Would You All Stand And Take A Bow: One Man's Opinion

By Ben Meisner

This week I had the pleasure of being presented with the Life Time Achievement Award by the Radio and TV News Directors Association of Canada.

I said at the time that I received the award, and it bears saying again, that I am a very simple person.

My life has been about trying to give a voice to the average citizen of this country , perhaps driven in part as a result of  being raised  in a single parent  family.  My mother , was from Poland, and while she could speak English,  she  couldn’t read or write in that language.  She tried to instill in me a  desire to have  those skills.

At the award ceremony, I was asked  to talk to students about myself, how I got 50 years in the business and how I thought their future should unfold.   As I did then, I will do now, and that is, thank the many  people,  ( a good many of them from  the community of Prince George and this region)  who have mentored me along the way.

It is the people like yourself who, over the years,  have  given me the  ammunition , loaded the gun, then  set me  loose, who made it all happen.  Every  person who made the anonymous phone call, the  late night e-mail,  dropped off a brown envelope,  stopped by to  have a chat,  is deserving of the  award.  You took risks  to ensure someone knew what was really going on.

On each and every issue I tackled,  it  may have been my lips that were moving,  but the message  was from you.

I am celebrating 50 years in the business, and  what the RTNDA  says is a lifetime achievement. 

Although I am the one celebrating, each and every one  of you who  has listened to a program, read a column, read  an editorial  or passed along some information  should take a bow.   I only ever wanted to  be able  to give  the ordinary person  a voice. 

The award is yours,  and I thank you for allowing me to accept it on your behalf.

I’m Meisner  and that is one man’s opinion.

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