spend time with his family” the best BS they can conjure?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 August 2022 - 04:02 PM.

What a soap opera.



CTV vice-president Michael Melling has gone on leave after the ouster of news anchor Lisa LaFlamme.

"I want to let you know that Michael Melling has decided to take leave from his current role effective immediately to spend time with his family," an company internal memo obtained by CBC News said.

"His decision reflects our shared desire to support the newsroom and do what's best to help the team move past the current circumstances to focus on delivering the stories that matter to Canadians."

https://www.cbc.ca/n...versy-1.6564092




In what world can Melling fire LaFlame, a super high profile position, without the support of the board or whoever he answers to?

And is “spend time with his family” the best BS they can conjure?

 

 

Short answer is he can't and didn't: that went all the way to the CEO's (Karine Moses') office, guaranteed.

 

Remember in April 2015 Bell Media’s then-president and CEO George Cope ousted Bell Media president Kevin Crull for interfering in CTV News coverage. Looks like something similar was happening here. At the minimum I'd not be surprised one bit if Moses bounces Melling and further its quite possible that this entire steaming pile of poo ultimately lands on her desk too. Good.....

 

The entire affair is a text book example of what NOT to do and of all places it occurs in a digital media/marketing/marcom giant which should know better - and it looks GREAT on them*

 

*YES it's true that I cannot stand BCE and I'm very much enjoying watching them twist in the wind.......

Edited by AllseeingEye, 26 August 2022 - 04:13 PM.