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Industry critics agree, No formula yet TV is worst-reported for Canadian story all-news channel The journalistic career: a lonely pursuit for truth

by Barbara Moes

When was the last time you read verse Since his deanship in 1981, Desbarats that was truly delightful? Read Peter has applied the greasepaint one more Desbarats' The Night the City Sang. When time to host a controversial TV documen- was the last time you read impassioned tary called Inside TV News produced by prose about the Canadianess of Cana- Mark Blandford (Duplessis, Empire Inc.) dians with a plea in favor of bringing, of CBC's English headquarters. home the constitution? Read Peter -This program became the centre of much Desbarats' Lost Canada Found. controversy because those that make the When was the last time you saw a docu- news product were forced to go into a mentary that looks at your own industry pseudo-analysis to determine how they with a critical eye? Persuade the CBC to were coping with a world (in three-minute let you view Inside TV News hosted by clips) that is exploding with incomprehen- Peter Desbarats and aired in the dog days sible events. Provocative questions were of August 1981. When did you last visit the raised by Desbarats (most of them University of Western campus? unanswered) pertaining to accountability You may just do so in the near future of journalists, the time constraint problem, because the new dean of journalism, Peter which in turn led to a disturbing look at Desbarats, is planning some innovative the near impossibility of getting a coherent programs for Canadian journalists. report on Finance Minister McEachen's Desbarats' dedication of his Canada budget in a palatable form for the hungry Lost Canada Found book to, among news audience. others, Bill Cunningham, former vice- TV critics across the land unanimously president of news and current affairs at complained of the non-existent publicity the Global TV network "whose convic- for the 90-minute documentary which was tions about journalism over the years have buried in the August schedule. Desbarats been unwavering no matter how the cor- Peter Desbarats in his new academic claims that the expensive orphan project porate winds blow" is a significant tribute home, Middlesex College, UWO campus was finally aired by the public affairs to a relationship that marked a turn in the Heard felt the same way. He recently told department headed by Bill Morgan who road for Desbarats whpse career also Global president Paul Morton that while felt uneasy about the project from the included TV news journalism. Following he was still "mad as hell" (they gave him beginning._The Inside program went an anchorman stint with Global TV's Peter the legal 30 days' notice) he now felt that through a series of screenings inside the Trueman he wound up his on-camera it was the best thing that had ever hap- CBC "like I've never seen before" remarks work as Global's bureau chief pened to him because it gave him a Desbarats. While Mark Starowicz was very where for seven years he commented chance to stop and Jook at his accom- protective of the Journal (the Inside crew astutely on the political scene. plishments over a 15-year period and wanted to film the historic opening night The 49-year old Desbarats evaluates it forced him to get out of a rut at 49 but were not given permission to do so) his profession as he speaks freely from instead of at 55. the CBC news department was very keen his "tenured" dean's chair about his His term of unemployment after the (there is a clip of Mike Duffy trying to sort experiences in front of the camera recall- Global release lasted only about three out the infamous budget). CTV refused to ing the still "mystifying" termination of his weeks at which time the Kent Commis- participate at all while Global and CityTV contract with Global after his seven years' sion decided to recruit him for its investi- were very co-operative as were the Ameri- service there. He speculates that it was an gation into the newspaper business. can network media barons who stipulated internal fight over authority and money Desbarats was well qualified because of however that the program not be aired in along with his alignment with Cunning- his own print background (the Montreal the U.S. But Desbarats concedes that the ham. "When he lost I lost with him." Gazette, Reuters News Agency, Winnipeg CBC deserves .credit for airing the pro- gram at all, because certainly nobody else Desbarats claims that he may have been Tribune, ) and also because too expensive (he wouldn't reveal an exact he inherited the feisty spirit of his great- -would have done so. figure but said he was earning somewhere grandfather who was a printer/publisher Desbarats came away from that experi- between $75,000 and $1 00,000 at the at the time of Confederation and launched ence with some curious insights about time). a daily newspaper in New York, the most the psyche of Canadian journalists who When Ray Heard stepped into Cunning- competitive market in the world. Two- he claims tended to be more defensive ham's spot (Desbarats and he had worked thirds of the way through his one-year than the Americans who willingly engaged on the Montreal Star together) Desbarats commitment to the Kent Commission in discussions about accountability, flaws felt that it would be interesting because where he prepared a report titled News- in the medium, and the negative impact of "we didn't see eye to eye on things," but papers and Computers: An Industry in deadline pressures. Desbarats.posits that felt that a certain amount of diversity and Transition, the University of Western the U.S. by and large is a more demo- tension inside a news organization would Ontario asked him to head up its innova- cratic society because people feel they be a good thing. He doesn't think that tive journalism department- with tenure. can change institutions there whereas>

