John Stall

After 30 yrs. or so in this business, I am still surprised at what people think they hear on the radio or read into what they hear.

I received an e-mail this past week from a listener who wondered why we,  (not necessarily me) did not point out in the early and first reports about New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s ” hooker hell” that he was a DEMOCRATIC governor? He answered his own question by concluding  ( in his mind) that all media – political reporters, commentators, analysts — were left-wingers and he was sure that had Spitzer been a Republican, his political affiliation would have accompanied every mention of his name as the story was being reported.  And this is a Canadian listener referring to Canadian coverage of the story.

I sent him a note back pointing out that those reporting the early and first hours of Spitzer’s problems here in Canada would probably not be aware of his poliltical affiliation much less leave it out because they might be like-minded. They probably hadn’t even heard of him until the American media pack propelled it to “world worthiness”

The listener’s conclusion of course is that most media is left-wing, Liberal or Democrat and will slant the story they are reporting because of their own personal politics. As a political analyst and reporter I can assure anyone who thinks the same way that nothing could be further from the truth.  I have to deal with these accusations all the time and the only conclusion I can come to is that people will hear what they want to hear and those who are among the most vicioulsy partisan in their own lives are the ones who will “think” all of the people reporting are like them and would do what they do every waking hour of their lives.

Not true!

I’m back down to Florida for some sunshine - Happy Easter.

Not only is a week a long time in politics, but it sure has been a long week for the Prime Minister hasn’t it? He goes from celebrating and being “somewhat celebrated” for a fiscally prudent budget containing a creative surprise tax shelter for average Canadians, to the Cadman affair, to Nafta-Gate, all in just over a week and the Dion Liberals are loving it hoping that the next round of national polling resurrects their election prospects as a result. 

In the last week alone, the Prime Minister he has had to defend against allegations his party attempted to bribe a dying M.P. to bring down the Liberal government of Paul Martin as claimed by Chuck Cadman’s widow and daughter. He’s had to explain his own admission in a tape recorded conversation that party officials did indeed pay a visit to Cadman just before the Liberal budget vote and that financial considerations were to be discussed.  And now his own chief of staff is being fingered as the source of information that is rocking the U.S. Democratic Presidential Primaries.

Untill now, Mr. Harper has been able to keep a lid on his simmering minority government’s agenda partly by stigmatizing Stephen Dion and partly by keeping his own people quiet, but the heat has been cranked from simmer to boil and Stephen Harper is about to learn what P.M’s before him have all endured:  The Loneliness of Leadership. 

I had a first-hand look at how bad the housing market is in the U.S. last week, particularly in Florida, where I was snooping around for properties that may one day be more pleasant to spend winter time in, than these frigid snowing streets.

What you hear is true, and the time to buy is now or in the near future, because it is a buyer’s market — the likes of which I have never witnessed in Canada.

I spent a few days on the Gulf side of the sunshine state driving the coast from St. Petersburg up to Tarpon Springs, and it seemed like up to 30 per cent of the houses or condos on every street I wandered along were for sale, with nary a “SOLD” sign in sight. I’m not sophisticated enough to know if it’s all because of the sub-prime meltdown or a lousy economy in general, but my gut tells me it’s a bargain at the moment.

Some houses (mostly those that are for sale by owner) have signs on the lawn that read “make an offer, all offers will be considered.” To my eyes the bargains were in the $150,000 to $300,000 range, in terms of houses or condos. They seemed to be reduced by 20-30 per cent. I did see some basic bungalow houses in average neighbourhoods that were selling for $80,000 to $100,000, but they looked pretty shabby. I’m told by some who are closer to the market than I am that there are no, or very few American buyers, those who are shopping are Canadians and Asians and that prices are expected to drop another 15-20 per cent before it bottoms out.

I didn’t buy anything, nor did I make any offers, but kicked a few future tires that were a hell of a lot warmer than the frozen Michelin ones I’m riding on now – and the orange juice was sweeter! 

As the political guy here at 680News I’ve been glued to the U.S. primary leading up to the Super Tuesday vote. I’ve been watching CNN for most of the coverage and especially during the early morning hours from 5 a.m. until 9 a.m.

