I well remember the day when I got my first big job at CFTR, during the height of its Top 40 era. To this day, I thank God that I got to work with the late and much missed Clint Nickerson, who taught me so much I didn't know and made me a better broadcaster at a place that didn't tolerate amateurs.
Which leads to my inevitable question - where are the Clint Nickersons of today?
I ask because of some of what I've seen in the past few days on CFTO's various newscasts. This is not to single out reporter/anchor Rahim Ladhani, but the examples unfortunately all surround him. Not long ago, there were two separate stories over a matter of a week that involved something happening on Trethewey Dr.
Both times, on separate days, Ladhani mispronounced the name of the street, calling it "Treth-Away" when it's actually pronounced Tra-thoo-ee" (rhymes with "phooey".) I'm not casting blame on him for this, but my real question is why no producer took him aside after the first mistake to correct him. The fact he made the same error a few days later shows no one did, and it hurts CTV's credibility when an anchor doesn't know how to pronounce one of the city's major streets.
(Don't get me started on Strachan Ave. and Balliol St!)
Then, on Wednesday's noon, he kept referring to Hurricane Helen heading to Florida. He said it at least twice. But it's actually Hurricane Helene, as in "Hey-Lean." Again, why did no one take him aside after the show and remind him so it doesn't happen again?
That's what a mentor would have done and it's a sad commentary that these people don't seem to exist anymore, perhaps all fired in endless Bell budget cuts.
I'm glad I was at 'TR when I was. I wouldn't have been as good at my job - and future ones - without someone helping me in those early days.
We're all poorer for their absence.
