As the case against Russel Williams unfolded in a Ontario courthouse last week, there was no shortage of horrifying details.

But thinking back to the blanket of media coverage, there was one single piece that really stood out in my mind, and it avoided the graphic details altogether.

It was a live piece of talk-and-tape with David Perry, a professional interrogator, on The National last Wednesday. The piece explained the interrogation techniques that broke Williams and lead to his confession.

The piece also broke format.

In a world where news stories are often two to three minutes long, this piece weighted in at more than 18 minutes.

Some of the single clips alone were five minutes long – unheard of in news.

On top of that the footage was poor, it was from surveillance cameras, no close ups, often you can’t even see Williams’ face.

But not only that, the clips were almost all silence.

In some cases 20 seconds or more of silence hang between the interrogator’s questions and Williams’ answers.

Put that all together and it’s hardly the sort of stuff you usually see on a newscast, yet the team on The National ran with it.

“We didn’t want to overproduce it,” Lara Chatterjee, the producer that put the piece together said. They let the tape speak for itself, without sensationalizing it.

It was a real gamble.

Not only was the piece live to air, but the clips were long, and Chatterjee insisted on not editing them down.

“I went through the entire two hours and forty minutes… and it was awful.” she said. “I sat at my desk with my arms around me… but we had to figure out how to make sense of it.”

She said the tapes, as raw and bare as they were, provided insight into Williams’ character.  She said “we got a look inside a number of things that we don’t normally have access to, the interrogation process, the mindset of a criminal, we tried to make sense of how this whole thing came about.”

The gamble to run with the tapes paid off, the ratings were the highest The National’s seen in months.

“Everyone that worked on that show that night, really took a risk and it really paid off,” Chatterjee said. “We did something really different and we really committed to it.”

It’s a great piece of journalism.

See for yourself. The video of  the first part of the “Interrogation of Col. Williams”, is here. The second part is here.

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	Behind the Scenes, News & Journalism, The National	Posted at 9:50 pm (26 Oct 2010)

If you’re a fan of Rex Murphy on Cross Country Checkup or The National, you’ll have noticed that he hasn’t been on air for the last couple months.

According to The National’s blog, Murphy is dealing with some “minor medical issues, and he’s decided it’s best to take a break from the studio until the end of the year.”

We wish him the best in his recovery.

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	Cross Country Checkup, The National	Posted at 7:27 am (26 Oct 2010)

Tonight was Ian Hanomansing’s last night co-hosting CBC News: Vancouver.

The veteran CBC journalist is moving to The National, where he’ll join Duncan McCue as a regular West Coast contributor.

Over the years Hanomansing has frequently appeared on the show, most recently during the Olympics. On the internal CBC portal they recapped his career so far:

Ian joined CBC News in 1986. During this time he has had a wide variety of assignments as a reporter, anchor and interviewer. Among the major stories he’s covered: the Exxon Valdez oil spill and San Francisco earthquake (both in 1989), the Los Angeles riot (1992), Vancouver’s Stanley Cup riot (1994), the Hong Kong handover (1997) and numerous Olympic Games. He hosted Pacific Rim Report, which focused on Canada’s connection to Asia; Times 7, a joint venture between CBC News and the New York Times; Canada Now, a national supper-hour newscast; Still Talking Hockey, a sports-themed late night program on CBC British Columbia; and Feeling the Heat, a summer series about the environment on CBC Radio One. Ian won the 2008 Gemini Award for the best news anchor.

What do you think of the move?

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	The National	Posted at 10:59 pm (08 Apr 2010)

A new system that measures what people watch on TV is shaking up the industry, causing some major concerns at some shows and channels, while boosting the fate of others.

Previously television and radio ratings were based on what a representative pool of people said they’d watched or listened to. It was a trust system. No longer. Now the ratings are collected via small pager-like device that detects what is what is on by listening for an inaudible signal embedded in the broadcast. And this new system is causing some pretty dramatic swings in the ratings.

