The irony of Solomon’s fall
National Post reporter Adrian Humphreys looks at how Evan Solomon, host of the CBC’s flagship politics shows, rather than shining light on the Senate scandal has himself become another blemish on the public broadcaster’s reputation.
SOLOMON
Solomon, 47, was host of CBC News Network’s daily TV political series Power and Politics and also Radio One’s political program The House, making him a rarity by hosting in both broadcast formats.
Son of a lawyer father and urban planner mother, Solomon used to play-host radio shows as a child before graduating university with a master’s degree in English literature, according to a recent profile in the Ryerson Review of Journalism. He then co-founded Shift, a cultural technology magazine in 1992. He was picked as the successor to replace the popular Don Newman as host of CBC TV’s flagship politics show.
“I traffic in people of great power,” he said in the profile, in an unfortunate choice of words.
HOST SCANDALS
In April, a scathing assessment of the CBC in the wake of multiple criminal charges against former star CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi attacked CBC’s “host culture,” where major on-air talent often have “big personalities, big egos and big demands.”
The report came after CBC hosts Peter Mansbridge and Amanda Lang were criticized for taking money from newsmakers for public appearances. Reports said Lang was paid by Manulife and Sun Life. Mansbridge reportedly charged speaking fees from organizations such as the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. CBC then banned outside paid appearances by onair journalists.
The Ghomeshi report said CBC management failed to deal with warning signs of the host’s behaviour because of his influence and importance at CBC which “had the effect of condoning the behaviour.”
“This may be the second significant wake-up call that the CBC has received on that and they may need to look at making some internal changes ... . If these two terminations don’t bring a change to that host culture, I don’t know what will,” said Toronto labour lawyer Erin Kuzz.
CBC seems to have listened, dealing severely with Solomon.
In an internal email to staff on Wednesday, CBC News editor-inchief Jennifer McGuire wrote: “If there’s anything that journalists — and those interested in journalism — have been reminded of over the past year, it’s that ethics and trustworthiness matter.
“A journalist wrote this week that television news “is shooting itself in the foot.” It’s time for every single professional journalist and media organization to stop providing ammunition.”
THE NATIONAL
Solomon emerged as the heir apparent to Mansbridge as host of The National, the most-coveted and highest-profile on-air gig at the CBC. Former hosts became household names, including Lloyd Robertson, Peter Kent and Knowlton Nash, whom Mansbridge replaced in 1988.
“Peter Mansbridge is remarkable for his ability to sit for hours behind a microphone — especially during breaking news — and offer cogent and meaningful analysis. But when it comes to reading the news, I’ve always thought that almost anyone can do it,” said broadcast industry observer Barry Kiefl, president of Canadian Media Research Inc., and a former head of research for CBC.