Lisa LaFlamme chose not to say goodbye on air before her ousting, internal memo says
CTV’s parent company says Lisa LaFlamme had the opportunity to say goodbye to viewers before she was dethroned from the chair of the evening newscast.
Karine Moses, senior vice-president of content development and news at Bell Media, said in an email to staff that the network wanted to give LaFlamme a « good start on the air » to celebrate the highlights of his 35-year career. .
But Moses said LaFlamme « chose not to say goodbye to the public » during the CTV national news broadcast.
LaFlamme said she was « blindsided » as Bell Media terminated her contract after more than 30 years.
In a video posted to social media on Monday, LaFlamme said she was « blindsided » by Bell Media’s decision to terminate her contract in what executives described as a « business decision. »
Moses told staff that the redesign of Canada’s most-watched national newscast was part of a shift towards creating digital content amid « changing viewing habits ».
LaFlamme began his journalism career in his hometown of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario in the late 1980s at television station CKCO, which later changed its name to CTV Kitchener. She would eventually spend nearly a decade as national affairs correspondent for CTV News, before becoming chief news officer for CTV National News with Lisa LaFlamme in 2011. There, she won “Best National News Presenter” at the Canadian Screen Awards five times, including in 2021 and 2022.
Messages sent to LaFlamme via social media since she posted the video have not been returned, while Bell Media representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Omar Sachedina is set to take over the presenter’s desk on September 5.
cbc