Some shows, like sports, children’s and some prime-time programming have benefited handily. The Globe reported yesterday that the prime time numbers for both CTV and Global are way up for many top shows, House and Grey’s Anatomy up both up by more than 20 per cent. The season premiere of House drew 4.4 million viewers “audience numbers of that size have not been seen in years,” Grant Robertson wrote in Globe.

The system is also creating some losers though. The Weather Network has seen its ratings shrink by 10 per cent, and there’s some obvious concern at the CBC, where audience numbers for The National are down.

Today the some senior managers at the corporation sent out a note to staff in an effort to debunk some of the rumours that have been circulating about the new ratings system. Their “Myth #1″ was that The National “The National has taken a big hit under [the new system].”

There’s obviously some concern. The ratings for The National have dropped by more than 10 per cent. The average for September 2009 was 532,000 viewers. That’s well under last year’s average of 671,000 when Parliament was prorogued and Obama was elected. More worrisome though, is that the ratings have slipped since the summer, which is usually the low point of a ratings year.

“As we’ve been saying from the outset, we’re going to take some time before we draw any firm conclusions about what the numbers are telling us,” the letters says, “although we recognize the unease any downward movement can create.”

The managers said they’re hoping to see the ratings recover in the next few weeks, “As we said, we’re keeping a close eye on the numbers, but it’s still too soon to draw any conclusions.”

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	Behind the Scenes, The National	Posted at 6:48 pm (22 Oct 2009)

Despite multiple denials from the CBC, the lobby organization Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is insisting the CBC has a secret plan to move The National from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. weeknights.

In a press release issued this morning the organization described a “closely guarded secret plan,” to move the show an hour later.

The CBC flatly denies there is any such plan. “The rumours are not true, Mr. Morrison has it completely wrong,” Chris Ball a spokesperson for the CBC said today. “The National will remain at its current timeslot.” He said the CBC has requested that the press release be retracted.

Ian Morrison, spokesperson for ‘Friends’ said the plan to move The National is being discussed at high levels within the corporation by “a very limited number of people around [Richard] Stursberg’s office,” he said.

But one of the people that would presumably be involved in those discussions denied that they ever happened. “There has never even been any discussion of moving The National,” Kirstine Layfield, General Manager of CBC English Television said in a letter she sent to Morrison this morning.  She said the rumours were “unfounded” and “strange.”

“Let me be clear, this is the furthest from our plans and strategy as one can possibly conjure,” Layfield wrote. She added that the idea of filling the time slot with imported entertainment programming is “ludicrous.”

Morrison said he heard about the plan from two anonymous sources, which he said were reliable, “We don’t fly off the handle on rumours, we’ve checked it out,” he said. Nevertheless Morrison conceded that the plan may not happen, “it’s a discussion and a plan,” he said “they want it to happen.”

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	The National	Posted at 2:58 pm (04 Aug 2009)

With the CBC News renewal process well underway, I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the opening animations of The National over the years.

This one’s pretty wild, it’s from 1978 when Knowlton Nash was still anchoring the broadcast, the description says the announcer is Allan McFee, but I can’t vouch for that.

Seven years later and the look had changed dramatically. This is a bumper for CBUT Vancouver and the opening for The National from 1985. Reminds me of Tron.

Here is a 1992 opening in which both The National and the Journal share the headlines

This is from 1996, with a headline style, more full screen viz and longer voice-overs. Both The National and The Magazine share the headlines.

Then this a year later, from 1997, the voice-overs now much shorter with sound-ups, and animations frame the visuals.

By 2002, new animations, but the same headline format with short voice-overs and quick sound-ups.

The description says this is from 2003, this may be from Newsworld, I like the sense of momentum in this version – follow the dot.

Finally the current version, thanks to Ivan for the audio version.

Which is your favourite and why? Do you favour certain elements and not others?

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	The National	Posted at 9:31 am (11 Jun 2009)

Peter Mansbridge was at the White House this morning interviewing President Barack Obama ahead of his official visit on Thursday.

