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SOWNY » More Richard Southern biased reporting » July 10, 2025 5:56 am

Stefanie
Replies: 24

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radiokid.....I'm not sure how you know what my political views are. Maybe I didn't avoid responding to him on incorrect items and sent a direct note . By the way, speaking of things that are wrong... It's Stefanie not Stephanie.. Duh!!

SOWNY » AI will only get more sophisticated » July 9, 2025 6:09 am

Stefanie
Replies: 2

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Interesting article on the evolving refinement of AI. Having worked in marketing on the client side as well as with an ad agency and in radio, the sophistication of AI will have a massive effect on advertising and ACTRA.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/ai-generated-fake-marketing-1.7578772

SOWNY » More Richard Southern biased reporting » July 4, 2025 9:14 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 24

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Hi, I sent Richard Southern at 680 news any email about more of his bias reporting today. Here's what he said and how I responded.
Stefanie, 
 
I appreciate your feedback, but it's my job, and the job of every reporter covering Queen's Park, to hold the government to account, not to simply be a stenographer and read press releases. It's important that reports include both sides of an issue, and yes to cast a critical eye on what your government is doing. If you're able to point to anything I said that was incorrect I would gladly offer up correction, otherwise I think you may be confusing balance, and my job of holding a government to account, for bias. 
 
My response....

Richard, you are confusing reporting the facts and holding the government to account. 
 
I believe your job is a reporter not an interpreter.
 
I just need the media to report the facts and, with my voting, I'm able to interpret the facts and be in a position to hold any government to account. When I vote, if I disagree, I will hold them to account.
 
I have a graduate degree so I consider myself relatively smart. I don't need the media and you giving me your personal 'interpretation' of a situation in the government. I never read the editorial page of any newspaper...Why??.... Because if I know the facts from a story, I can make my own decision. Just give me the facts.

Your tonality in 98.7% of your reports on the Ontario government, obviously indicate your bias. I never hear anything against other parties.
 
You should be ashamed of yourself as a reporter........ Just give the facts and leave it to the listeners to make their own decision. 
 
Maybe Rogers/your superiors have told you to constantly criticize Ford's government. If that is so, and if you're that fragile,  Richard, quit the business or go to CBC.
 
Some of our greatest News reporters over the years just gave the facts.... Lloyd Robertson, Harvey Kirk, and even Peter Mansbridge at CBC.
 
Facts, facts, facts with no in

SOWNY » Bias on the Airwaves? » June 26, 2025 8:16 am

Stefanie
Replies: 36

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I listen to 680 News periodically throughout the day, mainly for traffic and weather. What should be a neutral, fact-based news station has increasingly started to sound more like an extension of a political campaign as there seems to be a continuous pattern of criticism directed at the Ontario government.

The station’s Managing Editor, Paul Cook, is married to Stephanie Smyth, a Liberal MPP. While relationships in politics and media aren't inherently unethical, the lack of transparency and objectivity in coverage should concern anyone who expects fairness from their news sources.

It’s impossible to ignore the slant in the reporting coming out of their Queen’s Park reporter, Richard Southern. He rarely misses an opportunity to paint the current provincial government in a negative light. Whether it's health care, education, or infrastructure, every segment from him seems to find a way to assign Government blame, even in cases where they are clearly acting in the public interest.

Critique is part of the media’s role. But when that critique consistently veers into what sounds like thinly veiled partisan attacks, credibility is lost. Is 680 News reporting the news, or trying to shape public opinion? Toronto deserves better than a news station that seems to have forgotten where journalism ends and political advocacy begins.

I know some of you will believe that I'm exposing my own political agenda, but that is far from the truth.

SOWNY » Bitch & Moan » June 16, 2025 9:17 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 12

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Moore is very boring, almost unlistenable. Moaning groaning all the time like he is the only one that's having issues. Maybe you should go to CBC and bore their audience.

