Unifor members laid off at Corus Kingston last month will have an opportunity this Saturday to say the goodbye to listeners and viewers they never got.

The union has organized a private gathering that will see the two dozen staff who lost their jobs in July, across radio and television, come together with other former employees at the Royal Kingston Curling Club. A public farewell reception will follow from 3 – 5 p.m.

Bill Hutchins, the face of Global Kingston’s 6 p.m. newscast and the president of Unifor local 713-M, says the cuts have effectively meant the end of CKWS-TV as the community has known it. He said 95% of the station’s staff were laid off, in addition to local announcers at 96.3 BIG FM (CFMK-FM) and Fresh 104.3 (CKWS-FM). News has been consolidated out of Peterborough, which also saw some layoffs, where Global has centralized anchoring duties for both markets for news, sports, and weather.

Set to celebrate its 70th anniversary this fall, he said the Kingston operation is now reduced from a broadcast centre to a small bureau with a handful of reporters.

“CKWS-TV was a fixture in the Kingston area for 70 years. We had developed a very loyal audience over those decades. We never got to say a proper goodbye to the community,” explained Hutchins. “Even though I’m no longer with the company, I remain the face of the company with the viewers, so not a day goes by that I don’t get asked about my colleagues and the future of local news in this market. We’re a close knit group…as much as it was a shock to see employees laid off, it was a bigger shock to the community and a lot of them felt lost. They don’t know where to turn and want some closure of some kind, so this reception is a chance for them to meet and greet us in-person and say they’re final goodbyes, and for us to thank them for watching for all these years.”

Closure for viewers

Hutchins, 61, didn’t know it at the time, but July 17 marked his last newscast after 34 years with the station and 27 as the 6 p.m. anchor. As president of the union local, he and another Unifor rep had to then sit in on the remaining layoffs the following day.

“It’s an award-winning system in terms of saving money, but in terms of pleasing viewers, people aren’t stupid. They can see through that,” said Hutchins, who acknowledged he and weather anchor Bill Hall, who’d been with the station since 1999, were given an opportunity to record one-minute sign off videos. Both declined the offer.

“The more I thought about it…it seemed hollow, like a hostage video…blink twice,” said Hutchins. “I opted not to do that. I didn’t think it was right. I didn’t think it would do much of a service to myself or viewers. It just wasn’t the kind of goodbye that I wanted and the kind of goodbye viewers deserved and so that is what’s behind organizing this ourselves as a union.”

The longtime journalist acknowledges the event will effectively mean “ripping off the band-aid” for a lot of those laid off.

“People connect with us and want to vent to us, with us,” said Hutchins. “I can’t say to them, ‘it’s gonna change’ or ‘it’s going to be reversed’…I doubt it will be. Corus or Global has taken a 70-year legacy and basically washed it away in one day and that’s a bitter pill to swallow, not just for staff, but for the whole community. We need a way to share stories, share favourite moments. I’ve had generations of people approach me…I can only speak for the 6 o’clock news, but we were appointment viewing for many, many people. Not just in Kingston, but our broadcast signal covers Brockville, Perth, Westport and all the communities in between, it’s a huge area well beyond Kingston’s borders.”

“Again, I understand the business side of it,” said Hutchins. “I appreciated working for Cours all of those years. I think they were a great company…until they started to struggle like so many. I think they’re struggling for their survival. I don’t know what the future is for Corus.”

Hutchins, who was acknowledged for his years of service to the community with a Motion of Recognition at Tuesday night’s meeting of Kingston City Council, said Saturday’s event will be highlighted by screening some old videos and blooper reels, as well as a few speeches, which he anticipates will be emotional.

“I want to thank the very loyal community of television viewers and radio listeners over the past decades for being loyal to our stations. And I hope that this reception will help bring some closure to those in the community that feel abandoned by what has happened,” he said. “We established an incredible community connection and we need to do something to honour that.”

His concern now is for the next generation of journalists who’ve lost an important training ground. Among those that got their start at CKWS-TV were broadcasters like Marcia MacMillan, Janice Golding, Heather Butts, and Carolyn Dunn.

“We were a great training ground for generations of talent who moved on to bigger and better things. That training ground is pretty much lost now for the most part. They learned to anchor, write, read. CKWS and the radio stations were a great training ground for a lot of people. As markets like this disappear or shrink, that’s getting more difficult to do to become a journalist and learn the ropes.”

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