For my money CNN has led the pack – John Roberts has been doing a fabulous job of anchoring the early morning coverage at various diners throughout the U.S., while interviewing all the presidential candidates.  He’s knowledgeable, experienced and good-looking. CBS should never have let him get away. He should have been Dan Rather’s successor, etc., etc. 

I was surprised; however, to see him appear at the beginning of this week with a hair colour change from a naturally silver-grey mop to a toned down brown. I shake my head wondering who decides hair colour matters when someone has so much talent, knowledge  experience and hard-won credibility? Yes, of course, it takes a lot of years and some grey hair to get the wisdom and experience to do the job at that level. Why hide it once you are there?

Don’t know if it was John who changed his colour (perhaps feeling a little old and insecure), or the network executives who demanded it for some marketable reason that I don’t get.

Am I the only one who thinks that grey looks good on T.V. guys?

More on Roberts and me in a future blog; we were up for the same job once and he got it — which was the one that propelled him to CBS. 

Never mind talk of recession taking a toll on the North American economy. I came across an addictive website for golfers this week that I suspect will take a toll on executive productivity for the rest of the winter, if not beyond. 

Worldgolftour.com is the latest, greatest simulated golf thing, not unlike the many golf simulator games that you can buy, but the hook is that this one is streamed free online (at least for the time being) . It is still in the developmental stage, but it is awesome and addictive, with a lot of legs as it develops.

The producers have digitally photographed some of the great golf courses in the world and can place you on the tee with the same views and sounds as you would see and hear if you were there.  I read about it in Fortune 500 magazine, so the buzz is already making its way through Bay and Wall streets.

From what I can gather, the owners of the site have big plans for online competitions, tournaments and skin games. The current prototype is a nine-hole closest to the pin competition that is inviting world response and feedback.  At the moment you can play a demo version, but be warned, it could cost you a marriage or a job or, at the very least a lot of sleep!

Keep your head up! 

Until now, I’ve always believed Canada was doing the right thing by contributing to the coalition war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.  As the interdependant neighbour of the America that came under attack on 9/11, I felt we had a joint responsibility to protect the North American continent from further terrorism and to be part of the coalition that goes after it.  But like so many others this week , I was deeply offended (as I’m sure the loved ones of the 77 Canadian soldiers who have so far sacrificed their lives for Canada and the U.S. are)  by the  recent comments of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates who told the Los Angeles Times that NATO forces were not doing a good enough job against the Taliban and may not be as well trained in “counter insurgency” as the Americans are. 

He has since tried to clarify his point , backtrack and even called Canadian Minister of Defence Minister Peter MacKay (the day after the latest Canadian Soldier was killed) to make the point that he wasn’t pointing fingers at Canada and was embarrassed over the report. But for many in Canada the clarification is too little too late.  I suspect public opinion polls will find that opposition to the Canadian mission climbs higher  in the weeks ahead that the close to 50 per cent who oppose it now and would like to see Canadian troops return as soon as possible.

Canadian Forces have been doing most of the heavy lifting in Kandahar, have lost more soldiers, more equipment and more nights of sleep than the forces of any other NATO country and without a lot of whining, despite the lack of support from other NATO countries. 

Don’t know if Gates was aware when he made his diplomatically reckless comments that a panel appointed by Prime Minister is about to recommend a new role for Canada after the scheduled commitment ends around this time next year. But if he thinks Americans can do a better job on the front lines, then he will be happy to learn that the John Manley report is expected to recommend that Canadian soldiers make room for others on the front by beginning to withdraw. 

I distinctly remember hearing an American commentator muse last year at this time that Barack Obama didn’t have a chance of getting the Democratic nomination because his name sounded too much like Osama bin Laden. I really can’t remember who it was or where I heard it said, but he was likely a Republican who thought Americans were still as preoccupied with bin Laden, Iraq and the war on terror as the Bush administration is.  They are not.

Poll after poll reveals that Americans want out of Iraq, want their dollar back, their land values back and want some form of protection against health care costs that are more likely to kill them financially than any terrorist will — physically.