SOWNY » Canadian Open broadcasting question? » June 9, 2025 6:23 am

Stefanie
Replies: 7

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Except for the PGA Tour's Signature events, the Canadian Open prize money is in line with all other tournaments. The Masters and The Open (not called British) are golf majors, so they are different.

SOWNY » Spring Ratings » June 5, 2025 7:42 am

Stefanie
Replies: 14

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Hi all, Instead of overall station ratings, I would enjoy seeing hourly breaks especially comparing 1010 and 640 as well as 1050 and 590. Is that available anywhere? Thank you!

SOWNY » Sauga960 Looking For New Aft. Drive Host As Richard Syrett Leaves » May 26, 2025 6:48 am

Stefanie
Replies: 21

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RA....Good point! It's also curious that Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 sometimes has perfect spelling/sentence structure and other times, not so much. My belief is that this person is misrepresenting their identity, as I noted a number of months ago..

SOWNY » Greg Brady » March 18, 2025 10:26 am

Stefanie
Replies: 31

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Here is my announcement from "Toronto Today w/ Greg Brady" from this morning's show.  I'll save the build-up.  I am leaving the show & my amazing work family at 640 Toronto, and am seeking the candidacy for the Conservative Party of Canada, to run in my hometown of Ajax, Ontario. https://x.com/gregbradyTO/status/1901996061368996252 

SOWNY » Vassy Kapelos Today » February 18, 2025 2:07 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 10

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Now 1010's volume is going up and down for me

SOWNY » Vassy Kapelos Today » February 18, 2025 2:04 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 10

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I've been listening to Vassy's show on 1010 and there must be something wrong with the volume as I can hardly hear the conversation. Initially I thought I may be going deaf but I switched to other stations and they were fine. Significant technical issue at 1010.

SOWNY » Vassy Kapelos' Panel Show Goes Kerflooey » February 11, 2025 2:31 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 9

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I heard it as well, RA. I like Vassy's style and was listening at lunchtime and I couldn't figure out, when I tuned in, why there was dead air. One would think that someone in the production/ technical area would've noticed and addressed the issue. 

SOWNY » Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 » February 9, 2025 10:33 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 7

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Thank you RA,
I didn't realize there was another thread on this topic. My apologies.
Reading some of this person's posts and the inference that he/she has a visual disability, I find quite curious. Some of the grammar in certain posts are fine however, suddenly other posts seem unusually poorly written. 
If this person is using voice dictation on the computer (as I'm right now), it comes out with proper grammar and spelling. 
If people say something racist and then apologize, they are actually telling you who they really are and what they believe.When it comes to these types of comments which I've received over the years, I never give people a second chance. One time is too many and you are gone from my life! 

SOWNY » Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 » February 9, 2025 9:20 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 7

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This person is 'supposedly' blind but on certain topics, his/her grammar/spelling is fine which is interesting.... On others, not so much.
From my perspective, I find some of his/her submissions are bordering on racist comments.
I know there's some political back-and-forth here which I don't mind, but I don't believe there's any need for his/her racist type comments.

SOWNY » Who Is Taking John Oakley's Place Next Week On AM640? » February 7, 2025 7:08 am

Stefanie
Replies: 16

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I'm going to South Carolina to play golf with a few friends in March. I didn't realize I'd be criticized for doing so.  A friend of mine is in the travel industry and says that USA destination flights are solidly booked. It doesn't seem like many Canadians are cancelling however, some may be doing so because of our declining dollar.
 

SOWNY » Corus Reveals What's Replacing Roy Green - But Only for 1 Weekend » February 2, 2025 6:52 am

Stefanie
Replies: 9

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I listened to a good portion of Ben O'Hara Byrne's show yesterday and was quite impressed with him and the guests that he had. Albeit, he's not Roy.

SOWNY » Doug Ford On Newstalk 1010 » January 19, 2025 2:59 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 16

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Radiowiz - I think you are 100% wrong. Doug Ford has mentioned a number of times that he's never met Trump. 

