Toronto has this annoying habit of thinking it’s the centre of the universe, or at the very least, the only market that matters in Canada.
I experienced it when I lived there and having also lived in other Ontario cities and in other provinces, I knew it wasn’t true. Toronto is a wonderful city. I love it and know it well, but it ain’t all that a bag of chips – not in every possible case!
Last week a radio station exclaimed that its host had made “radio history” by being the first to ever have a live prostate exam on air. Bullshit! I was there when Chris McLeod had his own prostate checked last November (and he may have done it the November before that and the one before that and…) on FM96 here in London. Several American broadcasters have done it before. Perhaps this host was the first in Toronto to do it. And since Toronto believes it is the centre of the universe, it stands to reason that he is called the first EVER. But he was not.
Years ago I was personally struck by this phenomenon. The Toronto Star did a feature on Sharon Taylor who was Progam Director at CFTR calling her, “the only female Program Director in Canadian radio.” I looked at my business card. It said, “Lisa Brandt, Program Director, CKNX-FM 102.” I’m not, nor have I ever, compared myself with the wonderful Ms. Taylor however the claim was, indeed, inaccurate. She was the only female PD in a major market, for sure, but that’s not the claim that was made. Because that was in the days before google searches I can pretty much forgive it – although a quick look through a broadcast directory would have been job one for a journalist wanting to make such a claim…but I digress…
Stuff happens west of the 427 and east of Pickering. There’s creativity and talent and entertainment and progress being made above and beyond the GTA. A little more research and fewer assumptions would be a move toward accuracy. Dial down the ego a bit, Hogtown. It’s kind of annoying.