Reg Sherren: Still Telling Stories

As someone who has been part of the Canadian journalism scene for over four decades, Reg Sherren knows how to tell a story. Most of his career has been focused on reporting on the social issues and people of Canada as a TV correspondent on the CBC for its flagship news program The National. He also worked around the world, from the Persian Gulf, Europe, Japan and across the US, as a TV commentator and guest hosted on CBC radio on programs like Cross Country Check-up and The Current. As host of the network program Country Canada for close to 10 years, Reg travelled to almost every region of the nation to cover stories important to Canadians.

“There were so many exciting moments as I look back on my career,” says Reg. “Being chosen as a national correspondent was certainly one. Being named as the host of Country Canada was probably the career highlight. Covering the first Persian Gulf War just three months after our son was born. Covering Washington from the Capitol or working out of the CBC bureau in London. These were all opportunities I will never forget.”

Despite having won several awards for his work, the ultimate highlight was all the “downhome” folks he had the great pleasure to meet and tell their stories. People in the logging and fishing communities, the ones that grow our food, the amazing, hardy people who call our north home.

“I loved meeting people like Larry Audlaluk, Canada’s greatest ambassador living in the town ‘at the top of the world.’ Grise Fiord, on the coast of Ellesmere Island, is only 1,600 kilometres from the North Pole!” says Reg. “Larry and his family had survived a lot at the hands of his own government, and yet remained one of its biggest supporters. That story led to Larry being awarded the Order of Canada, and I am proud and honoured to say I played a role in that.”

Another fond memory Reg recalls was flying in a helicopter around the south coast of Newfoundland with Jean Chretien. Reg says this experience was a great lesson for a young journalist: Chretien had not yet become Prime Minister, but his political skills were already well honed.

“It stayed with me the rest of my career,” says Reg, “the lesson being ‘be careful what you say, and to whom you say it.’ As we were flying into the tiny community of Bay Despair (as it is known in Newfoundland), I mentioned to him, ‘you know Mr. Chretien, in French this is “Baie d’Espoir,” the Bay of Hope. But the reality is that unemployment here among young people is close to 50 percent. There is more despair than hope.”

When Chretien got out of the helicopter, he strode into the community hall and addressed the audience waiting there with this, “You know, in my language ‘dis is la Baie d’Espoir, da bay of hope. But since the Conservatives have come to power, this truly is Bay Despair!” Reg had inadvertently fed a very skilled politician his opening line! Lesson learned.

Fast forward to 2017. Reg decided it was time to make a change. The CBC’s flagship news program, the place where his journalism pieces had lived for many years, was undergoing significant changes.

“Anchor Peter Mansbridge had decided to head his own way as well,” says Reg. “I thought, with a new format, new hosts, new management, this was the perfect time for me to get to work on some other projects that had been percolating for a while. I decided to say goodbye.”

One of those projects turned out to be his first book. Reg admits he never really had a burning desire to write one, but after contributing to a colleague’s book, had found the exercise rewarding. He contacted the publishers, Douglas & McIntyre, with his idea, and they jumped on it. That Wasn’t the Plan was born.

In the book, Reg shares stories about interesting Canadians he met along the way during his career. “The stack of papers generated from the CBC archives contained over 5,000 stories that I have told,” he says. “The first draft of the book was twice as long. I decided the logical approach was to be loosely chronological and to stick with stories that would, for one reason or another, resonate with readers. But who knows? Maybe there will be a volume two!”

Reg also covers the current state of the news industry in That Wasn’t the Plan. Of course, having entered the journalism field over 40 years ago, he’s seen many changes, including the massive transformation to the digital universe. With each technological change, a different editorial approach to telling stories, or even where stories come from, has evolved.

“We live in the age of ‘citizen journalism’ where the average person is walking around with a device in their hand capable of recording, editing and disseminating information to millions of people around the world, simply by pushing ‘send,’” says Reg. “Newsrooms wait to see what is trending on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, before deciding what issues deserve coverage. Things are moving so fast now that I have joked, ‘we don’t make mistakes anymore, we just have updates.’”

Reg believes the drive for journalists to restore credibility and reliability should now be paramount. Without that, the news is in real danger of becoming something else people don’t know if they can trust on their Facebook newsfeed, as the past four years have shown us.