SOWNY » CTV News revamps its website » January 18, 2025 8:58 am

Stefanie
Replies: 19

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LOSat - The URLs for CTV sites did not change. I'm talking about articles in the websites.
By the way, clearing your cache and cookies has nothing to do with this issue. All that does is to essentially erase temporary data stored by websites you've visited, which means you'll need to re-login to sites.
 

SOWNY » CTV News revamps its website » January 17, 2025 7:42 am

Stefanie
Replies: 19

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I use the Safari browser on my Mac and when I go into the new CTV website, I keep getting an access denied pop-up

SOWNY » Bogus talk show callers » January 14, 2025 8:44 am

Stefanie
Replies: 22

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I don't find it unusual that there are people out there who are 'very polished' with anti-Chow talking points. I consider myself to be very intelligent, able to offer rational opinions and therefore, very polished. If I was listening to the station at that time, I may have even called in and offered my 'very polished' comments.

SOWNY » Tories Confirm They Will Defund CBC, And Quickly » January 14, 2025 8:36 am

Stefanie
Replies: 10

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We are in a time of rapidly evolving media consumption. Major Canadian broadcasters are struggling to maintain acceptable profit for their shareholders. CBC's relevance in the current media landscape has diminished with their declining radio/ TV audiences turning to digital and on demand content offered by private broadcasters and global streaming platforms.

In addition, there has been the issue about CBC's ability to maintain political neutrality as government funding inherently risks influencing editorial decisions, whether directly or indirectly.
 
A few years back, a friend of mine was one of the many VPs at CBC and outlined to me the duplication of effort, overspending and wastage of monies that has been inherent within the company for decades. If you saw any of the parliamentary committee sessions that the CBC’s CEO, Catherine Tait, was called before to testify, her dismissive attitude and repeated reluctance to provide clear and direct answers to legitimate questions raise serious concerns about the CBC’s commitment to transparency. 

SOWNY » Cathal Kelly » January 10, 2025 7:21 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 6

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BowmanvilleBob/ newsguy1..... Totally agree with your comments. I sent Kelly a nice email outlining my thoughts, but he's probably too busy checking his clicks to respond. The good ones always respond!! The not so good hide.

SOWNY » Cathal Kelly » January 10, 2025 2:53 pm

Stefanie
Replies: 6

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Thank you, Mr. Moderator👍

I guess it wasn't a topic of general interest since no one has commented on it.😔

SOWNY » Cathal Kelly » January 10, 2025 11:42 am

Stefanie
Replies: 6

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I'm relatively new to this forum so I hope I'm not breaking any rules as this doesn't have to do specifically with radio and TV but focusses on commentary/opinion which, as we all know, happens also in the broadcast environment. I read an article by Cathal Kelly about the new TGL golf league in the Globe and Mail recently.
 
I'll be up front to say that I have never been a fan of his writing as most of his articles are critical and negative in nature, regardless of the topic.
 
While everyone is entitled to their opinion, writing critically about a topic, (sport in this case) without a solid understanding of its nuances, risks alienating readers who are passionate about it. It's quite evident that he knows nothing about the mindset of golfers. Constructive criticism is valuable, but it resonates more when it comes from a place of knowledge. 
 
Former great Globe writers like Stephen Brunt and David Shoalts always wrote knowledgeably about topics they were familiar with and understand. I’d offer some advice for written or broadcast commentators to ‘stay in their lanes’.

SOWNY » Two 680 News Options » January 5, 2025 7:45 am

Stefanie
Replies: 4

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Last evening around 11 o'clock, I turned on the radio to 680 News.
After I heard the news and weather, I went to the Fan 590 to check on the latest sports scores.
To my surprise, 680 News was running on the 590 frequency.
I went back to the 680 frequency and then back again to the 590 and it was exactly the same.
It lasted about 10 minutes.
Very strange!!

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