by Marke Driesschen » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:30 pm
Sparky,
Normally I would not respond to a rant such as yours. However, being a new member of this site, I would like to think that people who post here have some knowledge and insight ( or am I making a rookie mistake?). So I would like to respond to your post and to one point in particular.
First of all, pulling off a one hour live TV news show ever night is not easy from one location. Trying it from two or more locations is even harder, and it's not always perfect. There are glitches, miscues, delays, etc. And it happens to EVERYONE...CTV, Global, CBC, NBC or CNN. So it's not just exclusive to CTV.
Sometimes it goes smooth, sometimes it dosen't. In those times, you learn from your mistakes and move on.
As for my use of the term "GVA", that was something I thought of on my own and not a "CHUM" thing, as you insinuate. I was trying to come up with a different way of saying Greater Vancouver, that's all. My producers at CTV and I have decided not to use it anymore because, after second thought, it does sound a bit strange. But to suggest that it was CHUM policy or procedure is absurd. Which brings me to the point I want to address, since I've heard it from many other people. Now, I should be the LAST person to defend City News. But one thing I thought that wasn't fair was the perception that we were trying to make Vancouver "Toronto." There was NEVER any directive or policy which implied "do things this way because we do it this way in Toronto." The only reason I could see for this was maybe the City TV brand was so identified with Toronto that it wouldn't work anyway. This was something management failed to recognize and never did anything to correct. But it dosen't make it fair, in my opinion. Do people not watch Global Newshour because it's "Winnipeg?" Sure, the style may not be to everyone's liking. but simply dismissing it as trying to turn Vancouver into Toronto was not a vaild argument. And what does that say about us? I was born in Toronto and grew up just outside the Metro Toronto area. I was even and ARGO fan at one time. But even I think Toronto deserves to be bashed now and again. But are we so insecure about ourselves that any program, trend or idea that comes from there has to be quashed immediately just BECAUSE it's Toronto? To me, that kind of thinking makes us "small town." City News failed for a lot of reasons, but being "Toronto-clones" wasn't one of them.
One more thing, Sparky. After spending some time in Saskatoon and Winnipeg, I've lived here in Vancouver for the last 15 years and really have no desire to go back to " the Big Smoke." Sorry to disappoint you.