Barack Obama will, in my view, (but I’m not sure why) not only win the Democratic nomination, but will become the first black president of the United States.  The mania is spreading and appears close to unstoppable, fuelled by media attention that feeds on the spectacle.  He connects like crazy with a room, at an outdoor rally or on the other side of a television screen.  He has a ton of charisma and he knows how to use it.  Despite the systemic cynicism that politics breeds, young voters seem to be investing their emotions in him way more than in any other candidate.  Hillary Clinton looks and sounds more downright stodgy with each passing day. 

Obama is not saying anything revolutionary, but delivers his message of hope with panache. He doesn’t  sound any smarter than any of the rest, nor does any of his policies. So, why is he on fire among Democrats? Is it his charisma? Style over substance? Is it because he’s black? Is the prospect of a black president too delicious of an undercurrent for the mass media to not “keep alive”? Or, has he really got something that the people of America think they need? Will he bust or will he blast off to the White House?

Happy New Year — from our place to yours.  I’ve been laying low for the last week-and-a-half enjoying the holiday season in the country.  It was a picture-and-family-perfect Christmas.  Hope yours was what you hoped it would be, and if not, then at least not too painful.

I was reflecting on the eve of a new year on some of the news events that moved me (for better or for worse) over the past year and thinking ahead about some of the developments I think will take place.  Here they are:

As one who has followed Conrad Black’s business career for decades, including a period of time when I worked for a radio station he owned, it was surreal to sit close enough to hear his heart beat on the opening day of his trial in Chicago. It was arresting to hear the prosecutors present their opening statements to the jury, while circling the accused and pointing their fingers at them likening them to robbers who wear masks and carry guns.  I sat right behind his beautiful wife Barbara Amiel and wondered what was going through her mind as they viciously portrayed her husband as a criminal.  It was among the many front-row seats I’ve had in my career that I will never forget.  I was also terribly embarrassed to be the first journalist to have my cell phone ring so loudly as the drama was unfolding that I was thrown out of the courtroom for the rest of the day by Judge Amy St. Eve.  Cell phones going off became an ongoing disruption throughout the trial, but she never got to the point (I don’t think) of banning them from the court.  I must say that on that first day of the trial, I did not think that Conrad Black would get a jail sentence of six-and-a-half years. I don’t think he did either.

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I wasn’t convinced before the Ontario Election in October that John Tory could win, mostly because I didn’t sense the people of Ontario were mad enough at or disappointed enough in Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government to re-elect it on election day.  In fact , I didn’t sense that the people of Ontario thought an election was necessary at all.  We only had one because of the fixed date legislation the Liberals introduced shortly after they defeated Ernie Eves.

I sure didn’t expect the religious school funding policy to form a major plank of the Tory campaign and I sure didn’t expect John Tory to loose his own seat.  What a difference a year makes.  Last year at this time I was being asked by Conservative insiders and fundraisers if I thought Tory was committed enough to stick around as leader if he didn’t become premier in October.  That tide has turned to weather or not the party wants Tory to stay around despite his own intentions.  He faces a tough early new year as the party considers a “Leadership Review” in February.  Despite the significant loss,  I still think John Tory is the most able candidate to lead the Ontario Conservatives.

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The victory for Dalton McGuinty, in my view, provides him with a wide open field in Ontario to do anything he wants.  Now that the promise breaking monkey has been lifted from his back, I expect the Premier will focus on a legacy before stepping aside for a new Liberal Leader before the next election.  I expect he will be more accessible than he has been and will assume a much higher profile than he did during his first term.

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I didn’t expect the federal Liberals to be shutout of by-elections including the Liberal stronghold of Outremont in Montreal.  I think that loss sent a strong signal to the federal party that it chose the wrong leader at its convention last December.  I don’t think that Stephane Dion is electable by the country.  I think the current Harper government will fall on a vote of non-confidence over it’s spring budget and that we will be into a spring election.  I think that election will result in another Harper minority government and that Stephane Dion will step down sending the Liberals in search of a new leader.  I think it will be “Iggy.”

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I shook my head in amazement at the site of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney before the Commons ethics committee admitting he took “cash money in an envelope” from German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber.  It may not have been illegal, but it’s the kind of stuff I expect to hear from two-bit municipal politicians who aren’t smart enough or ethical enough to keep a distance between them and the business sharks who may try to curry favour — not former prime ministers.

