reporting Archives - Womens Post

Earlier this week, CBC announced Peter Mansbridge’s replacement as host of the flagship show The National. In an attempt to offer Canadians “a new kind of evening news”, the national broadcaster decided to hire four people to take turns hosting The National. The new hosts are: senior correspondent Adrienne Arsenault, political reporter Rosemary Barton, CBC Vancouver host Andrew Chang, and CBC News host and reporter Ian Hanomansing.

“Each of these award-winning journalists bring distinct strengths and expertise to the program,” said Jennifer McGuire, General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of CBC News, in a statement. “They will report as an integrated team, across broadcast and digital, to deliver depth and context on the stories that matter to Canadians.”

This is an interesting decision on CBC’s part — to replace one national icon with four others in an effort to make The National more relevant to local communities (although the North and Maritimes are missing). There will be offices based in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto, with the hosts split up between them. While this is a unique approach to national journalism, it does seem a bit of an oxymoron. It also begs the question: do we need four people to replace Mansbridge? Sure, he was a good anchor, but is he ‘we-can’t-replace-him-with-a-single-person’ great? I would argue no.

There is no doubt these four journalists are qualified for the job. I’ve been a fan of both Aresenault and Barton for a long time. Aresenault is an award-winning journalist known for her investigative stories. She has covered everything from natural disasters, conflicts, politics, sports, and human-interest stories, including the terrorist attack in Brussels and Paris. Barton has a long history of political reporting covering federal campaigns. For the last few years she has served as host for the daily CBC show Power and Politics and has done an amazing job keeping political representatives to account.

Chang has served as host for a number of CBC’s shows, including the National, and was a key member of the Olympic broadcast in 2014 and 2016. He has worked for both CBC Montreal (covering the NDP’s rise to power) and CBC Vancouver. Hanomansing is probably the most recognizable as a veteran host and reporter. He has covered everything from earthquakes, riots, the Olympic Games, and McMurray’s wildfires. He is the current host of CBC News Now weeknights.

The CBC’s choices, while qualified, are causing a bit of an uproar. If the CBC was looking for diversity — they succeeded. But, as was mentioned in a number of satire pieces written about the announcement, to hire two women and two minorities to replace one white man may not have been the message they were going for.

I’m honestly not sure what to think about this announcement. I have followed the careers of each of these reporters, and I am confident they will do an amazing job as hosts of The National. I think Canadians are going to have to wait and see how this new setup works before commenting on whether or not the CBC has overreached by adding so many co-anchors. Who knows? It could revolutionize the way people look at national news!

Personally, I’m going to miss Rosemary Barton on Power and Politics and am a bit more concerned about who will replace her on the show than what happens to The National. But, that’s just me.

The new National will broadcast on Nov. 6.

What do you think of the new hosts? Let us know in the comments below!

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) discussed safety at Monday’s board meeting, with a special focus on women.

City Council requested that the TTC “apply a full safety audit using a gender-specific lens…to address safety concerns of women and women with disabilities.” Suggestions included adequate lighting, clear sightline design for stations, more security, and more women employed in the transit process.

The board, however, chose to focus on an app that would allow a TTC rider to take a photo of a person who is harassing or assaulting someone and report it. The hope is that it will draw less attention than pushing the yellow emergency strip and stopping traffic. The app should be ready to launch by the end of the year.

As a woman who takes public transportation at least twice a day — if not more — I understand the type harassment that can take place on an enclosed streetcar or subway car. But, I’m not sure this app is the solution.

As with a lot of Toronto’s safety plans, it puts the onus on bystanders to help out. Bystanders are notorious for…well…being bystanders. There is no guarantee that someone will capture the moment on film, and if that person did take time to take a photo of the harassment, I hope they would also step up and stop it.

The idea is that the app will automatically turn off flash and sound so that those making the report won’t have to worry about drawing attention to themselves. But, with the size of cell phones nowadays, it’s almost impossible to be conspicuous when taking a photograph in a small space. And has anyone thought about the many false accusations that will have to be filtered through to find the legitimate complaints?

I also don’t think that silent reporting is enough — anyone who assaults or harasses another person should be afraid to do it again. They should be worried they won’t get away with it. They should be made to seriously consider their actions. Pushing the yellow emergency strip and forcing them to wait for the authorities is exactly what people should be doing, and encouraging them to do otherwise is just another way to say “don’t worry about it, the authorities will deal with it the situation…maybe.”

If someone is harassing a woman (or a man for that matter), someone should speak up and tell them to get lost. People should rally around victims of assault and let it be known that it’s not okay. Women should also feel comfortable telling the driver of the bus or streetcar about the incident, which means that all drivers, toll operators, and TTC workers should be trained on how to deal with harassment and assault.

It is imperative that future designs of stations, streetcars, and subways take public safety into account — better lighting, a more secure waiting area, and a bigger authority presence after sunset are all integral to the safety of women and women with disabilities. But, let’s not diminish this importance by creating silly apps that allow us to spy and report people to authorities.

Let’s focus on what really matters: making people safe and training staff do handle numerous types of emergency scenarios, including harassment and assault. If you have to make an app, I would rather an app that allows me to reload my PRESTO card on my phone – thank you very much!

reporting

What do you think of CBC’s new National team?

TTC to tackle safety using ‘gender-specific lens’