Hugh began his media career in 1991 as a radio reporter in the Ottawa Valley. From there he moved to North Bay to work as the Sports Director and Morning Show Co-Host at the local radio station. He relocated to Toronto in 1993, sticking with radio, working for Country 95, The Fan 590 and EZ Rock 97.3. Hugh's venture into the land of television started at Citytv, where he was hired as a writer for BT-BreakfastTelevision. He later became News Producer, before being appointed Sports Specialist for BT-BreakfastTelevision and CityNews.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Hugh Burrill
A graduate of Canadore College, Hugh began his media career in 1991 as a radio reporter in the Ottawa Valley. From there he moved to North Bay to work as the Sports Director and Morning Show Co-Host at the local radio station. He relocated to Toronto in 1993, sticking with radio, working for Country 95, The Fan 590 and EZ Rock 97.3. Hugh's venture into the land of television started at Citytv, where he was hired as a writer for BT-BreakfastTelevision. He later became News Producer, before being appointed Sports Specialist for BT-BreakfastTelevision and CityNews.
Hugh began his media career in 1991 as a radio reporter in the Ottawa Valley. From there he moved to North Bay to work as the Sports Director and Morning Show Co-Host at the local radio station. He relocated to Toronto in 1993, sticking with radio, working for Country 95, The Fan 590 and EZ Rock 97.3. Hugh's venture into the land of television started at Citytv, where he was hired as a writer for BT-BreakfastTelevision. He later became News Producer, before being appointed Sports Specialist for BT-BreakfastTelevision and CityNews.
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Today, Hugh Burrill came to talk to our class about his career in Radio broadcasting and how he transitioned over to a television sports specialist. Hugh started out at Canadore College for Radio and he never thought he would be doing what he’s doing today back then. That’s something I found to be most interesting and I keep hearing it more and more from people in the industry. He had to work different jobs at a lot of smaller networks to get to where he is today and he never thought he would be on camera interviewing and building relationships with athletes he had looked up to his whole life. That was one of the aspects he stressed the most: building a rapport with as many people as you can. When you make good relationships with as many important contacts as you can, they will trust you more and give you more honest answers. You become more respected when you show respect to them and you become more than just a microphone in their face. It was also cool talking about what he considers to be news, what he can and can’t say on air, and what he chooses to cover or what he thinks is too personal when it comes to athletes personal lives. It was also interesting hearing about his life in radio and how much fun he had with that. It definitely opened my mind to how many different opportunities there are for different jobs in the field other than the ones you think you’re going to do at this exact moment in time. All in all, I really appreciated Hugh coming in to talk to us so early in the morning and he seems like a really cool guy!
On Tuesday Hugh Burrill came to talk about his experiences in radio and television broadcasting. I found I learned a lot from Hugh coming in. He gave good insight into the ups and downs of the industry, and how it’s important to start in a small area and work your way into a larger demographic such as Toronto. I found him very relatable as he was in a similar program at Canador College, gaining skills that we are currently learning at Sheridan. It’s nice to know that the hands on learning we have gained in our program is beneficial and will be useful in our broadcasting careers. I found it really interesting that he started out set on becoming a hardcore news journalist or producer and has instead become an on-air sports specialist. I found it inspiring that his career changed so much and he found what worked for him best. He mentioned that he had to take many different jobs to find what he was good at, as well as enjoyed. I found this to be something I kept in my head because I have been very indecisive in what I want to do, what I’m good at, and what I’m passionate about. Hugh talked about building a relationship and level of respect with the community and interview contacts you work with because they will be more likely to give detailed and truthful answers. I believe I can apply this information to my future stories by building a network with my community, peers, and coworkers and being well respected in the industry by having a positive attitude and showing my passion for the media business. Hugh’s job sounds like a lot of fun, and as he said most of the time it doesn’t feel like work. I have a lot of respect for him because of the commitmentand passion he has shown for his job. He told us he worked weekends for a while, as well as going to work for one in the morning and going to bed in the early evening. I would find this really difficult, but I understand now that these types of positions are what allow you to move up in the industry and gain the recognition of your colleagues. Hugh made the day-to-day tasks of the broacast industry seem very real and made me excited to get involved in it and work my way up within the business. I’m really happy we got the chance to meet him and hear about his experiences, as well as hear his advice on how to get in the industry, and stay in it.
