- The Journal (Canadian TV show)
Infobox Television
show_name = The Journal
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format = current affairs
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runtime = 38 minutes
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executive_producer =Mark Starowicz
starring =Barbara Frum Mary Lou Finlay
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country = flagcountry|Canada
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language = English
network = CBC
first_aired =January 11 ,1982
last_aired = 1992
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tv_com_id ="The Journal" was a popular current affairs
newsmagazine onCBC Television from 1982 to 1992. It aired weeknights at 10:22 pm, following "The National " at 10:00 pm, and expanding on stories presented on there with in-depth interviews, documentaries, and televised "town hall" meetings. The division of the 10:00 hour into two entirely separate programs, and the length of each, reflect the separation and political tension between the CBC's then-separate news and public affairs production units. [Knowlton Nash, "Prime Time at Ten" (McClelland & Stewart, 1987), ISBN 0-7710-6703-8.]The program premiered on
January 11 ,1982 . [ [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-68-368-2027/arts_entertainment/frum/clip7 CBC Archives: "The Journal": Episode One"] , accessed4 February 2007 ] In its first season, it was hosted byBarbara Frum andMary Lou Finlay , and was the first network news program in the world hosted by two women without a male co-anchor. However, after the first season Frum became the program's sole host, although Finlay remained with the program as a reporter and documentary producer. Frum anchored on her own until her death in 1992. The program was produced for its entire run byMark Starowicz , who had produced "As It Happens " for CBC Radio, which also featured Frum. Guest hosts when Frum was absent from "The Journal" includedBill Cameron ,Peter Kent ,Keith Morrison , and Brian Stewart.Interviews were generally conducted in the early years of the program using a technique known as the
double-ender , wherein guests were interviewed earlier in the day on videotape and later presented as live using a split screen. Assatellite television technology progressed and became more commonplace, interviews were instead conducted using satellite uplinks.Beginning in the late 1980s, Friday night's edition of "The Journal" was frequently given over to arts and literature, under the rubric "Friday Night Arts". The Friday arts program was anchored by
Daniel Richler or David Gilmour. At other times, an entire show (or even, in one case, an entire week of shows) would be devoted to a single topic, usually in the form of the "full-edition documentary"; documentary topics ranged from the serious (aboriginal land claims and theOka crisis ) to the mundane (a 30-minute exposé on feet). One of the most memorable documentaries was a two-part travelogue by Allen Abel driving fromBudapest toBucharest two days after the fall of the Ceauşescu regime inRomania ."The Journal" was based on CBC Winnipeg's successful suppertime program, "
24Hours ". [cite news
first= Marilyn |last= MacKinnon |title= CBC's The Journal, 24Hours share origins |publisher= Winnipeg Free Press |page= 20 |date=September 4 ,1982 ] It also bore many similarities in its format to the American program "Nightline" which premiered three years earlier, in 1979.Cancellation
Frum was so closely identified with the program that following her death in 1992, the CBC chose to revamp its entire approach to news programming rather than replacing Frum. In the fall of 1992, "
Prime Time News " debuted withPeter Mansbridge andPamela Wallin as equal cohosts of a package that mixed news and "Journal"-type features into a single program. That format lasted only two years before reverting to the old "National"/"Journal" format, although the name "Prime Time News" persisted for another year. When the news program returned to the name "The National" in 1995, the current affairs program became "The National Magazine".Parodies
On "
Canadian Sesame Street ", the news program was parodied as "The Notebook", hosted by amuppet named Barbara Plum. Comedian Greg Malone also frequently parodied Frum on the sketch comedy series "CODCO ".References
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