Bell's handling of Lisa LaFlamme was clumsy
But the storied news anchor was not a victim
The public outcry after Bell Media terminated CTV news anchor Lisa La Flamme after 35 years was a cacaphony of claims of “sexism” and “misognyny”. Why not accept reality - it was cost cutting typical of good corporate governance. LaFlamme was by no means a “martyr”.
A beautiful and brilliant woman, LaFlamme’s career was outststanding and made her an icon of newscasting. She enjoyed the benefits of that fame at a personal and enduring level. Over her career she amassed savings of about a reported $4 million and received a salary of $350,000 annually. And she earned both.
But surely in Canada, no one is entitled to permanent employment by a private business. Bell Media had the right to make changes to its roster of public faces and she was terminated without cause. I am hopeful she received a severance package consistent with Canadian employment law and her standing with her employer.
LaFlamme has many options. In the world of 2022, news casters and reporters have found fame and fortune not tied to legacy media. Joe Rogan’s has become famous as a podcaster and garnered a reported $100 million contract with Spotify and has millions of followers. Bari Weiss left her middle-income job at New York Times owing to editorial over reach and started her Substack blog called “Common Sense” where she now has over 150,000 subscribers most of whom pay her $5 a month for her articles.
Lisa LaFlamme can enjoy retirement; join another medium and carry on as a news anchor; or, migrate to the internet like Rogan and Weiss. Her termination opens more doors than it closed.
There is no doubt Bell Media could have handled their decision more professionally, and so could LaFlamme. She could have emulated her predecessor Lloyd Robertson and had a public farewell, offered to her by Bell Media but rejected by her according to reports. She chose to label herself as a “victim” and the “woke” left chimed in with their claims of “sexism” and “mysogyny”. Any “sexism” that existed worked in LaFlamme’s favour during her career since she benefited from her enduring beauty which persists today well into her late 50’s. Had she been hideous, her career would have enjoyed less success.
Let’s face reality. We will all miss Lisa LaFlamme on CTV and look forward to her next career life wherever she chooses to go. But she is no victim.
She made millions reading off a teleprompter. Yes, the victim angle is nonsense. Beautiful and brilliant? I don't think so. And to play the victim card after enjoying that ride speaks to her entitled, leftwing thought process.
Thank you for this enlightening article pointing out the now too familiar victim card people played. I too was swept over by the screaming side, now I can see clearly now thanks to critical Independent thinking.