“Never has the struggle for credibility and integrity been greater for journalists. It makes taking the time to get it ‘right’ as opposed to being ‘first’ even more critical.”

So, can we still find reliable sources of information and news? Fortunately, Reg thinks it’s possible. Support local information sources, whether it’s your community newspaper or magazines. Support them or lose them. Fewer voices is not a good thing. Question the source of everything you watch and read, especially online. If you don’t know or understand the source, be very leery about what it is telling you. Be aware that every move you make, especially on social media, is being monitored and recorded.

When we get our news and other information from more than one source, over time we can identify credible news outlets and seek out their coverage.

“The problem is that most of us are also increasingly being spoon-fed a steady diet of information washing over us from the internet or social media,” says Reg. “There is a distinction. On the internet, you tend to seek out the information yourself. Social media decides for you what you want to see. Sophisticated algorithms interpret everything you click on or look at, every comment you make or photo you post. It then slowly moves the information you receive in that direction. Pretty soon, all you see in your newsfeed is like-minded ideas or opinions. It has contributed to the narrowing of viewpoints and polarization we are seeing in society today.”

That Wasn’t the Plan launched in fall 2020 and has garnered positive reviews. Reg has been deeply touched by feedback from across the country.

“This tells me a few things,” he says. “Mostly I think it tells me that never has the hunger for our own stories, our own history, been greater. Maybe it’s because we all find ourselves a little lost in the digital universe. Maybe it’s because we have tended to draw a little closer together as a country during these difficult times. Whatever it is, people seem to have really connected with what I have to say, and the people I introduce them to. For that, I am humbled and eternally grateful.”

Calling himself “semi-retired,” Reg remains in Winnipeg, where his family moved to “for a couple of years” over 25 years ago, and a place he considers one of the country’s best kept secrets. No longer on a tight daily schedule, his day starts with reading the paper, and a walk with his dog.

“Exercise is a big part of my routine, whether it’s swimming in the summer or badminton in the winter. I try to write a little something every day and play guitar. I have a group of dear friends I have been writing and recording music with for over 40 years. That continuum of friendship means the world to me,” he says. Reg also continues to write feature articles, and he’s working on a screenplay that he had set aside 30 years ago. He also does some mentoring and teaching. He stays busy.

Reg’s future to-do list remains long. He wants to build a small boat. He wishes his eyesight was good enough to be a pilot.

“I want to get back to painting, and I will,” he says. “I volunteer but I want to do more. My wife, Pamela, and I are determined to do much more travelling, and we’ve already done quite a bit. We will again when it’s safe. The list goes on and on. I hope when it’s all said and done, there will still be a list of several dozen things I am working my way through when I drop.”

Final thoughts? “Work harder at being kinder,” he says. “It’s something I try to improve on every day, especially now.”

That Wasn’t the Plan is available at Chapters Indigo and on Amazon.

If you were to meet your 20-year-old self, what advice would you give him?

“Slow down! Take the time to absorb the things you are experiencing. Don’t prejudge. Remember there is so much more you don’t know. Watch, and listen.”

What or who has influenced you the most and why? 

“My father and my grandmother were huge influences in my life. My father because even though he was a captain of industry, a large, imposing man, his manner was one of inclusiveness and kind consideration. 
My dad was just nine when my grandfather, a United Church minister, succumbed to cancer. Dad was the oldest of three boys, which my grandmother raised while achieving her teaching certificate and eventually becoming a school principal. Her steady and calm advice steered me through difficult waters many times. We wrote to each other weekly until the day she died. I still pull out those letters sometimes. I always find another nugget of wisdom in them.”

What are you most grateful for?

“I am most grateful for my family, my wife and our children and our good health. As the years go by you truly realize, without your health, you don’t have much.”
 
What does success mean to you? 

“Success can best be measured in happiness. I never set out to make a million dollars; it just wasn’t that important to me. But being able to care for my family, financially and otherwise, is a proud measure of my success, especially for a guy who never really had a plan! Feeling comfortable in my own skin, being able to care for friends and others, being able to laugh at myself, these too are measures of my success.”

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