Media is so f*cked in Canada, especially radio and TV.
A case in point would be the gassing of Michael Harris of Michael Harris Live on CFRA in Ottawa. CFRA is the go to heritage station for news and information in Ottawa and Mr. Harris was the only objective person on the station. This is not an opinion; this is fact.
Yesterday, in what was purely a cost cutting move, he and 15 of his cohorts were cut by Bell Media. If we had a truly competitive media market in Ottawa and Canada, you know, like in the USA, Mr. Harris would have been hired by another station by today.
Instead he is on the beach, replaced by the factually challenged hack of hacks Ron Corbett.
I understand it is all about money, in fact I am a fan of that concept, but dumping his salary will, in my view, cost in the long run for the simple reason that his replacement, Mr. Corbett, sucks and makes stuff up on the fly.
I am reminded of the alleged quote regarding radio by the late, great Hunter S. Thompson: "The radio business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
WFDS
Goodbye Mr. Harris! :o)
ReplyDeleteMichael was a bit of a nut bar, I'm glad I will no longer have to listen to his anti-American rants and his occassional shows about alien abduction. I used to really like him, even read some of his books, but after 9/11 he went off the deep end.
DeleteI could not agree more ...he was at one time a logical thinker ...but lately his obvious bias against the u.s.a. ( and his overly sympathetic views on Islam )have made him unbearable
DeleteGood riddance to Mr. Harris!
DeleteIt's not the first time he has been "unloaded" from a media organization...and probably it won't be the last.
I love it.
DeleteAlthough he probably is one of the most intelligent and well-read radio host that I can remember, he is also one of the most totally mis-guided jerks that I can remember.
However, Ron Corbett lacks all the qualities needed to fill that time slot. I hope that he is just a temporary replacement because it has been brutal listening to him over the last month.
WOW! I wonder if you people actually listened to him. In fact I found him to be the least biased host on that station. I liked him, and anything he did say about the states was true.
DeleteI gotta say though you're mostly right about Ron, a dead rat could host a better show! If any other host was to replace him it should have been Rob or Nick. But Rob does well in his extended time slot, and lets be honest CFRA is holding Nick until Lowell retires.
I admit this only infrequently but I worked in the newsroom of CFRA/CFMO back in the early 70s. It was then owned by Allan Waters who had picked it up from the widow of Frank Ryan, the "FR" in CFRA. About the worst we had to contend with back then was Lowell Green. I understand that windbag is still kicking around. So now it's part of Bell Media? That's just sad.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago I ran into an old CFRA alumni, Trevor Kidd. He worked there for about 25-years, even had the best morning ratings in Ottawa. Then management came in one day, said they were changing over to an all-talk format and Trev's services would no longer be required, ratings be damned.
I love the HST quote. Right on the money.
Mound of Sound I gotta tell you that Trevor Kidd was a great mid day guy and I do believe he did mornings after they moved Ken The General Grant to afternoons.
DeleteThat being said the fact is if they phoned the WFDS and offered him Mr. Harris' slot I would take it in a second.
Rock 'n' Roll is a vicious game.
WFDS
Mound of Sound I gotta tell you that Trevor Kidd was a great mid day guy and I do believe he did mornings after they moved Ken The General Grant to afternoons.
ReplyDeleteThat being said the fact is if they phoned the WFDS and offered him Mr. Harris' slot I would take it in a second.
Rock 'n' Roll is a vicious game.
WFDS
Well WFDS,
ReplyDeleteYour choice of words "Media is so f*cked in Canada, especially radio and TV. " tells me a lot about how you react to things.
Michael "we steal their oil" Harris objective? Haha.
ReplyDeletewhy don't they let Lowell Green go he make's more monny i bet
ReplyDeleteHe was outstanding as an investigative journalist early in his career but his how suffered from content problems in the past year. CFRA is a local newstation first and foremost which he never could grasp. He alienated many by his insistence on almost exclusively focusing on world events. His idea to record and present a report on Arab-Israeli issues was boring; Most calls ended up in an attack on ISRael rather than an attempt to create a meaningful dialogue. Also his guests were predictable; I cannot be the only one who was tired of hearing from Paul Hornbecker, Wayne Easter, Elizabeth May and Dr Ruth. He seemed so focused on 3 topics; criticizing, often r=rightly, Stephen Harper, warning against attacking Iran,and defending the Palestinians. He also spent alot of time criticizing Obama, who he championed endlessly in the runup to that election. In short, I found his show to have become both predictable and boring with rare flashes of hisw old genius (this is the same man who dared to do a show on UFOs!) I for one will miss him though I often felt his bias had begun to blind him. I will most certainly miss the way he dealt respectfully with his callers. Perhaps in these days of carnival culture, this was the source for his ultimate downfall. A sad loss, especially if you live in Ottawa like me.
