CBC Newsworld

The logo is not mine. No, this is a story of Newsworld’s profound impact on my life. Ten weeks a year, I worked for CBC’s Newsworld, on-call for sick-leave and filling-in for leave time. Shifts started at midnight and finished by 9 am. I was responsible for OTS and (0ver-the-shoulder graphics) and OC Boxes (information design). In stark contrast to my design career: you could neither prepare for the day’s events nor work after-hours or even take your work home. Every day was invigorating and everyone shared the same goal: air-time. While Holly Hunter’s portrayal of Jane Craig in Broadcast News (1987) resonates to this day—her famous run to get a tape to air—no fiction could prepare for actuality.

There was one snowstorm when the news director. called me down to the floor, gave me a shirt, tie, and blazer, and said “get ready, you’re on the air in 8 minutes.” Thankfully, the real host arrived and was able to read the 5-minute overview at 4 am. No, this is a different story.

In the very early hours of one morning, Ken Einhorn (from CBS) called the staff down to the news floor recounting he had only done this a few times in his life. He delivered a brief explanation for his request: a reminder of what we do and why we do it. That said, nothing could have prepared me for the sobering raw feeds exposing what Romeo Dellaire had been telling the world for some time. The Rwandan genocide footage led to weeks of insomnia and haunts me for a lifetime. From that day forward, I watch the news knowing they only broadcast what people can stomach: the truth is much worse than the reel.

Timeframe: 1992–1995