Originally published in the April 3, 2025 edition of The Weekly Briefing
Natacha Mercure has been officially named Executive Director, Audio and Radio, for Radio-Canada. Mercure, who has held the position on an interim basis since January, has been with Radio-Canada since 2000. Initially joining the public broadcaster as a web developer, she went on to hold leadership roles within the Digital Services and Radio teams, including Head of Production and Digital Content for ICI PREMIÈRE; Director of Radio-Canada.ca; Senior Director, Digital Strategy and Creative Services; and most recently, Senior Director, Digital Audio Strategy and Content, overseeing podcast and audiobook production. She succeeds Caroline Jamet in the role, who joined Cogeco Media as president in February. Read more here.
Matt McGowan, Snapchat Canada’s Managing Director and General Manager, is joining Bell Media in the newly-created role of Senior Vice-President, Business Solutions. McGowan has been with Snap Inc. since 2019. His new position with Bell will see him lead the go-to-market team and oversee strategy and execution of ad sales and partnerships at Bell Media. Read more here.
Anita Bathe has announced she won’t be returning to the CBC Vancouver News at Six anchor desk, following 18 months of maternity leave. Bathe, who was named Best Local News Anchor at both the 2022 and 2023 Canadian Screen Awards, had anchored the News at Six since 2018, initially alongside Mike Killeen, and then solo from May 2021 onward. Bathe revealed in a post to Instagram that she’s made the difficult decision to leave journalism to pursue other opportunities. Read more here.
Matt Skube has announced his departure from CTV Ottawa after 11 years. Skube first joined the station in 2013 as a weekend weather anchor. He’s been the anchor of CTV News at Five since 2017. While not revealing his next move, he has divulged that he and his family will be leaving the city.
Abigail Turner, who announced her departure from CTV Vancouver last month, has announced she’s returning to Manitoba to join social impact digital media organization, Future of Good, as an online reporter. Turner had been with CTV since 2022.
Mike Richards will be heard on Sportsnet 960 The Fan (CFAC-FM) Calgary, starting Sunday, April 13. The hour-long show is being sponsored by CIBC. Richards, who was most recently heard in mornings on Sauga 960 (CKNT-AM) Mississauga, has two previous stints on Sportsnet Radio under his belt, including a more than six-year run in mornings at Sportsnet 590 The Fan (CJCL-AM) from 2004-10.
Grant Smadella has left Golden West Broadcasting after more than 15 years to join youth mental health charity, The Robb Nash Project, as Director, Corporate & Philanthropic Partnerships. Smadella was most recently General Manager and Sales Manager for Golden West’s Winnipeg stations CHVN 95.1 FM and Classic 107 FM (CKCL-FM).
Pam Fedak has joined the Winnipeg Sun as an Assistant Editor. Fedak was a reporter and anchor with Golden West Broadcasting’s Radio Southern Manitoba network for 27 years, based in Winkler, up until last fall.
Jimmy Thomson is the new Editor-in-Chief of Canada’s National Observer. Thomson had been in the position of Managing Editor for the past 11 months. Prior to that, he served in a similar role at Overstory Media Group’s Capital Daily in Victoria.
Tim Shore, the founder of blogTO has parted ways with ZoomerMedia. Shore, who founded the publication in 2004, sold the website to ZoomerMedia in 2022. He wrote in a post to LinkedIn that the company had decided to terminate his employment. “It was a great 20-year run and I’m proud of what we built together and especially appreciate the resilience of my former colleagues who continue to navigate what remains an extremely challenging environment for media companies in Canada,” wrote Shore.
Rachel Gilmore’s “fact-checking” federal election misinformation segment on CTV Your Morning has been cancelled. Gilmore, who was set to join the show every Friday during the election, says the segment was dropped due to online pressure from Conservative detractors. In a phone call recorded by Gilmore, CTV Your Morning’s executive producer Jennifer MacLean calls the online trolling “a distraction” and that the show doesn’t have the “bandwidth to keep focus where we need to,” noting that the journalist will be compensated for the appearances she didn’t make.
