Fall 2022 Newsletter
On August 15, news broke that Bell Media had fired the chief anchor and senior editor of a very popular national nightly news show here in Canada, airing on the CTV network. CTV’s parent company Bell Media says ending Lisa LaFlamme’s contract was a “business decision”.
Odd, that reasoning. CTV National News with Lisa LaFlamme got far more viewers than any other national nightly news programme in Canada. So, what business reasons could they have possibly had?
The same day the news broke, Lisa released a video on Twitter saying she was blindsided by the decision, and that it was not her choice to leave the job she loved.
A few pertinent facts about Lisa. She is 58 years old. During the pandemic, she let her hair grow grey (as did I, as did many other women.) She is a woman. She will be replaced by a 39-year-old man.
Bell Media says ageism and sexism did not play a role in the decision not to renew Lisa’s contract.
But more than two weeks on, the story still dominates Canadian news. International media such as the New York Times, the Guardian and CNN have covered the story. Sports Illustrated, Wendy’s and Dove have weighed in as well.
And this past weekend a prominent group of Canadians released an open letter to the management of Bell Media asking them to “…make things right”. The letter points out that Lisa is an award winning, trusted, veteran journalist. “All until one thing changed: the colour of her hair. In making their ‘business decision,’ Bell confirmed one sad truth: even after all the progress women have made, they continue to face sexism and ageism at work every day in a way which is unacceptable.”
In sum, CTV and its parent company Bell Media have been giving a master class in my inspiration for writing How the Invisible Woman Learned to Fly. My main character Marcie Blanchard is not me, but she faces a version of the challenges I know so well. As a working journalist, I experienced sexism, and, as I got older, ageism as well. As a journalism professor, I and other women experience sexism and ageism in my current workplace. It’s hurtful. It’s frustrating. It’s a confidence-destroyer. And it is so very, very pointless: why dismiss our wisdom, experience, and skills?
After years of being disparaged, Marcie, with the help of friends, slowly reconnects with her lost confidence. It is only then that she is able to undertake a dangerous rescue of a young girl halfway around the world. Marcie returns from that rescue a hero. A superhero actually, if I use the metric of the movies, because she has access to a superpower - a flying, talking carpet. But other than her close circle, no one notices. Or cares. She goes back to work facing the same sexism and ageism challenges, but this time, Marcie has changed. Her recovered confidence in herself functions as a kind of protection, a shield, against the corrosive impacts of being invisible to much of the world, just because she’s a middle-aged woman.
The continuing national and international news coverage, and the broad public support for Lisa LaFlamme gives me hope that one day, we might see a superhero like Marcie Blanchard celebrated in popular culture.
Get ready to move aside Ironman and Batman!