Tony Ashbee
Who is Hugh Burrill?
To me, he used to be the guy who delivered the Sports on CityTV. Catching his rendition of the day's events was rare because I'm a TSN junkie. But I now better understand the man behind the genuine smile that delivers stories to (and I quote) "the casual sports fan". As far as his history goes, read his bio on this page's main screen. What I learned on the day this guy gave up more than three hours of his personal time (of what I'm sure was an extremely busy day having to interview GSP before his regular shift) to talk to a second year Broadcast Journalsim class?...well let's see...
* role with the punches
* give it everything you got with everything you have available
* never say no to an opportunity
* the best praise you receive will be from your peers
* make your big mistakes in a small market
* he loves the Simpsons...
"MARG!...Send the kids over to the neighbours...I'm comin' home loaded!!!"
Personally, I hope Hugh finds his dream job where he gets to work on radio again while making better money than television provides. I'm a huge FAN590 supporter and, now knowing a little more of what Mr. Burrill is about...I'd tune in on a daily basis to hear his opinions.
And I think it's great that Rob Ford would rather talk to Hugh instead of every other journalist in the city at one of his first press conferences as Mayor.
I look forward to crossing paths with Hugh again in a social setting where I'll look at him and say...
"Let's get drunk and play ping pong!"
Cheers
Paul Carriere
8:00 in the morning, no money for coffee, pulled an all nighter the night before...who better to wake me up then a sports anchor ! Hugh Burrill was amazing. He semi convinced me to think about pursuing a career in radio (or just trying it out) because of his stint on a local radio station. I have a lot of respect for him knowing how much little time he has for his personal life but I guess that goes for a lot of people in the journalism business. When he explain how you have to be in the world of journalism, I thought to myself...I'm great for this business. I'm a very easy guy to work with and I love to ask questions. I'm very excited to get into sports and Hugh Burrill motivated me a bit more to pursue that dream. I love his story on Rob Ford and how he knows him from Football. The fact that he could have such a personal bond with such a powerful man shows how much people respect him. I really appreciated the fact that he came in. I have a lot of respect for what the guy does and I hope to be in his position one day...and I hope to god his love for the Simpsons doesn't wear out...CLASSIC show !
Hugh Burrill
(RACHEL JONES)
This week Hugh Burill sports reporter and specialist for City Tv stopped by to talk to the class. He discussed with us his path he has taken to get where he is today. One that is going to be very similar to ours, Hugh also attended college in a two-year program. The only difference with his program was that they had radio incorporated into their curriculum.
Hughes visit to our class reinforced a lot of important points, points such as not giving up when set backs are placed in front of you, always be positive and don’t treat your job as a job and have fun with it. I feel all these points are important if we want to survive in this industry. Hugh also made it clear that it has taken him a while (15 years) to get the position he is at today. Reinforcing that none of us or very few of us will graduate and have our dream jobs right away. Many of us will work in small markets or smaller jobs before we can work our ways up the latter to where we want to be.
Hugh also demonstrated that you might end up with a job position you never imagined yourself having, but end up loving it. He also gave very wise words of wisdom, stating that you should never quit a job without having another one. This is because it can be very difficult to get another job especially if you have burned some bridges along the way. As this is a very small industry where everyone know everyone.
Guest Blog: Hugh Burrill
Stephanie Caramanico
The most important fact I have learnt while Hugh was with us was to have a good attitude and good mannerism towards people you work with, and towards people you are interviewing. He spoke a lot about how to interview people with respect and know how to word things in order to get someone to open up and tell you what you want to hear, without making that person feel uncomfortable or angry. It was also great to learn that he was laid off once and that in this industry we have to accept that sometimes. We have to move on and stay positive. An interesting fact that Hugh discussed with us, was when we had to specify what information is important to tell an audience and what you should avoid. For example, if an athlete were seen with another women in public, would you write a story on it? We agreed as a class, we would not; since that would ruin any other chances for yourself or anyone you work with to ever get a descent interview with that player again.