“He’s clearly up to speed on the Canadian file and what is of concern to Canada at the moment,” Mansbridge said.

The interview will be posted at 9 p.m. ET on Newsworld and cbc.ca. You can also watch it at 10 p.m. on The National.

People are clearly looking forward to the interview judging by the response on Twitter and other blogs.

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	The National	Posted at 3:33 pm (17 Feb 2009)

There were some big changes unveiled at the CBC News Renewal announcement yesterday. Overall the strategy will envisions CBC News becoming more immediate, better utilizing digital channels, and improving local news.

The meeting was held to update staff on the ongoing process.

Todd Spencer the Executive Director of News Content, said he sees breaking news being feed directly into Newsworld and cbc.ca. “Online and Newsworld will be the first place we break news,”  Spencer said.

There are also big changes envisioned at The National. Jonathan Whitten the executive producer, said The National will be extended to seven nights a week. Sunday and Saturday Report will be absorbed into the new format. These changes will not take effect for the better part of a year.

The project will also bolster World Report. The show will have more daily editions, and will add another weekend edition.

There were no layoffs or cutbacks announced as part of the project.

Jennifer McGuire, the interim publisher of CBC News, and who spearheaded the meeting yesterday said it was called to share and reveal “what we think is the best strategic direction for CBC News… It’s not about revealing the end stage,” McGuire said, it’s “to share our thinking, to fully engage in this process as it moves forward.”

So what do you think? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

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	CBC Newsworld, Programming, The National	Posted at 6:29 pm (04 Dec 2008)

The CBC’s Peter Mansbridge will become an officer of the Order of Canada, according to a list of 75 appointees released yesterday by Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean.

Mansbridge, the chief correspondent of CBC News, anchors the flagship nightly news program The National and also hosts Newsworld’s Mansbridge One on One.

Born in London in 1948, the newsman — who turns 60 on Sunday — was educated in Ottawa and served in the Royal Canadian Navy in 1966 and 1967.

His career with the CBC began by chance when someone from the public broadcaster overheard him on the public address system at an airport in the town of Churchill, Man., where he was working for the airline Transair, and asked him to come work at the local radio station. He was 19.

More at cbcnews.ca

I wonder if Canada is recognizing journalists and story-tellers as becoming people who actively shape the nation, as opposed to “just” reporting on it? Should our role be simply to reflect the changing nation, or do we have some responsibility to participate in that reshaping? I mean, I’m totally happy for Peter and the CBC, but — and I can’t quite put my finger on why — but this one’s not quite as cut-and-dry for me.

What do you think?

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	Awards, Personalities, The National	Posted at 4:21 pm (02 Jul 2008)

A wee bit of photo fun submitted by Kate Dalgleish, pictured here.

If you’ve got a photo or funny mockup you’d like to submit, email insidecbcblog@gmail.com

There’s no money, but a small amount of glory will accrue.

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	Fun Stuff, Personalities, The National	Posted at 6:29 pm (31 Mar 2008)

A glowing story the other day in the Ottawa Citizen gushed about Global’s evening newscast moving to Ottawa. (Coincidentally, the Citizen is owned by CanWest Global, which also owns the Global Television Network. Imagine the odds.)

The story claimed that Global National had more viewers than either CTV’s or CBC’s national evening newscast:

BBM Nielsen Media Research figures show that Global National attracts a total audience of 952,100 compared with the later CTV News with Lloyd Robertson (917,300) and CBC National with Peter Mansbridge at 626,400.

Er, not quite.

Turns out, Citizen reporter Chris Cobb was a bit, uh, selective in his reporting of the viewership. Cobb reported only numbers from a single airing. The National airs on both the main network and on CBC Newsworld over different times, to let people watch when it’s most convenient to them.

From Monday to Thursday of last week, for example, The National had an average viewership of 1.19 million — well past CTV or Global. The National is, in fact, Canada’s most-watched newscast.

The CBC sent in a letter to the editor correcting the erroneous story. The Citizen has so far refused to publish it. Again, imagine the odds.

