Wendy Freeman, President, CTV News, announced today that Laurie Graham (pictured below) has been appointed Acting Ottawa Bureau Chief for CTV News, effective January 1, 2016. The announcement comes as current Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife assumes a new role at the Globe and Mail. Fife remains at CTV as host of Question Period* and will continue as Ottawa Bureau Chief until the end of the year.
“Laurie has an acute political sensibility and extensive understanding of government,” said Freeman. “We offer our congratulations to Bob on his new role, and look forward to continuing to work with him as host of Question Period”
An award-winning journalist, Graham was previously Ottawa Deputy Bureau Chief for CTV News, where she worked alongside Fife providing in-depth coverage of the machinations of Parliament Hill. Graham’s work has allowed her to cover some of the most compelling events of our time, including the 2001 terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center, the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, and the historic election of Barak Obama in 2008. She also did two rotations in Kandahar covering Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, was part of a team sent to Haiti to cover the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, and delivered live coverage of Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in 2013. Graham joined CTV News in 2013.
Fife returns to his roots in the newspaper industry as Ottawa Bureau Chief for the Globe and Mail. Before joining CTV in 2005, Fife was the Ottawa Bureau Chief for CanWest News Service and the National Post.
“We’re entering a period of extraordinary change in the nation’s capital as a new government takes office, and I’m honoured to be joining such a talented team at this fascinating time,” said Fife. “I have always admired The Globe’s insightful political commentary and trusted reporting, and look forward to contributing to the fine work being done in the Ottawa Bureau.”
*The Sunday program will be renamed CTV’s Question Period with The Globe & Mail’s Robert Fife.
http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/news/ctv-news-appoints-acting-ottawa-bureau-chief/1003907194/
It’s interesting how Bob Fife, arguably CTV’s best journalist, voluntarily left the broadcasting biz, perhaps before he was shown the door ?
We wish Ms. Graham well in her new role. She is a capable journalist. However, with all due respect, Laurie Graham is no Bob Fife.
The Globe and Mail newspaper is still Canada’s king of journalism, for now.
I say smart move for him.
However, for Bob Fife to go back to newspapers, wow, what a loss for CTV! I guess it is like drinking a delicious milkshake with a straw, but not much is left in the bottom of the glass ?
Therefore, it is better “to drink up to the last drop,” as the late Ricardo Montalban once said of Maxwell House coffee ! LOL
Or, in more recent times, David Lee Roth of Van Halen, who once said:
“That’s it. Suck it all up, right down to the last dirty drop.”
Eventually, only the most mediocre (or desperate?) of journalists will work in broadcasting. The politicians of the day will have a field day and will be able to manipulate their agenda on the Laurie Graham type journalist much more easily, now.
They already have !
Eventually, all tv stations will be propaganda mills for the government of the day.
No different that Sri Lankan government television or Pakistani television.
No real journalism, but big on celebrity gossip news stories, such as what clothes is celebrity X wearing, who are they dating, etc.
At scrums, there will be cream puff interviews and questions asked.
Finally, no journalist will have the balls to do stories on its own corporate head office and its executives, for the fear of being fired or some nasty reprisal.
That’s happening now, no need to wait for that !
What a loss for television news in Canada.
Fife is a smart aggressive reporter who will break stories