Wendy Mesley

Wendy Mesley is a Canadian television journalist,<ref name="WendyCBCBio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> podcaster,<ref name=podcast>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and blogger.<ref name=substack>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She worked for CBC News from 1981<ref name=Chatelaine>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to 2021<ref name=Retire>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in roles including national correspondent at the Quebec Legislature<ref name=Chatelaine /> and the Ottawa Parliamentary Bureau.<ref name="WendyCBCBio" /> She was the anchor of The National,<ref name=WMShow>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> host of Undercurrents,<ref name="WendyCBCBio" /> Disclosure,<ref name=Disclosure>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Marketplace,<ref name="WendyCBCBio" /> and from 2018 to 2020, she hosted the Sunday morning talk show The Weekly with Wendy Mesley.<ref name=WMShow />

Broadcast career

Mesley enrolled in the journalism program at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute but left before completing her degree, though she later obtained a diploma.<ref name=Chatelaine /> In 1979, during her last year of studies, both CBC and CTV interviewed students for summer job opportunities.<ref name=Chatelaine /> Mesley received offers from both networks but chose to work for CFCF-TV, the CTV affiliate in Montreal.<ref name=CBCPress> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=Chatelaine /> However, by 1981, she transitioned to CBC.<ref name=Chatelaine />

In 1985, Mesley became CBC's first female TV correspondent to cover the Prime Minister, when she joined the parliamentary bureau.<ref name=CBCPress /><ref name=WendyCBCBio /> Then in 1991, she became CBC's national affairs correspondent and started hosting Sunday Report.<ref name=Chatelaine />

From 1994 to 2001, Mesley played a pivotal role in the creation and hosting of the media and technology series Undercurrents.<ref name=WendyCBCBio /> In 2002, following a brief stint co-hosting the investigative show Disclosure,<ref name=Disclosure /> Mesley transitioned to the consumer investigation series Marketplace,<ref name=Cancer>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> concurrently serving as a frequent backup anchor for CBC's flagship evening news program, The National.<ref name=Cancer />

In 2004, Mesley hosted a 13-part series called The Greatest Canadian.<ref name="GreatestCan">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Between 2007 and 2008, she co-hosted four episodes of Test the Nation, with Brent Bambury,<ref name=TTN>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=TTNLanguage>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=TTNTrivia>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=TTNCanada>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and one with Ron MacLean.<ref name=TTNSports>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Both programs 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.<ref name=LitFestival>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In January 2018, she started hosting a new Sunday morning talk show on politics and media, titled The Weekly with Wendy Mesley.<ref name=WMShow />

On June 9, 2020, Mesley was suspended from The Weekly with Wendy Mesley<ref name=CBCSus>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> for saying "nigger" in an editorial meeting about a presumed panelist who had tweeted she was repeatedly called that;<ref name=GAM>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> this occurred mere days after the murder of George Floyd.<ref name=GAM /> Mesley immediately apologized.<ref name=CBCDisciplinary>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=GAM />

On July 5, 2021, Mesley announced her retirement from CBC.<ref name=Retire /> 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",<ref name=GAM /> 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.<ref name=GAM /> She also felt that the punishment administered by management was disproportionate, given that on both occasions, her use of the word was not malicious.<ref name=GAM />

In 2022, Mesley, along with Maureen Holloway, created a podcast called "Women of Ill Repute".<ref name=podcast /> She also began writing on Substack.<ref name=substack />

Awards

Mesley has been honored with three Gemini Awards for Best Host in a News or Talk Program or Series.<ref name=Gemini>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Additionally, in 2006, she was bestowed with the prestigious John Drainie Award by ACTRA, in recognition of her significant contributions to Canadian broadcasting.<ref name=JohnDrainie>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=CBCPress /> In 2017, Mesley was the recipient of a Canadian Screen Award for Best Host or Interviewer in a News or Information Program or Series.<ref name=CSA>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=CBCPress />

Personal life

Mesley was born in Montreal, Quebec.<ref name=Chatelaine /> Following the dissolution of her parents' marriage shortly after her birth, her mother, Joan Mesley, relocated them to Toronto in 1958.<ref name=Chatelaine /> 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.<ref name=Chatelaine />

At the age of ten, Mesley accompanied her mother to the U.S. consulate to picket in support of Martin Luther King Jr.<ref name=Chatelaine />

Mesley married CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge in 1989,<ref name=Chatelaine /> but the union ended in 1992.<ref name=Chatelaine /> She remarried in 1998, to marketing executive Liam McQuade. Together, they have a daughter.<ref name=Chatelaine />

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.<ref name=CancerDoc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Shortly thereafter, she found a small, malignant lump in her right breast.<ref name=CancerGAM> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In January 2005, she publicly disclosed her diagnosis.<ref name=Cancer /><ref name=CancerGAM /> Despite reducing her workload, Mesley persevered with her hosting duties on Marketplace when she could and as a backup newsreader for The National.<ref name=Cancer /> Following a series of treatments, including two lumpectomies, chemotherapy, and radiation,<ref name=CancerDoc /> Mesley resumed her full-time position at CBC in March 2006, albeit under the ongoing care of an oncologist.<ref name=CancerDoc /> During her treatment period, Mesley also undertook the filming of a documentary, titled Chasing the Cancer Answer, which aired in March 2006.<ref name=CancerDoc />

External links

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