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	The Media Landscape, The National	Posted at 4:38 pm (08 Feb 2008)

Alex Shprintsen has been a journalist for more than 15 years, first with the BBC and the Los Angeles Times, then the last 12 years with The National. During that time, he has been covering elections — democratic and and non-democratic — and shooting documentaries around the world.

Last night, he accepted the 2007 Peter Gzowski Literary Award of Merit.

The award, named in honour of the late veteran broadcaster and journalist Peter Gzowski, recognizes Mr. Shprintsen for his documentary series Canada’s Shame, which revealed the wide-ranging problem of low literacy among Canadian adults and profiled people who have been challenged with low literacy, including Jacques Demers, former coach of the Montreal Canadiens.

Alison Gzowski, daughter of Peter Gzowski, presented the award.

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	Awards, The National	Posted at 4:15 pm (04 Oct 2007)

A couple of elections ago, I spent several weeks on the CBC’s election bus, crossing the country and collecting stories from the road about what Canadians think about federal politics. (Average response: “Meh.”)

One of my bus-mates was CBC Television reporter Mark Kelley. He and his team produced some beautifully shot, delicately crafted stories.

In the last couple of months, he’s been making some other great stories in a series for The National, called “Seven” where he spends seven days in someone else’s shoes.

From the CBC’s official text:

Kelley tries on a different lifestyle and a different point of view for a series of reports called “Seven.” He hitches a ride across the country, tackles a troubled class as their teacher, lives with homeless people, spends a week with evangelists and on a forest trail in B.C. He even takes suggestions from viewers on what seven-day challenge to face next.

In case you missed it, all the episodes are now online. Worth watching.

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	Personalities, The National	Posted at 2:13 pm (10 Apr 2007)

Forgive the blatently obvious plug, but I thought this was noteworthy.

I noticed tonight, while in my Regina hotel room (see pics I shot of the local cemetery), that The National was on-location in my hometown of Delta B.C. for the first in its series on global warming climate change.

It’s nice to see a week-long focus on the topic where they visit the actual locations that are having an impact (negatively or positively) on the issue.

Here’s what else is coming up this week on the topic:

• On Tuesday, The National visits the U.K. to report on how the Thames Barrier is letting the water in and what Londoners are doing to keep their city dry. The citizens of Happisburgh are fighting their government’s claims that there is nothing to be done to keep their hometown from sliding into the North Sea. In Northern Kenya, nomadic cattle herders are turning to farming due to the drought killing off their cattle. How are they preserving the rains when they finally come?
• Wednesday, April 4 takes viewers to the cultural centre of the ancient world where the Canadian International Development Agency is undertaking a project to convert dirty factories in an effort to produce cleaner and greener fuel in Cairo. The Egyptians also look to Israel for advice on stopping the sands from spreading.
• Holland is the land famous for building dikes and reclaiming land, but it is subject to devastating and deadly floods. On Thursday, April 5, The National looks to the past to see what Holland may be facing in the future in their efforts to cope with persistent flooding. Peru’s Andes region is one of the most vulnerable and fragile parts of the world for climate change, as a fifth of the glaciers have melted and there’s already a shortage of water. How are the farmers living near the roof of the world coping?

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	The National	Posted at 11:45 pm (02 Apr 2007)

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Peter Mansbridge and his The National crew will be in Vancouver tonight to do their show from storm-battered Stanley Park. But yesterday afternoon, when a CBC sat-truck crew went to scope out the area for the broadcast, yet another storm caused a tree to smash the truck’s satellite and microwave dish, rendering it possibly a write-off the truck operator told CBC Radio’s Vancouver AM show this morning.
     The National’s broadcast will go ahead, though, thanks to a quick rental from a broadcast supplier.

Attention CBC folks: Anything interesting or newsworthy happening in your region? Be sure to let me know so you can share it with your colleagues across the country.

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	The National, Transmission, Vancouver	Posted at 10:00 am (10 Jan 2007)