“One of Canada’s best-known journalists announced on Monday [15 août] that his contract had been terminated by his thirty-year-old employer”reports the Toronto Star.
In a brief statement, CTV News’ parent company, Bell Media, announced the “departure” of Lisa LaFlamme after 35 years of service. The company claims to have taken a “financial decision” after “having become aware of a change in viewer habits”. The same day, the company announced the name of its replacement: Omar Sachedina, 39 years old.
In a video posted on Twitter, Lisa LaFlamme said to herself “shocked and saddened”. The one who began her career as a journalist in 1989 and covered a multitude of events, both in Canada and abroad, revealed that the announcement of her departure had been communicated to her in June, but that she was held incommunicado until August 15.
Suspicion of sexism and ageism
Expressions of sympathy for the veteran journalist flooded social networks, as did criticism of Bell Media.
The absence of detailed explanations from the channel, which limits itself to repeating wishes of happiness to Lisa LaFlamme without announcing anything about its vision for the rest of the show, is a “lack of strategic clarity”écrit Radio-Canada. For the site of the radio broadcaster, this silence “only brought more attention to Ms. LaFlamme”.
The site also wonders if the latter would not be “another woman on the list of countless people who have faced sexism and ageism in the television news industry.”
Anger in the middle
Lisa LaFlamme’s colleagues interviewed by the Toronto Star are flabbergasted. One producer expressed his anger, others spoke “a culture of fear” instigated by the brutal staff cuts against which the journalist was campaigning.
His colleague and direct competitor, presenter Ian Hanomansing, said to himself “voiceless” : “I know this industry is no stranger to surprisingly arbitrary decisions but Lisa, you deserved so much better than that.”
Former University of Toronto journalism program director Jeffrey Dvorkin says it paints a bad picture in the short term. But, he adds, “journalism demographics have changed so much in a short time” that “the quest for a new, more diverse and younger audience is constant”.