ReplyDelete"he alienated many by his insistence on almost exclusively focusing on world events"
DeleteThat was one of the selling points of his show. There's more to CFRA nation than Ottawa. No one outside the city limits gives a rats ass about the incompetence of city council or the smell coming off of the Carp Dump.
Granted, MH did rely on his regular stable of (sometimes uninteresting) guests too heavily, but his show was far superior on most days than anything else on CFRA.
God help afternoon listeners if MH's replacement turns out to be any of the current crop of fill-ins.
Although he is very smart man that I respect, I would not say he was objective. He had his positions and made them very clear. He claimed to be open to different opinions but never really opened his mind to what others said. When listening to him he left me with the impression that callers where not as educated as he was so their opinion or feelings where not valid.
ReplyDeleteI lost a lot of respect for the man when he interviewed Elizabeth May and trashed callers that suggested that it was time for a legitimate debate about Global Warming. He dismissed the idea as “there is nothing to debate”. Open minded people should encourage debate and education. He lost my respect with that interview.
The station is about making money. Money is made by selling advertising. Advertising cost is determined by how many listeners tune in. We tune in when we, the listener, enjoy the host.
I agree with your comments. One afternoon a caller wanted to talk about the opposing point of view regarding global warming. He completely dismissed his arguments as "right wing" and at the end of the call said "thanks for calling even though there was not much point." Not very polite for such a "nice guy". He repeatedly touted himself as objective but always pushed the left wing point of view (other than a few items such as supporting killing the long gun registry). At least Lowell Green admits his bias. Hiding your bias and denying it is sneaky and it insults all of us honest folks.
DeleteI have listened to CFRA for about 40 years back to General Grant, Ernie Calcutt and for the last few years have enjoyed Michael Harris. He was the only radio personality left at CFRA who made any sense and I enjoyed listening to his presentations on a variety of topics. Now people tuning in to CFRA will have to listen to the insane rants of Lowell Green, the sickening politically correct Steve Maidley or Sleepy Ron Corbett. Listen to Corbett if you need a nap in the afternoon. I guess right-wing dissenters will be purged from all media - the country is going to the shi__er.
ReplyDelete"He was the only radio personality left at CFRA who made any sense":
DeleteWhich is why he had to go, I guess.
"Listen to Corbett if you need a nap in the afternoon":
I didn't want to be the first to say that, but since you ventured into those murky waters, I agree that Corbett is the most boring man in radio. For the most part, his choice of topics are coma-inducing and I'm sure he loses 99.99% of his audience before the weather forecast is over. He's probably a lovely man, though.
right-wing or wrong wing-station harris easier to listen than the others.
ReplyDeleteMichael Harris talked about the issues that mattered - looting of US treasury by the banks in 2008, the 1% that would turn us all into “corporate serfs”, environmental issues such as fisheries and pipelines, Caterpillar’s shutting down of the locomotive plant in London Ontario after receiving millions from the federal and provincial government, Harper’s attack on our democracy and social services, food sovereignty and safety, Monsanto and more. When he took calls he had plenty of callers. I scheduled my days to be able to listen to at least part of his show. I don't know how they can even think of putting Ron Corbett on the radio. I always turned off the radio as soon as I heard his voice. Bellmedia will no doubt find that they made an finacial mistake as well as an ethical mistake. Michael was too good for CFRA anyways.
ReplyDeleteCorbett has no business being on radio. I like to do my sleeping at night, not between 1:00-3:00 p.m.
DeleteIt's a shame but hardly suprising. I didn't always agree with Michael Harris, but he pissed off both sides. That made him objective in my view, he will be missed by many.
ReplyDeletemike and his nutbar pal eliz may good riddance
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that Michael Harris is gone and replaced by that lackluster man with a boring drone of a voice and very little to say. Michael always had very interesting topics which are shaking our world today and leading us God knows where. I miss him.
ReplyDelete"I can't believe that Michael Harris is gone and replaced by that lackluster man with a boring drone of a voice and very little to say"
ReplyDeleteThat's just CFRA's way of looking out for you, the listener. They know that Ron Corbett's coma-inducing drivel (you know, the stuff that makes you want to stick pins in your eyes) is what's really best for you. Know need to worry yourself over real issues when you can phone in and play a little local trivia with Ron.
It's no surprise that Canada's Fox-Republican Asskissers finally got rid of one of Canada's most intelligent and insightful media voices.Nevertheless;what a shame that there is now no counterbalancing force to that old and waning xenophobic raging racist Ranthole in the morning!!
