Hello and welcome to the weekend. The Buzz is ready for you with some news behind the news I found thought-provoking this week.First, a few words about my old colleague Rex Murphy who passed away this week. He was special. Unlike anyone else I ever worked with in the business. From his days at Here and Now in Newfoundland and Labrador where I first encountered the Murphy wit, charm, and intelligence to some of my most enjoyable nights anchoring The National. Those were Thursday nights when we coupled At Issue with Rex’s POV (point of view). Those nights became must-watch television across the country, where you could like one segment or the other or both, but you somehow watched the whole package. Rex’s contribution was often the capper, guided (and sometimes gently restrained) by brilliant producers like Lara Chatterjee. Rex and I both left the CBC around the same time, 2017: I retired and Rex didn’t get a new contract. I’ve always thought Rex’s loss was an unfortunate decision by the CBC, one from which Thursdays have never really recovered. You didn’t have to agree with Rex, and many didn’t, but you did have to agree that he made you think. Well, he's playing to a different crowd now and we’re all left the poorer. You can bet he'll shake things up, up there. |