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October 3, 2022 7:05 pm  #1


On Your Side

I haven't seen Pat Foran on the CTV 6pm news for sometime. On vacation perhaps?

 

October 3, 2022 7:21 pm  #2


Re: On Your Side

I noticed that, too. In fact, last week I checked the CTV website, and he was still on it. So he's still there just not on the air for a bit for some reason. 

There really aren't many of these "consumer" reporters left, where once the air was full of them. Foran is a good one for CTV. Sean O'Shea does it most of the time for Global, although he's been doing other things lately. 

But CityTV, which originally started the trend a few decades ago with [Peter] Silverman Helps, has no one to do this kind of work anymore and they don't seem at all interested in reviving the idea. I know that Silverman cost the station a lot of money in legal fees, as they were sued over stories by upset business people, many of whom were guilty of the very things they were accused of on air. But after Silverman was fired, they never went back to that beat. Peter passed away a year ago this week, on October 7th, 2021.

I knew one of the people who worked there - his amazing producer, Terry O'Keefe - and he used to tell me everything was completely vetted and checked over by lawyers before a frame of video went to air. Still, Rogers apparently wasn't interested in keeping that tradition alive and City remains without a fulltime consumer reporter to this day. 

Which is too bad - they're often very compelling stories. And they actually helped ordinary people, to boot. 


 

 

October 3, 2022 8:09 pm  #3


Re: On Your Side

In Buffalo, WIVB has something called "Call 4 Action" while WKBW has a feature called "7 Problem Solver" I don't know if WGRZ has anything similar.

     Thread Starter
 

October 3, 2022 8:49 pm  #4


Re: On Your Side

mace wrote:

In Buffalo, WIVB has something called "Call 4 Action" while WKBW has a feature called "7 Problem Solver" I don't know if WGRZ has anything similar.

Ironically, WGRZ brands their newscasts as "2 On Your Side" 

 

October 3, 2022 9:43 pm  #5


Re: On Your Side

Don't forget about Dale Goldhawk, and "Goldhawk Fights Back"...   A staple for many years on CTV National with Lloyd Robertson.

 

October 3, 2022 10:09 pm  #6


Re: On Your Side

I think Goldhawk had a show on AM 740 for a while, dishing out consumer advice. I believe it went off the air in 2016, when he left to start his own media relations firm. 

 

October 3, 2022 11:44 pm  #7


Re: On Your Side

RadioActive wrote:

I think Goldhawk had a show on AM 740 for a while, dishing out consumer advice. I believe it went off the air in 2016, when he left to start his own media relations firm. 

And before that, he was on Newstalk 1010 doing a similar show - here's one rundown of their weekend programming circa 2004 that lists it. Looks like the AM 740 gig started in August 2008.

 

October 4, 2022 7:13 am  #8


Re: On Your Side

I have a conspiracy theory about these 'on your side' type programs...since the world is becoming more consolidated business wise and media news entities need as much advertising dollars as they possibly can get...it's not wise for them to call out some of these big companies for being assholes to customers because it might impact their advertising buys...if you're gonna call us out for being bad to the public we might rethink that ad buy CTV News?...also, Pat could literally cover Bell and their horrid consumer treatment every week, he could even cover Rogers....but I've never seen him do it...Bell for obvious reasons cause they own CTV...otherwise there are only so many auto insurance and airline stories you can cover...

 

October 4, 2022 9:17 am  #9


Re: On Your Side

Johnny B wrote:

I have a conspiracy theory about these 'on your side' type programs...since the world is becoming more consolidated business wise and media news entities need as much advertising dollars as they possibly can get...it's not wise for them to call out some of these big companies for being assholes to customers because it might impact their advertising buys...if you're gonna call us out for being bad to the public we might rethink that ad buy CTV News?...also, Pat could literally cover Bell and their horrid consumer treatment every week, he could even cover Rogers....but I've never seen him do it...Bell for obvious reasons cause they own CTV...otherwise there are only so many auto insurance and airline stories you can cover...

Certainly all valid points. I think CBC Marketplace does an excellent job uncovering questionable practices. After watching their episode on how some farmers market vendors obtained their produce from the Ontario Food Terminal and passed it off as home grown, I now observe vendors crates and cartons at these markets to see their source. All the ones I have seen seem legitimate.

     Thread Starter
 

October 4, 2022 9:36 am  #10


Re: On Your Side

W5 from time to time uncovers scams as well.  They have done some good work exposing shady operations with furnace and car repairs.  W5 was excellent on the weekend for this years premier show for the season.  All about critters that are becoming a big problem around the world.  Some of these creatures were kind of scary. 

 

October 4, 2022 11:00 am  #11


Re: On Your Side

Global also has consumer reporters in Calgary and Vancouver in addition to Sean O'Shea in Toronto. However those reporters don't do the surprise door knocking that SOS is really good at.

 

October 4, 2022 11:19 am  #12


Re: On Your Side

mace wrote:

[Certainly all valid points. I think CBC Marketplace does an excellent job uncovering questionable practices. After watching their episode on how some farmers market vendors obtained their produce from the Ontario Food Terminal and passed it off as home grown, I now observe vendors crates and cartons at these markets to see their source. All the ones I have seen seem legitimate.

I'll second Marketplace.  It's celebrating its 50th season.  I always remember watching as a kid Sunday nights (when Stompin' Tom did the theme)  It was different because even back it called out products and manufacturers by name - something unheard of outside commercials.  (Even as a youg'en I was a news junkie.)

As for farmer's markets, all I have to say is I've been in the Walmart in St. Jacobs right across from the market on a Thursday or Saturday and have spotted Mennonites with produce in their carts.  Probably not enough to sell but hey, if something's is on sale at a rediculously cheap price, you might as well stock up.