Broadcaster/March, 1983 11 (with their colonial mentality) can't just go into the question period, grab nation of gullibility and scepticism. Despite expect authority to come from above mak- a few inflammatory clips and pretend that some naivete, surveys indicate that televi- ing certain practices a fait accompli. He you're covering what goes on in Ottawa. sion has a high credibility rating among cites a recent unlque experience in And yet that's what most of the media do, . viewers but at the same time it is regarded Lethbridge, Alberta, when he shared the particularly the television media. as a big institution that is very suspect, stage with the publisher of the Lethbridge The politicians have been telling us for admits Desbarats. Herald who was actually in front of an some time now that Parliament is becom- One of journalism's chronic ironies, audience of irate readers explaining what ing less and ·less important and thereal laments Desbarats, is the lack of accessi- he was trying to do with his paper. "To me power in Ottawa is in some of the regula- ble library and resource centres for jour- that looked very unCanadian" says tory bodies which are almost never cov- nalists whose end product is information. Desbarats but he .thinks publishers and ered by the media. You can't recruit some- "If they're making shoes, they have a editors should be encouraged to appear body 26 or 27 years old who has worked library; if they're making news, they don't. on platforms more often. in a local radio newsroom for four or five The old tradition that the journalist works But if we are to cure the ills of the profes- years and plunk him up on the Hill and with a kind of a notebook and pencil is still sion the media dean believes that Cana- expect him to make any kind of sense. with us and the media owners are quite dian journalists will have to be more Ottawa is a place of great expertise and happy to go along with that because it's autonomous, especially in private tele- here is some person who is half their age very inexpensive." earning one-third their salary with far less vision, in order to make demands on the Speaking of his own experience at education and infinitesimal experience system and to enact change. Desbarats Global TV he refers to Bill Cunningham as most of the time. The last election cam- points to the publicly-funded CBC which "an enlightened news director" but "even paign that Icovered in Ottawa was 1980; I has, ironically, more editorial inde- he was astonished when I asked him for a was about 46 and one of the oldest jour- pen·dence because "there is a deliber- . fuII-time researcher in Ottawa, which I got, nalists on the campaign trail." ate fear of political interference which is and which at that time made us unique in consciously resisted." He cites an that sense. CBC didn't have one (only a example. "When I worked on the October clipping clerk) and people don't believe Crisis in Montreal (Desbarats' career that a news industry could possibly func- encompasses a stint with the Montreal teletext .. ~ will go a long tion like that." (A Global spokesman veri- CBC where he, a native of that city, pro- fies that since.Desbarats' departure there duced several political documentaries) we way towards remedying has been no full-time researcher in received an internal directive from the CBC the big flaw in television Ottawa.) that we weren't to comment editorially on But as Desbarats sees it television news what was going on at the time. We just news doesn't really do much more than point threw it into the wastebasket and there an arrow at an event in the hope that were never any repercussions from that." people will read more about it. He pre- While none of his comments were ever dicts that teletext, a selective medium, will changed at Global TV Desbarats was And what kind of therapy is needed? allow the viewer to call up 10 or more aware of some subtle managing that went Desbarats suggests more specialization frames on something like the national bud- get in order to get a more detailed account. on when he would hear that owners or and more attempts tQ update what journal- directors of the station were unhappy with ists know by introducing continuing edu- In England there are at least 600,000 TV something he had said. "It was transmit- cation programs for them. To date one of sets that receive teletext and it's the ·cheapest form of print on the screen. ted very effectively to me there while at the best support systems is the Centre of Desbarats believes this new technology CBC there was a conscious attempt to try Investigative Journalism which the dean will go a long way towards remedying the to insulate you from