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Wendy Mesley

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Wendy Mesley
Mesley in 2012
Born
Montreal, Canada
Alma materRyerson Polytechnical Institute
OccupationBroadcast journalist
Years active1976–present (radio)
1979–present (television)
Known forThe Weekly with Wendy Mesley, The National
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1989; div. 1992)​
  • Liam McQuade
    ​
    (m. 1998)​
Children1
Awards3 Gemini Awards, 2006 John Drainie Award, 1 Canadian Screen Award

Wendy Mesley is a Canadian television journalist,[1] podcaster,[2] and blogger.[3] She worked for CBC News from 1981[4] to 2021[5] in roles including national correspondent at the Quebec Legislature[4] and the Ottawa Parliamentary Bureau.[1] She was the anchor of The National,[6] host of Undercurrents,[1] Disclosure,[7] and Marketplace,[1] and from 2018 to 2020, she hosted the Sunday morning talk show The Weekly with Wendy Mesley.[6]

Broadcast career

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Mesley enrolled in the journalism program at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute but left before completing her degree, though she later obtained a diploma.[4] In 1979, during her last year of studies, both CBC and CTV interviewed students for summer job opportunities.[4] Mesley received offers from both networks but chose to work for CFCF-TV, the CTV affiliate in Montreal.[8][4] However, by 1981, she transitioned to CBC.[4]

In 1985, Mesley became CBC's first female TV correspondent to cover the Prime Minister, when she joined the parliamentary bureau.[8][1] Then in 1991, she became CBC'S national affairs correspondent and started hosting Sunday Report.[4]

From 1994 to 2001, Mesley played a pivotal role in the creation and hosting of the media and technology series Undercurrents.[1] In 2002, following a brief stint co-hosting the investigative show Disclosure,[7] Mesley transitioned to the consumer investigation series Marketplace,[9] concurrently serving as a frequent backup anchor for CBC's flagship evening news program, The National.[9]

In 2004, Mesley hosted a 13-part series called The Greatest Canadian,[10] and between 2007 and 2008, she co-hosted four episodes of Test the Nation, with Brent Bambury,[11][12][13][14] and one with Ron MacLean,[15] which all aired on CBC.

From October 2009, Mesley had a greater presence on The National, and in 2010, she became the program's regular Friday and Sunday anchor.[16]

In January 2018, she started hosting a new Sunday morning talk show on politics and media, titled The Weekly with Wendy Mesley".[6]

On June 9, 2020, Mesley was suspended from The Weekly with Wendy Mesley[17] for saying "nigger" in an editorial meeting about a presumed panelist who had tweeted she was repeatedly called that;[18] this occurred mere days after the murder of George Floyd.[18] Mesley immediately apologized.[19] Months earlier, during staff discussions of Quebec's Bill 21 prohibiting some civil servants from wearing anything connected to a religious belief, Mesley had referred to the seminal Quebec book "White Niggers of America", written by Pierre Vallières.[18]

On July 5, 2021, Mesley announced her retirement from CBC.[5] On July 7, 2021, an opinion piece she had written appeared in The Globe and Mail, entitled "I made mistakes. But my departure wasn't the solution to the CBC's problem with racism",[18] which detailed the issues leading up to her retirement. While Mesley did concede to having made a serious error by using the "n-word" in editorial meetings, she indicated that her second mistake was in trusting CBC management to manage the story appropriately.[18] She also felt that the punishment administered by management was disproportionate, given that on both occasions, her use of the word was not malicious.[18]

In 2022, Mesley, along with Maureen Holloway, created a podcast called "Women of Ill Repute".[2] She also began writing on Substack.[3]

Awards

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Mesley has been honored with three Gemini Awards for Best Host in a News or Talk Program or Series.[20] Additionally, in 2006, she was bestowed with the prestigious John Drainie Award by ACTRA, in recognition of her significant contributions to Canadian broadcasting.[21][8] In 2017, Mesley was the recipient of a Canadian Screen Award for Best Host or Interviewer in a News or Information Program or Series.[22][8]

