Throwback Thursday – Twenty Years of This-Just-In!

My former work husband, Paul Cook, marks twenty years on the 680 News morning show this week. That’s quite a feat! Some people don’t survive in broadcasting for twenty years, let alone on one of the top-rated morning shows in the country. 

I was working at MIX 999/CFRB when 680 News launched out of the ashes of CFTR. Marlane Oliver had left CFRB to helm the new morning show. I listened to the budding all-news station regularly as my own interest in talk radio grew. When I ran into Marlane at an event I asked how it was going. “We’re still figuring out what works at what doesn’t.” What wasn’t working at the time was twenty-minute programming blocks. It was a strange experiment that involved too many people and too much “filler” news. Once they realized the importance of traffic and developed a more consistent sound, 680 News took off like a rocket. The little station that could, grew into a monster that no one could beat.

I was hesitant to join Paul on the 680 News morning show because the news game can be a pressure cooker. But as much fun as it was to be the morning newscaster on CHFI and a writer for 680 mornings, it wasn’t a killer challenge anymore, so I took the job. First,  Paul and I got together and made a pinky-swear to have each other’s backs and operate as a team. I’m proud to say we lived up to that promise and that’s one of the reasons why we clicked. The other; the darkest senses of humour you can possibly imagine! We worked hard and sometimes we laughed even harder. We called it coping. Immersing yourself in the bad news of the day can get depressing. We had to keep each other’s energy and spirits up. The ad above was used all over the place; in Chatelaine and MacLean’s magazines and in this huge version, on Go Trains. One day we got a call that our photo was in a picture frame at a furniture store. It’s no wonder Paul referred to it as our “engagement shot”.

Paul has spent his entire career at Rogers radio. I moved around all over the place. And there we were, the country mouse (me) and the city mouse, working together and it worked well. Paul (or Paulie as I like to call him) taught me about maintaining high standards, working on a tight deadline and never falling so in love with your own work that you can’t toss it away if something better comes along. It’s not about egos. It wasn’t ever about us. It was always about the show. I have mad respect for the way he would drag his exhausted butt out to every one of his kids’ games, events and school functions and then come in the next morning without fail. We have a shared love for coffee – good coffee – and no tolerance if it’s weak or bitter. Paulie coined the phrase, “news means never having to say you’re sorry”. The motto served me well after the occasional, inevitable on-air slip-up at the hands of a writer, or from my own mistake. Suck it up. Don’t make excuses. Move on.

Paulie has a third work wife now, Catherine Jette. I’m sure they’ve figured out their own shorthand way of communicating and the things that make them both giggle. My six-and-a-half-year stint as his co-anchor was the peak of my career and gave me some of the best moments of my life. I cut it short because I wanted to move to London but it wasn’t anywhere close to easy. I miss him and the work-wife-work-husband relationship we had. Happy twentieth, Paulie. Rogers is lucky to have you.