ReplyDeleteMichael Harris hosting on CFRA always reminded me of the proverbial saying "... nor cast your pearls before swine ...." I often felt he would have been more at home at CBC, except that he's too much of an individual to goosestep to Mother Corps. Not to slight the other hosts at all, but Michael was meant for greater things. Hope he won't be unemployed for long -- he's a good researcher, interviewer, conversationalist. I must say, though, having been a fan of CFRA ever since I moved to Ottawa in '86, I really miss his more left-leaning point-of-view as a counterpoint to the usual conservative focus of the station.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't stand Michael Harris, he was boring, pandering and bigoted! I often wrote to CFRA about him and am so glad to hear he's gone, gone, gone! If you folks want a lefty host, listen to CBC!
ReplyDeleteDude, you absolutely deserve Ron Corbett. Or how about that chick that used to be on weekends talking about Grandmother? You deserve Grandmother.
DeleteSo many negative comments here about Michael Harris. I think none of you understand kindness, and justice. Michael Harris brought both to his critical, and sound analyses of complex issues of the day.
ReplyDeleteI find it disturbing that so many radio listeners (of, well, the CFRA population) lack the judgement to know this. When one is blind, one is indeed blind. What more can be said of stupidity.
Greg H Kanata
You've got it Greg, kindness, justice, intelligence - a truly special human being. He brightened my day and gave me hope. I miss him so much even after over 3 months.
DeleteSo wonderful Michael Harris was fired. Islam is of the devil. The day before 9/11 he blamed all of the problems of the middle east on Jews.
ReplyDeleteHarris is a vicious hater of Israel and was vicious against Brian Mulroney when he was in power. His writings ( or propaganda ) made people hate Mulroney.
What did that give us? Jean Chretien.
I hope I never hear this guy on the radio again.
Found this site by accident to find out where Michael Harris went. I didn't listen to his show all the time but the times I did, I absolutely hated it. He was definitely a liberal or ndp or something on a conservative station but I found his attitude very pompous. He really enjoyed guests who equalled his puffery level. While Helena Guergis was still around I heard far too many 'gossipy tete-a-tete's' he seemed to have with Wayne Easter. It was kind of creepy...like sitting beside people in a small coffee shop who are gossiping about someone. Anyway, once Helena got the boot then Easter seemed to be ticked about her dismissal... he had nothing good to say about her (seemed like he was far too interested in her) but then whined when she was gone. I found him and M.Harris irritating. In reading the comments here about M. Harris' intelligence - I knew nothing of the man except the impression I got from his radio show and I avoided that spot. His overly left leanings may have been a knee-jerk reaction to the conservatives around him but people like W. Easter were equally bad. The guests were always introduced with their amazing credentials and then gossiped...not much of their reason for being on the show. I used to listen to Eugene Whelan's spot on the radio. He was there to talk about agriculture in Canada and he was very good at keeping his political leaning comments off the air. He talked about agriculture and what Canada had to protect and had pretty witty stories about his time on the Hill. Oh well. Glad to hear Michael Harris is gone.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm picking up what you're laying down, you don't much like Wayne Easter?
DeleteTotally agree with this assessment of M.Harris.
ReplyDeleteHere is a small comfort for those who miss Michael's brilliant and balanced program on a daily basis. He is writing for ipolitics. His column appears once a week on Wednesday morning. Superb writing and analysis which outdoes even his extremely well written books. http://www.ipolitics.ca/author/mharris/
ReplyDeleteHe has just signed a contract with Penguin Books (a real publisher as opposed to Lowell Green's vanity press) to write a book on the Harper regime.
Harris had a terrible voice for radio,constant throat clearing,hey "Mikey",use the mute button.His small handful of regular caller's,was most irritating.Ann from Cornwall,his Marxist troika from Mtl.Josh,Steve and Dale,and don't forget Pasha,and the biggest jerk of them all failed NDP windbag,Rick Dagenais.Also Harris hummed and hawed,and agh,um and agh,and so on.I couldn't stand the bully,could dish it out but couldn't take it.To quote one blogger about Harris"He has a face you want to punch".To quote another one of his ass kisser's,Richard from Smith's Fall's,"Have a Good One"
ReplyDeleteI emailed Michael Harris about his interview with Bob Chierrelli (Liberal MPP) and his failure to ask the hard questions and letting Bob off the hook with soft ones. He wrote back and called me and idiot and other nasty things. Not long after someone else on the radio mentioned the soft questions. So I wrote back and told him that he was on the mat. He responded by telling me that I was more than an idiot and to go to sleep! I have no respect for the man? at all and am sooo glad that he is gonso!!
ReplyDeleteGood riddance to a highly biased and one of the least objective writers I've ever read. If the Star has shook him off that tells you something.
ReplyDelete