Peter Desbara ts • • • mail on the move

By Tony Lofaro

No two days are alike for a television But Peter Desbarats is 'known for Parallel magazine. which he journalist. his Global anchorman duties,. which he describes as a 'Canadia'n' Ramparts maga- But Peter Desbarats. Chief of Global shares with Peter Trueman. He enjoys his zine. Television's Bureau thrives on the role of anchorman b,ecause he says it_ He then became host of a CBC program daily spontaneity and excitement of cover- gives him a freedom and opportunity to called Hourglass - a nightly public affairs ing the political scene in Ottawa. comment on the news. show produced in . In 1970, he "Today is about an average busy day," "Personally, I find writing my own copy came to Ottawa as the Ottawa editor for he said on the day of his interview. His and commenting on the news more The Star and ·was a nationally daily routine is fairly unpredictable and interesting than just reading someone syndicated columnist. hectic. like today as he covered the first else's copy," he says. "My job gives me a He joined Global in the fall of 1973. televised hearings of a Senate committee chance to make my own evaluation of the Since the first Global newscast on Jan. 6, into the lessening of penalties for drug news," he adds. "On other networks, the 1974. Desbarats has received a consider- possession. newsreader is still a rather bland figure able amount of TV exposure which he After some film is shot on the hearings.' who is obviously reading material that says is important to build a rapport with it is sent out to be processed. Meanwhile. other people have prepared for him." the audience. Desbarats returns to the Global bureau at Tne reaction to the hour-long newscast Now that Desbarats has become solidly 150 Wellington Street to write the script. has been extremely favorable. He has entrenched as the co-anchorman on the When the processed film comes back, received numerous good comments about nightly news. it has meant moving back Desbarats must then time and read the the program and one viewer complimented to Ottawa which he wasn't fond of. "I script over the edited film. him and the team because hated Ottawa in my first year here. but After that is completed, the film is they made the news seem more lively. now I have come to appreciate the city, shelved until it is used on the evening "You have to compete for the viewer's particularly the Glebe where I live . I've newscasts. But. before the first newscast, attention, so you must have an interesting also -rediscovered skiing and skating since Peter Desbarats has some free time. so . and good newscast," says Desbarats. moving to Ottawa," he adds . he usually tries to relax. Recently, The Citizen TV critic Frank Penn He fancies himself as a gourmet cook "If it's a long day, I usually like to go heralded Global's news as "one of the and he does a lot of cooking at home on over to the Skyline Hotel pool to relax" . brightest and most useful innovations to weekends. But he critizes Ottawa's lack of he says. be brought to the Canadian television good restaurants. "There are a couple of But free time is something he doesn't screen." Penn also added, "Peter Desbar- good restaurants in Ottawa, but they are have a great deal of. His. day , can ats and Trueman form an uncannily too expensive. You can eat just as much sometimes last about J2 hours. like today, complimentary duo and make up one of and less expensively in Montreal" he said. and with that schedule, it doesn't allow the best news teams on the screen." He enjoys reading science-fiction novels much idle time. But what are the pressures of a and is somewhat of a theatre buff, having Peter Desbarats is already an accom- television journalist? Peter Desbarats says acted in several lunch-theatre productions plished author. having written two books, "there is a time pressure in television and in Montreal. He is also the author of a The State of and The Canadian everyday is a task." He maintains the play entitled The Great White Computer Illustrated News (a publication founded by technical side of television is very time about the destruction of the computer by his great-grandfather, George Desbarats, consuming - right from the time the black students at Sir Geor_ge Williams who lived in Ottawa and served as story is written, the film shot and edited University. Queen's Printer). and until it reaches the screen. Peter Desbarats is a stable performer He is currently finishing a book on Rene But he enjoys the pressure of television and has now become a permanent fixture Levesque. which he hopes to complete and sees no difference between working on late-night Canadian television. His style before the next Quebec election. Desbar- to a deadline for television or newspapers. is low-key, direct . and pleasant, but at ats chose to write about Rene Levesque Desbarats knows well the pressures of the times he does manage to crack a chuckle because he describes him as "an honest newspaper world, having worked for sever- or throw a laugh our way. His professional politician, hard-working, enthusiastic and a al Canadian newspapers. journalistic abilities are more than evident interesting character in Quebec." He was born and raised in Montreal and as he comfortably alternates between Besides this, he has also written a he decided to enter journalism because "I ·newscaster. interviewer or commentator on number of children's books, one of which, knew in school I had an ability to write." the news program. He is content working Gabrielle and Selena, has been made into He first joined in at Global, because it gives him an an animated film. He also edited a Montreal and then moved over to the opportunity to grow with the network. collection of Labrador lndian legends. and then the Reuter's . which is spreading westward, with plans entitled What They Used to Tell About. wire news agency in London. He came for more stations in the future in Win- Another current project is a hour-long back to join The Winnipeg Tribune as their nipeg. Edmonton and Vancouver. radio script for the CBC Bush and Salon legislative reporter. He admitted that those As for Peter Desbarats, he would aiso series. It is based on a diary his great- four years at the Tribune were the best like to grow as a writer and possibly do grandmother kept during her years in experience for him. more freelance writing. "Because of the Ottawa telling about "terribly boring" In 1960, he came back to Montreal to ·aspects of my job. I don't have a lot of evenings at Sir John A. Macdonald's work for The Star as political and feature time to write. but I enjoy writing and I home. writer. In 1966 he was the editor of the would like to spend more time at it."