Personal life

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Mesley was born in Montreal, Quebec.[4] Following the dissolution of her parents' marriage shortly after her birth, her mother, Joan Mesley, relocated them to Toronto in 1958.[4] Joan, who never remarried, provided for Wendy by working as a physiotherapist. Wendy met her father, Gordon Mesley, a radio journalist, for the first time, at the age of eighteen.[4]

At the age of ten, Mesley accompanied her mother to the U.S. consulate to picket in support of Martin Luther King Jr.[4]

Mesley married CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge in 1989,[4] but the union ended in 1992.[4] She remarried in 1998, with marketing executive Liam McQuade. Together, they have a daughter.[4]

During the fall of 2004, Mesley received a diagnosis of an aggressive form of breast cancer subsequent to the discovery of a lump in her left breast.[23] Shortly thereafter, she found a small, malignant lump in her right breast.[24] In January 2005, she publicly disclosed her diagnosis.[9][24] Despite reducing her workload, Mesley persevered with her hosting duties on Marketplace when she could and as a backup newsreader for The National.[9] Following a series of treatments, including two lumpectomies, chemotherapy, and radiation,[23] Mesley resumed her full-time position at CBC in March 2006, albeit under the ongoing care of an oncologist.[23] During her treatment period, Mesley also undertook the filming of a documentary, titled Chasing the Cancer Answer, which aired in March 2006.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "The Weekly with Wendy Mesley". CBC. CBC. December 16, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "About – The Women of Ill Repute". The Women of Ill Repute. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Wendy Mesley – Substack". Substack. Substack. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "There's something about Wendy". Chatelaine. Archived from the original on June 14, 2000. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Wendy Mesley to retire from CBC". CBC. CBC. July 5, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c "Wendy Mesley to host live CBC talk show on Sunday mornings". Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. July 27, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Ballantyne, Robert (July 21, 2001). "Full Disclosure". POPJOURNALISM. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d "CBC News announces new Sunday morning talk show to be hosted by Wendy Mesley". CBC. CBC. July 27, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d "Wendy Mesley diagnosed with breast cancer". CBC. CBC. January 7, 2005. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  10. ^ Strauss, Stephen (October 18, 2004). "Greatest Canadian list pared down". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Goodman, Lee-Anne (March 15, 2007). "CBC show billed as national IQ test". Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Kohl, Jesse (August 13, 2007). "CBC unveils Test the Nation: Watch Your Language". Media In Canada. Brunico. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  13. ^ "Test the Nation – Episodes". CBC. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  14. ^ "Test the Nation: Canada, Eh?". TV Guide. TV Guide. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  15. ^ "Test the Nation: Sports". CBC. CBC. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  16. ^ "The Knowlton Literary Festival – Wendy Mesley". Knowlton Literary Festival. Knowlton Literary Festival. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  17. ^ "Wendy Mesley suspended from hosting after using 'careless' language in discussing racial issue". CBC. CBC. June 9, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  18. ^ a b c d e f Mesley, Wendy (July 7, 2021). "I made mistakes. But my departure wasn't the solution to the CBC's problem with racism". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  19. ^ "Black CBC journalist present when Wendy Mesley used N-word says her presence prompted disciplinary action". CBC. CBC. June 26, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  20. ^ "Wendy Mesley - Alumni". Toronto Metropolitan University. Toronto Metropolitan University. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  21. ^ "Mesley to be honoured at Banff TV festival". Waterloo Region Record. Kitchener, ON. May 17, 2006. p. 16. Retrieved April 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "2017 Canadian Screen Awards". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  23. ^ a b c d Hampson, Sarah (March 4, 2006). "Cancer, and the battle after". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  24. ^ a b MacDonald, Gayle (January 8, 2005). "I just never dreamed of cancer". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
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