that." po-ints out was started by the journalists big flaw in television news. "I don't see While Inside TV News looked at news as themselves. a consumer product Desbarats and others how a distribution system as effective as While working on the Royal Commis- that will not be used." wondered why there hadn't been more sion for newspapers Desbarats discov- consumer activism directed at the media. ered that nobody had ever done a com- While he conceded that videotex and It's a very good target. He claims to have prehensive study of labor relations in ·teletext won't completely do away with discovered one reason when he went to Canadian newspapers "when everybody newspapers he cites its increasing popu- Lethbridge - it's very difficult to get pub- knew that strikes were instrumental in larity recalling how a communication licity for this kind of issue. Desbarats thinks closing papers sometimes." He chooses expert from New York utilizes a portable the journalists should .align themse.lves journalism schools as a natural site for terminal which he carries in his attache with the consumer and he believes the research but the reality is that the indus- case, plugs it into his TV set in the hotel, journalists want the_.product to be as good try does not support that kind of activity dials the computer in his office, reviews as possible but adds, "it's the media that which naturally would require financing. all his mail, and leaves messages. "He's is defective, don't blame the journalist. He "The industry has become accustomed not quite using it in a taxi yet" but as the is not being given the necessary tools to to a very high rate of profit. Everybody prices of these things come down (this do an adequate job." keeps saying that the electronic media is one cost just over $1 00) their portability What is wrong with journalism in this an industry that is riot exactly like other is going up. Its drawbacks are that you country? Desbarats draws out some con- industry. And yet they act as if very little still can't get very many words on a page genital flaws and at the same time sug- but profit is involved in it most of the time." and it's still hard to read but that's going gests some sensible solutions. An exami- And what of the consumer? The suc- to change with high definition television nation of how our 'seat of authority' is cess of CBC's Journal indicates that the screens. covered by the media raises all kinds of viewer wants more high quality informa- Utilizing the new technology will of practical and ethical questions. Having tion but the hungry public should have a course produce journalists who are really covered Parliament Hill for seven years as better understanding of the media, information processors, says Desbarats, Global's bureau chief and political stresses Desbarats. "Lectures on media who now presides over the only university commentator, Desbarats knows whereof literacy at both the high school and univer- department that is actually employing and he speaks. "Ottawa is still covered to some sity level will better educate our future training journalists in this specialized area. extent as if it was a kind of city council or a business and professional people about He admits there is no artistry in it but it will provincial government rather than a major . the process." Desbaratsfeelsthatthe pub- be an important aspect of journalism in government of a very important country. lic must understand the artificiality of the this decade. Yes, it's difficult to report adequately on a process in order to at least diminish to Desbarats set up the Westex project at very modern complexgovernment but you some extent the viewer's curious combi- Continued on page 48

12 Broadcaster/March, 1983 continued trom page 12 also begun a campaign thrust to persuade a natural on camera, I'm too understated Journalistic the media industries in this country to most of the time. But what you do is mas- UWO whereby four journalists input agri- support journalism education. "The school ter the techniques of' TV which are those cultural material gathered from various now functions as a recruiting and screen- employed in drama. An interview has form, sources, edit it on one of the standard ing agency for the industry and yet we get a plot and you use stage techniques to newsroom type terminals and then send it nothing in return. I think it's insane that bring out a dramatic moment in an to the Grassroots computer in Winnipeg the Thomson organization provides interview. After a while it can become for- where it is translated for use on a Telidon money for journalism training in England mulaic and an inter.viewer can get lazy." system. A 'letters to the editor' column is and very little in this country. I think that Rewards? TV journalists are paid very now being initiated and this will allow stu- journalism schools also have to get well- in the area of $100,000 a year for . dents to communicate with the con- together and support one another. an anchorman and this just highlights the sumers. Desbarats proudly claims that Journalism schools on campus have fact, says Desbarats, that TV news is a form UWO has a "proprietarial stranglehold to been considered to be almost sort of semi- of entertainment where the journalist is a certain extent on the whole field of new respectable academically (this despite the competing with professional entertainers. information technology so far as other fact that all candidates at UWO must have "This showbitnature is the unhealthy part journalism schools are concerned." graduated with an honors degree). While of TV news but that's the way the market- place has devised it." The newdean'(he remarks on being the the school only takes in 40 applicants only member of the faculty without a there were 130 applications this year. Stu- Alternatives? "If you want to practise degree, even his students have degrees) dents still believe there's a certain amount 'serious' .journalism you have to be con- revealed his three-year plan which of romance attached to the profession tent with a smaller circulation. There's an embraces Desbarats' philosophy of but there is also the feeling that if you're opposition quite often between editorial journalism. While the number one priority any good you can make some kind of an quality and profits. When I worked for the remains teaching he puts research next impact. Journalism is still regarded as a Montreal Star in the 60s they decided to on the list (previously third on the list). very personal business. improve the editorial content. It became Research activity, he asserts, will help to And what about Desbarats' personal so progressive that most of the readers keep the school a leader in its area and experiences? Well there is the interview reacted against it. It spent more money to will hopefully attract more funding to the with Prime Minister Trudeau (and he lose more money and became a better school. A new core course will be imple- agrees that he is the most challenging paper in the process. mented in the 1983-84 academic year person to interview and that the man really "Yes," he confesses, "journalism is a which will allow for more in-depth hasn't met his match yet) when after some very lonely occupation which involves journalism. A two-week seminar institu- debate with his cohort Peter Trueman they many personal hardships." It also can tion on economics and finance for work- decided that Desbarats would ask Tru- .have a devastating effect on personal rela- ing journalists will be set up (a law semi- deau about his marriage. What happened tionships (Desbarats is on his fourth mar- nar was begun in 1. 977) and certain was that Trudeau turned the tables on riage which he says finally seems right- business corporations have already Desbarats and asked him how his mar- Desbarats and his .fourth wife share the expressed an interest. In order to create riage (which at the time was "awful") was responsibility for 11 children which have more funds to equip the school with elec- faring. Trueman rescued Desbarats but come from previous marriages) and tronic type newsrooms Desbarats has as Desbarats says "Trudeau got some- Desbarats in a self-effacing way admits formed an alumni committee which he thing and I got nothing." that creative people have massive egos hopes will help raise money for the school. One of his most difficult moments on and are difficult to live ,with. Continuation of the program in journalism television was a Montreal interview with Throughout the day Desbarats was for native people (this year there are 16 Melina Mercouri. After discussing Greek scrupulous in shifting his observations students) is also planned. Desbarats has politics there were 15 minutes left to talk from the print media to the electronic about anything and she suggested sex. "I media but it became obvious that writing practically died. We talked about Greek is probably his first love. He is now work- women and men and I reme.mber when I ing on another children's book about a came out of the studio I was dripping. She boy and his computer ("I consider myself was the most intense person I had ever basically a writer and I can't get ·too far interviewed, she had a magnetic quality away from that") soon to be published by and when you were with her the world McClelland and Stewart and he claims literally disappeared." that it is this area of his work that has When asked if he found TV on-air work made the most impact on the public. stressful Desbarats replied "the hardest The sunlit, spacious campus of UWO job I ever had was writing three columns a . seems to embrace the relaxed and inquir- week for the Star out of Ottawa. ing figure of Desbarats whose khaki green Intellectually that was by far the most trenchcoat with its stylish epaulettes, sym- demanding. Intellectually television is bols of a past romantic career, lends a easy, particularly news. It relies on ,a gift sense of needed diversity in a landscape to synthesize quickly. There's a lot of where people and ideas can shape a land. adrenalin flowing in the performing and the whole process r·esembles show The task of bringing home the constitution, business. I have never considered myself no matter how flawed or incomplete the effort may be, is one that I instinctively and passionately share. Is it only symbolic, as its critics say? Well I am starved for symbolism. I can remember howl felt when .I first saw the flag in 1966 and when I heard the crowds in Montreal singing the anthem in 1980. I want more of that. I want that piece of parchment. Flag, anthem, and constitution. Canada Lost Canada Found Peter Desbarats

48 Broadcaster/March, 1983