Catching up with host of CBC Radio morning show
Chris Walker is the host of CBC Radio One’s Daybreak South program in Kelowna. He joined Daybreak in 2010. Raised on Galiano Island, he is a journalism graduate of Carleton University. Along the way, he’s been a wharfinger, a Deadhead, an entrepreneur, a paralegal and a low-level intelligence analyst.
He spoke this week with Courier editor James Miller on a wide range of topics related to the media.
COURIER: How did you become interested in radio?
WALKER: I listened to CBC my whole life, and it got me through some lonely rainy days. But, radio as a career was an accident. I was trained in TV, and my first job was in print, but when I moved to the Middle East in 2003, all the radio reporters were in Iraq, and freelancing to CBC paid the bills. But now I’m smitten.
COURIER: What was your first experience working in the industry?
WALKER: While still at school, I freelanced for the CBC and the Ottawa Citizen, but my first job was writing for the Cairo Times, a maverick news magazine in Egypt. We had a fearless publisher, a tough editor and smart young reporters, all of whom were trying to topple a dictator. It was quite an experience.
COURIER: What brought you to Kelowna?
WALKER: Kelowna was also an accident! In 2010, I moved here sight unseen from Prince George for a news anchor job at the local CBC.
COURIER: What time do you get out of bed in the morning?
WALKER: My alarm is set for 3:40. If I have guests in studio that morning and have to look presentable, or if I have extra research to do, I get up. If not, I hit snooze. COURIER: Do you nap? WALKER: I’ve had serious sleep problems over my 12 years of early mornings and I’ve tried every remedy out there, but I’ve never been able to nap.
COURIER: What do you do if you have a cold and no voice? Call in sick?
WALKER: I can sometimes take enough medication to sound normal for one show. If it persists, I call in sick. Nobody wants to hear sick people on the radio.
COURIER: What’s been the most significant news story during your eight years in Kelowna?
WALKER: The Bacon shooting was probably the biggest breaking news story. The most significant ongoing story is Kelowna’s rapid growth. The most significant underreported and misunderstood story is the opioid crisis.
COURIER: Who was your favourite interview subject during your time in Kelowna?
WALKER: A woman watching her grandson play on the beach for the first time after his lifesaving heart surgery.
COURIER: Describe your interviewing style.
WALKER: Tough, but also compassionate and polite, hopefully. Most of all, I try to be fair.
COURIER: Has anyone ever walked off the air?
WALKER: Not live. I’ve been hung up on plenty and kicked out of peoples’ offices, and I was escorted out of Grand Forks City Hall. But our fantastic production staff helps prevent that from happening on live radio.
COURIER: How would you describe the political times south of the border that we’re living through? WALKER: Deeply troubling. COURIER: In your opinion, has Trump’s attacks on the media affected the way people view you and I here in Canada? WALKER: Yes. COURIER: Who is the one famous person, living or dead, you would like to interview?
WALKER: How about three? The female Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut, Igor Dyatlov (Google him) and Jerry Garcia.
COURIER: Much is said about the future of print journalism, but radio is facing challenging times as well.
WALKER: Radio is to audio as television is to video. It’s just a delivery system. So while radio may be facing challenging times, audio is having a moment. Local radio needs to capitalize on that more effectively.
COURIER: Who was the greatest Canadian broadcaster in history, in your opinion?
WALKER: I have a soft spot for the classic news stylings of Knowlton Nash.
COURIER: Will the Liberals win the next federal election?
WALKER: In politics, a year is an eternity.
COURIER: Do you see the NDP-Green coalition lasting a full four years?
WALKER: If a year is an eternity in politics, four years is . . .