Adrienne Arsenault is Doing a Heck of a Job

August 4th, 2006

Filed under:
Media, Television

Adrienne Arsenault is Doing a Heck of a Job

As I mentioned, I’ve been watching the CBC news more or less nightly during the Israel-Lebanon conflict. I’ve been extremely impressed by Adrienne Arsenault, a veteran journalist and the CBC’s Middle East bureau chief.

Arsenault has been filing informative daily reports from the Israel-Lebanon border. Unlike so many of her peers, she puts the emphasis entirely on the story’s subjects, and doesn’t seem to seek the limelight herself. I was also impressed with her brief and fairly tough interview with the Israeli foreign minister.

Ms. Arsenault doesn’t appear to have a Wikipedia entry. Why not? If I get some time over the weekend, I’ll make one.

UPDATE: As Tod points out, there is a Wikipedia entry for Adrienne Arsenualt. Inexplicably, a search in Wikipedia doesn’t turn it up, though.

Comments: 9 Responses so far

Mark
August 5th, 2006
2:57 am

Maybe it is part of the CBC psyche not to gain the limelight but to present the story at hand in the best possible manner so that the truth can be known, or at least part of the truth.

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Tod Maffin
August 5th, 2006
10:09 am

Yes she does… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Arsenault

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darren
August 5th, 2006
11:57 am

That’s weird, a search for ‘Adrienne Arsenault’ doesn’t produce her entry.

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Jodi
August 6th, 2006
8:19 am

She does do a heck of a job, but the woman is crazy. She has blogged on the CBC website a couple of times about being in situations of ridiculous risk, including sitting in her press vehicle while all the Israeli soldiers have been ordered into their tanks, and being within 20 m of rocket strikes. In the last two weeks, her video reports have included at least 3 “interuptions” to her interview, all of which involved panicked voices and running with the camera rolling because rockets were striking nearby. While this undoubtedly brings the reality of the conflict into our living rooms, I’m not sure what purpose that serves. Canadian public opinion on this issue is already in opposition to Canadian public policy. While I agree that her reporting style is totally committed to the story, her persistent presence in such a dangerous zone smacks of grandstanding… an overgrown need to get the most spectacular, least likely to be heard story.

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Ian King
August 8th, 2006
10:43 pm

I don’t think it’s at all grandstanding. When I hear that word, I think of stunts like Geraldo Rivera “hunting” the Taliban in Afghanistan and special packages on cable news channels that play up the reporter and the bang-bang, without telling much more of a story. None of that here; it’s just commitment to telling the story, and good on her.

Peter Armstrong, who’s taking over Arseneault’s position, has a tough act to follow. (You could say acts; remember Neil Macdonald’s work from ‘98 to 2003?)

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