Part of my deal with the agency that represents me for voice work is that I’ll no longer travel for an in-studio session. If someone wants to hire me, they can do what’s called a Directed Session over Skype while I stay in my home studio. It’s how I remain sane while doing VO on the side while starting my day around 3 am to cohost the CJBK morning show. It’s a hard and fast rule. So, why did I break it last week? …
Many times I’ve wrestled with whether to write about a personal story or situation. If I decide that a revelation can benefit someone else, then it’s worth the price of revealing something about my life. What columnist Leah McLaren wrote for the Globe and Mail last week didn’t meet those parameters but I can’t for the life of me understand why she, and not her editor, was suspended by the paper. …
You may already be aware that the misuse of the apostrophe is my Achilles heel. Finally, I’ve come to a point where I can refrain from commenting on social media when my friends commit crimes against punctuation but it’s still a free-for-all if it’s out in the public domain for all to see. Banks, retailers, major food chains and publishers – you’ve been warned! I can’t help myself. I’m always on the alert for RAM.
…
Analyzing RAM: Rampant Apostrophe Misuse Read More »
My head is full of details about news stories past and present. We all suffer from information overload but I think it’s different when that info is about your passion, say, competitive quilting. When it concerns the heinous and horrible things people do, it’s not as easy to store. …
Less (Information) is More Read More »
Our country turns 150 this year but parts of it are much older than that. In fact, if you talk to Canada’s indigenous people, they’ll remind you that this sesquicentennial marks 150 years of colonialism, not confederation. But I digress. …
Throwback Thursday – I’ve Done 150 Before Read More »
When did we get so sensitive? Did we lose our collective sense of humour while I was napping? I nap almost every day, so that’s entirely possible. What’s with the popular hobby of being offended and outraged where those things don’t exist? …
The Latest in the Outrage Industry Read More »
I’ve always admired Sharon Taylor. She was Canada’s first female radio Program Director. She’s smart, sensible and insightful and that’s never been more evident than in a recent post she wrote in her position as consultant with Byrnes Media. …
Straight Talk for Media Divas Read More »
St. Patrick’s Day churns up memories of five years ago, when a gaggle of opportunistic young people attached like leeches to student-led parties, took over a neighbourhood, rioted, and made the kind of international news for London that no city wants to attract. Cue The Who and Won’t Get Fooled Again! …
Apologies to Kermit: It IS Easy Being Green Read More »
The other night before I went to bed, I quickly flipped through my news apps to see what was in the headlines. Show prep never stops, and what’s news tonight from these legitimate news sources will form the backbone of my show in the morning. …
Keep it Classy, Journalists Read More »
The City of London is considering adopting a different method of voting for the municipal election next year. Instead of first-past-the-post, they’re looking at ranked choice ballots. You rank your first, second and third choices instead of choosing just one and the ones with the fewest votes are eliminated, until a clear winner emerges. …
Voting for Voice-Work Read More »
Reaction to our first CJBK Mean Texts video was terrific, so we are back with a second instalment. …
On Sunday, I received a forwarded email from the head of a racist/white supremacist political party who shall go unnamed. (I don’t want any link to their name on this site.) The President of this awful group was advising members about how to deal with radio talk show hosts. He basically said that talk show hosts are puppets for corporate masters who want to ruin the white race by promoting race-mixing. It was incredibly insulting to broadcasters. It advised the faithful (racists) to see through us and keep calling, using fake names, to get on the air and spew. …
Perhaps you’re familiar with the bad lip-reading video series? Someone takes the Donald Trump speeches and painstakingly (and poorly) reads his lips and adds corresponding voice-overs. Well, Ken and I did the same with this week’s Canadian political viral video. Â …
Bad Leitch-Reading Read More »
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. …
Throwback Thursday – Twenty Years of This-Just-In!Read More »
Throwback Thursday – Twenty Years of This-Just-In! Read More »
A couple of weeks ago, The Toronto Star’s Public Editor nailed it in an editorial on an issue that’s been bugging me but I didn’t quite click the Lego pieces together as well as she did. The gist is this: there’s a misunderstanding about what fake news is. …
The Reality of Fake News Read More »
It’s been some time since I last shared some of my favourite spam. Spammers are getting craftier about trying to slip past the gates of my website comments and onto the live pages. They’re easily identified by their names and fake email addresses, terrible grammar and awkward phrasing. But the fake praise they pile in a heap is worth sharing! …
It seems like everyone we know is retiring! That’s an exaggeration. But we know a lot of people who are finished with their daily-grind working lives. And I’m not too proud to say that I’m envious. …
Retirement Matters Read More »
A massive report on Canada’s media was released a couple of weeks ago. It aimed to study the country’s corporate media landscape – newspapers, radio, television, Internet – and report to the federal government on what can be done to make sure that 1. journalism survives and 2. democracy also survives because without journalists, no one keeps politicians in check. This is why Donald Trump is attempting to repeatedly discredit major media. But I digress. Â …