After 30 years of journalism, Graham Richardson embarks on a new journey.
To know him on television, whether you watched him in the field or behind an anchor desk, is to instantly recognize a true professional devoted to the proper presentation of breaking, relevant issues. To know him as a colleague or in a more casual manner is to be impressed by a gentlemanly and appreciative human being. Going forward, we’ll see less of Graham Richardson the journalist and more of Graham Richardson the person. He announced earlier this year that he was leaving broadcasting, an industry in which he’s paid his dues for over 30 years. But not before he takes a little time to pay gracious tribute to almost everyone, from mentors and co-workers to the viewers he served across networks both minor and major.
First up: Ted Koppel. Yes, that Ted Koppel. Richardson became a fan while growing up in Toronto (though he was born in the U.S.) back in the mid-80s. “I was transfixed,” he confesses. “I couldn’t turn him off. I knew right then and there what I wanted to do for a living.”
That living started, believe it or not, at a Husky station in Blue River, BC. That’s where the 23-year-old Richardson got a call offering him a job on the assignment desk at CBC Calgary. “I couldn’t wait to get started,” he remembers. “It was trial by fire with an incredibly small team, tasked with mounting a shared broadcast between Calgary and Edmonton,” where Richardson worked next. “It was very hard, and the ratings were low. But those early days taught me things about how a newsroom worked that I carry with me to this day.”
Eventually, Richardson came home to Toronto, where he assumed the role of Queen’s Park Bureau Chief for Global TV. “At the time,” he recalls, “the government was changing. The Harris-Eves Conservatives were on the way out. Many of those politicians and backroom players moved on to Stephen Harper’s Ottawa, and I ended up covering them there.”
In 2004, Richardson made the big leap to CTV, the network with which he’s become the most associated. “I loved working for Global and still have many friends there. But I knew it was the right thing to do. CTV News was and is the most important broadcaster in the country.”
Then came the opportunity that brought Richardson closer to the people of Ottawa than ever before: the chance to replace the much-missed Max Keeping as the face of the CTV Ottawa nightly news. Big shoes to fill, to be sure. And according to Richardson, not exactly his size. “Oh, there were struggles!” he confesses. “I made the assumption that people who watch CTV National News watched Max and vice versa. Not true! Many people didn’t even know who I was. Plus, I was relatively young for an anchor. But the audience was patient with me as I got my footing in the newsroom and the community.”
And how: they tuned in to Richardson for a decade and a half. “I can’t believe it was 15 years in the chair,” he marvels. “But with Patricia Boal leading that team now, they will be a strong and vital reflection of the community for many years to come.”
So, with all of those career highlights, why jump ship?
“It’s a shift for me for sure,” he says, referring to his new job at Edelman Global Advisory. “But this job is a natural next step. Edelman has a deep local, national, and international client list. I’ll be advising them on how to handle the white-hot glare of public attention. Plus, I’m 54. Better to make a change like this now rather than when there’s less runway.”
He may be off the local airwaves, but Richardson will remain in Ottawa. “I love it here,” he announces. “I have lived all over the country and Ottawa is the best.”
As for major differences between the two, according to Richardson, there aren’t many. “No matter the level, network-local-radio-online, they all have the same goal: what happened today? What’s important to cover? Each organization makes their own call on the news of the day, in an incredibly challenging time for the industry. I have the highest respect for the people doing that work.”
After importing his Bureau Chief skills to Los Angeles, Richardson joined CTV’s Parliamentary Bureau, headed by household name Bob Fife. “Bob is the best journalist and boss I’ve ever worked for,” Richardson states appreciatively. “He has everyone’s back and he champions young people in this business, even as we stumble through our careers. Ask anyone who has worked in a newsroom led by Fife: it is electric and the only place you want to be.”
