As It Happens co-host resigns

Barbara Budd has left CBC Radio One after 17 years as co-host of current affairs program As It Happens. Her last broadcast will be Friday, April 30.

Budd spoke with The Toronto Star:

“The CBC is always trying to make things better, its programs are always evolving, and after 40 years they want As It Happens to grow.

“I don’t fit in with that plan.”

Budd, a veteran co-host and host of the program since 1993, admitted in an emotional interview that the decision by CBC Radio management came as a shock, The Toronto Star reports:

“I was surprised, but I understand their reasons. I would never have willingly walked away from a show I loved with all my heart, even years before I became a part of it.

“Change is difficult for listeners, viewers and readers, as the media world evolves. But change is inevitable.”

The Globe and Mail reports:

“My association with As It Happens goes back to 1987, when show scripts
were hammered out on clunky Underwood typewriters and you actually had
to dial a telephone! That’s when I first regularly started filling in
for the remarkable Alan Maitland, and then of course for the past 17
years as co-host myself,” says Budd. “For all that time, it’s not only
been a real delight to me, but a tremendous honour to share some of the
most exciting stories and people in the world with our audience.”

“As one of only two co-hosts in the show’s history, Barbara has
introduced audiences in Canada, the United States and online around the
world, to thousands of stories, events and people great and small,” says
Denise Donlon, general manager of CBC Radio. “The one great constant,
thanks to her unique style and tone, is the way those stories caught the
imagination of As It Happens listeners. Barbara has made a significant
contribution to a legendary CBC program and along with thanks, we offer
her our very best wishes as she embarks on her next great adventures.”

The CBC will soon conduct a formal search for a new co-host for As It
Happens. The CBC on its the long-running show:

“For more than 40 years, using the telephone as its main communications
link, As It Happens has explored the heart of a story, whether it’s
happening in the streets of Belgrade, the dockyards of Vancouver, the
boardrooms of Bay Street or the kitchens of Paris. On even the most
complex and troubling issues, As It Happens is legendary for providing
its audience with the story behind the story.”