By Tina Edan, Maytree
Congratulations to CBC’s Managing Director Susan Marjetti who received the 2012 Outstanding Leadership Achievement Award at the Innoversity Creative Summit for her vision in transforming the face of the CBC to be more reflective of its audiences’ diversity. The transformation of CBC Radio’s Metro Morning began in 2001 when Susan asked the audience and her own staff if the show reflected the fact that Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world. The answer was a resounding “no.”
Since then, Susan has been committed to developing and implementing a diversity strategy that has made CBC an example for other institutions. The success of her vision and leadership is in the numbers: CBC’s Metro Morning has been the number one morning radio program in Toronto 43 times. She has also made CBC News: Toronto the first anchor team of colour on a flagship newscast in a major Canadian market.
Watch this video to find out why this diversity strategy is so important to the CBC.
We know that who’s in charge and who’s seen in the media do not reflect the diversity of the population of the GTA. We counted. The success of the CBC strategy is well documented. The question remains why others aren’t following.
In addition to Susan’s award, Innoversity “Angel Awards” were presented to four other individuals for their outstanding work supporting diversity in media, including:
The awards ceremony ended with touching remarks from Susan who cited her work on diversity to be the most rewarding of her illustrious career. Most poignantly, she quoted her late mother as the person who gifted her with a lesson that continues to inspire her: “Everyone counts or no one counts.”
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