I really enjoyed this post from an international listserve in India --
Responding to this ad:
Wanted: Journalists from the Developing World to come to the U.S. for fantastic journalism training opportunity. Apply now!
The Humphrey Fellowship Program offers a ten-month stay at a leading journalism college in the U.S. to study journalism and undertake professional affiliations at top U.S. news organizations.
The response:
What will they study? the art of embedded journalism, the skills needed to gloss over issues when reporting on politicians, the ability to turn any serious discussion into a sound bite?
Why not do it the other way, encourage the Humphrey Fellowship to spend its money on sending young US journalists to the Third World, to understand how to accomplish serious reportage under the most trying circumstances, without fear or favour and often without reward? Who knows what they may learn - perhaps English.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
a radio goodbye ..
It was with a heavy heart that I received the news this morning of the death of Robert Chesterman.
Rob was a radio features and drama producer with CBC for many years in Vancouver. I went to Vancouver in the early '80's .. one of the reasons being that I wanted to work with this man. I had heard some of his arts programs on CBC Stereo when I was back in Windsor in 1981. I even sold a piece to his national network program "Audience" ... an interview with renowned flautist Jean Pierre Rampal. Something about the spirit of Audience and the respect with which it treated artists made me want to be there. I don't know why. I knew nothing about Robert Chesterman except that some of the people I worked with at CBC Windsor spoke his name with reverence. And that I liked his show.
It took me a couple of years in Vancouver before I was able to get up the nerve to approach him to ask him if I could work with him. When I did, he was very welcoming and we connected right away. He invited me to contribute to the BC Arts Program "Monitor". One of the things I remember the most was his approach towards artists. The most refreshing thing I have ever heard from a CBC was "I don't want to interfere with your creativity". Rob was the only producer ever to have said that to me within the corporation's walls. He never vetted a single script I wrote for the show .. something unheard of at CBC. He trusted me to write what I thought was best for the show. And he always liked what I came up with.
In 1985 I was offered a job as his production secretary .. not a job I would have done if I was working for anyone else. It was in the last days of his work with the Corp ... he was being edged out the door on early retirement and he did not want to go. He freely shared his feelings with me about broadcasting, about CBC, about his career and his life in radio. And his frustration and yes, anger, at having to leave before he thought his time should be up.
At the time, he was also transitioning into his film career ... I did a lot of support work for him on his second film "Which Way to Carnegie Hall?", about the challenges of young musicians trying to develop a career in music. He had finished his film on Kings College Choir a few years earlier, called "A Boast of Kings". It was a rare opportunity to work with a very talented person who was creatively moving into another form of art as his previous art form was starting to wind down.
It was also a crazy time at the CBC ... CBC went through a huge programming shift in the mid 1980's (some, including me, would say the beginning of the dumbing-down of the Mother Corp) ... I was working for three producers at the time -- Robert Chesterman who represented the old and fine intellectual tradition of the CBC, Tom Deacon, the producer and co-creator of Disc Drive (whicn was received which much scepticism from some quarters, ya, it's a pretty effortless listening experience), and Susan Englebert, the new Area Exec Producer of Performance Programming whose background at that time was primarily in radio variety (Great Canadian Goldrush, Gabereau and other well produced, but shall we say "lighter" fare?"). It was quite a study in contrasts.
Two out of three of that diverse group have now passed away .. Susan Englebert just last fall, and now Robert Chesterman. And that's sad. Susan and I never really never really connected in that heart-to-heart way .. we worked together okay, and I respected her, but not the same way I respected and related to Rob. Partly because he represented the intellectual, thoughtful tradition of CBC of yesteryear that many of us miss ... and also largely because he was an intellectual, thoughtful producer who considered himself an equal partner of the artists he worked with ... no doubt his funeral will be a who's who of artists in Vancouver of his generation. Because they respected him just as he respected them.
I am sad he's gone. I wonder what he was working on when he found out he had cancer. And that now will never be finished ....
Rob was a radio features and drama producer with CBC for many years in Vancouver. I went to Vancouver in the early '80's .. one of the reasons being that I wanted to work with this man. I had heard some of his arts programs on CBC Stereo when I was back in Windsor in 1981. I even sold a piece to his national network program "Audience" ... an interview with renowned flautist Jean Pierre Rampal. Something about the spirit of Audience and the respect with which it treated artists made me want to be there. I don't know why. I knew nothing about Robert Chesterman except that some of the people I worked with at CBC Windsor spoke his name with reverence. And that I liked his show.