So these are just a few thoughts I have as the year comes to a close.  We at 680News of course continue to appreciate the time and commitment you give to our daily programming and promise to return that commitment.

 Talk to you in 2008.  Have a good one!

Clearly for some, like Conrad Black, it’s never enough.

I probably won’t ever be in a position to know what it feels like to be tempted to push the legal or moral envelope in a situation that would get me absurd amounts of money if I got away with it, but if the end game is what Conrad Black got after a lifetime of work, strategy, risk , scheming , profile and the shameless pursuit of enormous wealth, then I thank the Lord or my family of origin for instilling in me a set of values that taught me there is a joyful enough life to be lived without it.

 Those values were no doubt instilled more by default than by design, but they are more in line with the values upheld by Judge Amy St. Eve, who made sure she told Conrad that in her world “nobody was above the law” — not even him, with all of his wealth, all of his high-level friends,  all of his lawyers, all of his brains and all of his confidence.

There are lots of musings about how Conrad will cope behind bars.  Some think he will write another epic book perhaps about the experience, or how the system ought to be reformed.  He thinks it will be boring, but endurable.  I can’t think of anything worse! 

Conrad Black will no doubt have a library available filled with all kinds of books, perhaps even the ones he wrote about Roosevelt and Tricky Dick Nixon.  Maybe he’ll be able to find a copy of Robert Fulghum’s best seller, All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten. Yes, it would be light reading for Conrad Black, not the kind of stuff that stimulates his mind, but for my money he could learn what millions around the world already know but are reminded about when they read some the main tenants of Fulghum’s book, which are: share everything, play fair, clean up your own mess, be aware of wonder, say your sorry when you hurt somebody, and the most important thing we all learned in kindergarten — don’t take things that aren’t yours!

I have occasionally admired those who claim to have achieved more than most of us, measured by the amount of money they possess and have wondered on occasion why I haven’t pursued the accumulation of more.  Today I’m glad I haven’t been afflicted by, or instilled with, the need or the greed, because I like sleeping in my own bed.

A little self indulgence in this space as I reflect on the life and talent of Canadian broadcaster Keith Rich who passed last week at the age of 80. 

I began my radio career as Keith’s technical operator in the early 70s at 590 CKEY. It was my first radio job, I was in my early 20s at the time and he was in his mid 40s. There was a 25-year age difference between us. He was a major mentor to me.

I loved radio and I came to love him and his extraordinary talent. My love for radio intensified because of Keith’s unique communicative skill.  His natural ability to speak one on one through a microphone to millions of people who felt as though he was speaking only to them was extraordinary, and in my view is the essence of radio -  talking “to” people not ”at” them.

Wally Crouter had the talent (it’s no accident he sustained a huge audience for 50 years), so did Arthur Godfrey and Johnny Carson … but in my view and personal experience, Keith Rich was king in an era when just talking to people through the radio and keeping them company was it.

Keith and I worked closely together as a team on the Morning show at 590 for about about eight years. We became very close friends. We travelled on vacation together, spent time with each others’ families, flew together in planes that he owned and piloted throughout Ontario and into Florida on occasion. Then came the time when I wanted to progress and to make the move to “the other side of the glass” as a broadcaster. It was a move he thought I shouldn’t make because he didn’t think my voice was any good for radio and tried to discourage me. “Alright,” I said to him, “then I’ll become informed and knowledgeable like Charles Templeton, Pierre Burton, Stephen Lewis and Joe Morgan (who were our colleagues at the time). “I will become so informed,  creative and develop so many contacts, that it won’t matter what the voice sounds like, what I have to say and how I say it, I told him, (like I was asking permission ) might make up for the timber of the voice trying to say it.  He had his doubts, but gave me his blessing.  That was almost 30 years ago.  

We stayed in touch on and off throughout the years. We were last together five years ago when he came over to the house to share my 50th birthday. He praised the voice as “distinctive.”

Although radio broadcasting has evolved like all other aspects of life,  the uniqueness of his talent during his time was as good as it gets. 

In the words and Lyrics of current Canadian country singer Brad Johners latest hit: “Like Coca Cola and Levi Straus, Johnny Carson and Mickey Mouse … lots of things are imitatable - but nothing beats an original.”