NewzTORONTO — Peter Mansbridge says the Canadian public owes Lloyd Robertson a debt of gratitude. Robertson, the longtime face of CTV News who died Tuesday at age 92, argued that anchors should be considered true journalists, not just orators. “This guy changed the face of television journalism in our country.
And for a lot of younger people now, they don’t recognize that. But those of us who were there and have benefited from it all, realize that,” Mansbridge said on a video call Wednesday morning. Mansbridge worked with Robertson in the early 1970s, and said the newsman’s departure from CBC in 1976 was “an important milestone in the history of television broadcasting in Canada.” Robertson left the public broadcaster because he believed that TV anchors should do more than just read a prompter: they should be true journalists.
At the time, CBC wasn’t willing to let its anchors report, but CTV told Robertson they would expand the job description if he joined the network. Mansbridge called it “a triumph” not only for Robertson but for all TV anchors in Canada, because CBC realized it would have to adapt to compete with CTV. Mansbridge is the former chief correspondent for CBC News, and for many years anchored “The National,” putting him in direct competition with Robertson.
“We were rivals, but we weren’t enemies,” Mansbridge said. “In the sports world, they have this term — the GOAT. They talk about particular athletes being the greatest of all time,” Mansbridge said.
“LeBron James, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky. Lloyd was the GOAT.” Robertson was remembered also by Prime Minister Mark Carney, who wrote on social media that he was mourning with the journalist’s family. “For more than six decades, Lloyd Robertson helped Canadians make sense of the world.
For millions of us, he was a familiar face in our living rooms. A reassuring voice in moments of uncertainty. A calm and steady presence through the moments that shaped our nation,” Carney wrote.
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