Avery Haines

[Stephen Pickford <nmi@netcom.ca>]

Sean Smyth inquired as to the details concerning my remarks that the
practise of taping all-news cable channel offerings in advance came to the
forefront with the Avery Haines incident last month...

Quoting from Don Fitzpatrick's Shoptalk (www.tvspy.com/shoptalk.htm),
January 19th/2000 ...

The Canadian television network, CTV, has fired anchor Avery Haines, from
its NewsNet all-news channel.  CTV says offensive remarks that Haines made
on the air last Saturday (Jan.15) were a "serious violation" of the
network's policies.  Henry Kowalski, the senior vice-president of news,
says the nature of her comments did not leave CTV with any alternative. 

Haines apologized twice for insulting viewers with remarks that
inadvertently got on air Saturday.  The incident occurred when Haines
verbally stumbled while introducing a taped report on aid to farmers.  But
the tape itself failed to run and the camera remained on Haines.  Clearly
believing she was no longer on air, Haines made some self-deprecating
remarks about being the network's stutterer news reader -- then expanded
the remarks to include other groups.  "I kind of like the little stutter
thing.  It's like equal opportunity, right?", she said.  "We've got a
stuttering newscaster.  We've got the black, we've got the Asian, we've got
the woman."  "I could be a lesbian, folk-dancing, black woman stutterer.
What's that?," she paused.  "In a wheelchair, with a gimping, rubber leg.
Ya, really.  I'd have a successful career, let me tell you."  

This was not a LIVE report...simply a taped intro to a feature.  However,
through technician error, the wrong video got aired...the one with the
off-the-cuff, off-the-record comments, not the one that was ultimately
re-done and read correctly.

This brought to the forefront that the majority of newscasts on CTV NewsNet
are pre-taped, and updated only if news breaks during a said period...a
fact acknowledged in articles that subsequently appeared in "The National
Post" and "The Globe & Mail".

Avery is currently mulling over a few job offers in the U.S. --- turned
down an appearance with Howard Stern --- and continues to report on Family
Travel on my show, "Travel World" on the Liberty Works Radio Network.

Regards,

Stephen Pickford

Host / Producer -- "Travel World"

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