The journalist Don Newman reflects on his years in television news and his new book, Welcome to the Broadcast: A Memoir (HarperCollins, 2013), with Joseph Planta.

Welcome to the Broadcast: A Memoir by Don Newman (HarperCollins, 2013). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Welcome to the Broadcast

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

Don Newman joins me now. One of the country’s most respected political journalists and commentators has just published his first book: Welcome to the Broadcast: A Memoir. If you’re a fan of Mr. Newman’s, you’ll know the title of this book is how he would open his CBC Politics broadcast every day, usually from the foyer of the House of Commons. What he’s written is a fascinating book that looks back at more than forty years of Canadian and international politics. He began his print and broadcast career in Winnipeg, going on to the Globe and Mail, and then as CTV’s first Washington correspondent. His years at the CBC, launching Newsworld, or what’s now known as the CBC News Network, are what he’s known for best. In this book you get the stories he broke on the air, with insightful context and commentary, as well as the stories behind the scenes of history, all of which he was at the fore of for so many years like Meech Lake, the Quebec referendums, and Watergate; not to mention the people who he covered: Diefenbaker, Tommy Douglas, Trudeau, Mulroney, Turner, Chretien, Martin, and Stephen Harper. Don Newman is the chair of Canada 2020, a non-partisan forum to further the political, social and economic well-being of Canadians. He was the senior parliamentary editor of CBC Television News, and received many awards such as a Gemini for lifetime achievement, the Charles Lynch Award, the Hyman Solomon Award, life membership to the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery, and the Order of Canada. This book is published by HarperCollins. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, from Ottawa today, Don Newman; Mr. Newman, good morning.

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