It took me a couple of years in Vancouver before I was able to get up the nerve to approach him to ask him if I could work with him. When I did, he was very welcoming and we connected right away. He invited me to contribute to the BC Arts Program "Monitor". One of the things I remember the most was his approach towards artists. The most refreshing thing I have ever heard from a CBC was "I don't want to interfere with your creativity". Rob was the only producer ever to have said that to me within the corporation's walls. He never vetted a single script I wrote for the show .. something unheard of at CBC. He trusted me to write what I thought was best for the show. And he always liked what I came up with.
In 1985 I was offered a job as his production secretary .. not a job I would have done if I was working for anyone else. It was in the last days of his work with the Corp ... he was being edged out the door on early retirement and he did not want to go. He freely shared his feelings with me about broadcasting, about CBC, about his career and his life in radio. And his frustration and yes, anger, at having to leave before he thought his time should be up.
At the time, he was also transitioning into his film career ... I did a lot of support work for him on his second film "Which Way to Carnegie Hall?", about the challenges of young musicians trying to develop a career in music. He had finished his film on Kings College Choir a few years earlier, called "A Boast of Kings". It was a rare opportunity to work with a very talented person who was creatively moving into another form of art as his previous art form was starting to wind down.
It was also a crazy time at the CBC ... CBC went through a huge programming shift in the mid 1980's (some, including me, would say the beginning of the dumbing-down of the Mother Corp) ... I was working for three producers at the time -- Robert Chesterman who represented the old and fine intellectual tradition of the CBC, Tom Deacon, the producer and co-creator of Disc Drive (whicn was received which much scepticism from some quarters, ya, it's a pretty effortless listening experience), and Susan Englebert, the new Area Exec Producer of Performance Programming whose background at that time was primarily in radio variety (Great Canadian Goldrush, Gabereau and other well produced, but shall we say "lighter" fare?"). It was quite a study in contrasts.
Two out of three of that diverse group have now passed away .. Susan Englebert just last fall, and now Robert Chesterman. And that's sad. Susan and I never really never really connected in that heart-to-heart way .. we worked together okay, and I respected her, but not the same way I respected and related to Rob. Partly because he represented the intellectual, thoughtful tradition of CBC of yesteryear that many of us miss ... and also largely because he was an intellectual, thoughtful producer who considered himself an equal partner of the artists he worked with ... no doubt his funeral will be a who's who of artists in Vancouver of his generation. Because they respected him just as he respected them.
I am sad he's gone. I wonder what he was working on when he found out he had cancer. And that now will never be finished ....
Friday, June 01, 2007
Say Radio Meow!
This guy will not be working at Radio Meow. He's an example of why it's needed.
Radio Meow is India's first talk radio station aimed at women. This is remarkable in so many ways. First of all, if there was ever a place where women need to speak, it's India (and a lot of other places, too of course. It's just that I haven't been there, so I don't feel as compelled to write about it).
Second of all, it's a commercial radio station. In a country that has only 68 (!) commercial radio stations, it's pretty significant that there's a women's station at all in the bunch. (Commercial radio has only been allowed on the air for a few years, which is why there are only 68. If you divide up the population of India, over 1 billion, by 68 radio stations .. well, my math skills aren't that good so I can't calculate how many pairs of ears per station that would be. How many zeroes in a billion?)
If India follows the broadcasting style of the west, likely the on-air content will be restricted to fashion, the home and other things that won't get the men terribly upset. But it's a start. Even the idea that there is a place on the airwaves devoted to women is an important political symbol.
In terms of real on-the-ground change, I still think that community radio has more capacity to change society (and community radio is now legal in India too, with many in the planning stages preparing to go on-air). But having stations like Radio Meow in Mumbai might help women realize some new possibilities. There are many, many, maybe even half a billion, women who never ever thought a woman could or should go on air. So it's a step. Maybe it will inspire some of them to find a community radio station and go on air themselves. Or even go to get into radio as a career.)
For those of you who are going to be travelling to Mumbai, Radio Meow is on 104.8. Bring me back a tape of the programming if you go. Better still, an interview.
Meow stations are also due for launch in Mumbai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Patiala, Shimla and Jodhpur in the coming months.
A question for those of you who know Indian culture .. I am puzzled by the name. I can understand why a radio station aimed targeted at women over here would be named after a cat. But never in my travels in India did I even see a cat ... are cats a female symbol in India too ??
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