Yesterday was the last day on the job for CBC (and former NBC) correspondent Henry Champ this is different from the situation affecting Don Murray and Patrick Brown. Henry is simply retiring. It is still sad to see him go. For a long time broadcasters took their news rooms very seriously. They saw the news as a public service, something they gave back in exchange for the use of the public airwaves. Journalism during this era was sober, well researched, unbiased and informative. Journalists worked very hard, and at times put themselves at considerable risk, to bring the public the information they needed to make informed decisions.
Recently it appears that this approach is being abandoned. Diligence, insight and public service are increasingly being replaced by a love of scandal, a 'if it bleeds it leads' editorial approach and a desire to generate ratings using the least expensive content available. Mr. Champ is one of the finest examples of the older generation and approach and he will be sorely missed not only for his reporting, but for the example he set.
2 comments:
I note that he's planning to continue his opinion blogging for CBC, for which I offer my thanks. I wonder if he might not be persuaded to blog on journalism best practices, whether in concert with CBC, publicbroadcasting.ca, or some other venue.
I always thought he would eventually become an anchor. Guess not. Too bad.
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