What I found to be interesting is the difference between radio and television. We have not touched base at all with radio; so learning about it was informative. I never thought about it, but radio is definitely more conversational since you are not reading off a prompter. The other thing about radio that I never knew about was that it is harder to become a great and popular radio host, than a host on television.
I really liked how he got to experience all different types of jobs within the industry, like radio host, producer, and a specialist for sports. It makes you realize that there are so many different opportunities you can do, and you don’t have to settle for one specific choice.
In my future stories, I am now going to be more cautious with interviewing people. Make sure I do my research so that I make the interviewee relaxed and willing to talk to me. Also, connections are key! So I plan are keeping in contact with everyone whom I have met and continue a professional relationship with them.
MELISSA N.
Hugh talked about radio broadcasting which was nice because we don’t touch on radio at all in this program so it was interesting to hear about the differences between radio and television. I learned that your words will be more descriptive on radio as opposed to television. Unfortunately radio personalities make less than television and that’s why he is staying in television and not going back to his love for radio.
I learned that when you are interviewing an athlete, you sometimes have to ask them tough questions, and you need to lead up to the tough questions. You have to figure out a gentle way of asking it and feel it out during the interview of when a good time to ask it is. Hugh told us this skill comes with practice. An interesting point Hugh made was that you don’t want to ask a yes or no question; he said it’s good to avoid if possible. I learned that it’s also important to build good relationships with the athletes so that when you need to do an interview they will most likely do it. They need to earn your trust and feel comfortable with you as a reporter.
Overall, listening to Hugh has had a positive impact on me. Hugh had a positive impact on me because I took some good tips away, especially interviewing techniques that I will be able to use going forward.
MELISSA N.
SCOTT YOUNG
At 8:00am every Tuesday I go to class to get taught new things by a gentlemen that has lots of experience in the news world including working on City TV. How cool is that! But last Tuesday I got to listen to a guest speaker by the name of Hugh Burrill, Hugh was great he gave lots of tips on what to expect in the real world and what to do and not to do. Oh and before I forget The Simpsons Rock!! Hugh was a guy that has a job that is right up my alley. He delivers sports for City TV, although I do get from sports from sportsnet, Hugh explains how he deals with his job and what he has got to do and the opportunities his job has gave him. Some key notes that he said that really got me thinking are “never say no to what comes at you” as well as “if your going to f**k up don’t do it in Toronto”. I think that means a lot, I think it is a good idea to go some where small and get all your little twigs out and make sure you are he most professional you can be before you come the big city. Mr. Burrill really seemed like a cool guy I would love to see him again once I am out in the work force he is definitely a good source or contact to have. Coming in and talking to broadcast students is really good cause it lets us know what we need to know to do well. Over all Hugh was really great and I learned lots.
Cheers
Bonnie Burak
When Hugh Burril came to speak to our class, I actually learned a lot. I originally thought his career path wouldn’t be very applicable to me, as I want to get into news, but I found he had a lot of valuable things to say.
Interestingly enough, Hugh originally wanted to be in news while he was in school. He confirmed that students’ original ideas of what they want to become in the industry often change. He began with on-air experience in radio broadcasting while in college and then got hired in North Bay. After two years, he moved to Toronto and became a newswriter for CityTv. He then went on to be a producer for Breakfast Television and became a sports reporter, then an anchor. He was laid off as anchor, and is now back to reporting. By having experience with both on air and production positions, he is now much more marketable. He reestablished that versatility is key in the broadcasting industry, and the more skills you have, the more valuable you are as an employee.
I enjoyed hearing about the significant differences between radio and television. The biggest difference is that in radio, good writing is essential. There are no clips or images to distract the audience, therefore everything that is reported must be described clearly and make a strong point. However, television is more scripted than radio, and a good radio host can make their show sound like they are having a conversation with friends. Radio has a more casual atmosphere than television, which is likely because the audience is only exposed to voices. Guests are often more comfortable and willing to open up on a radio show rather than television, perhaps because they aren’t as exposed. However, hard facts presented on radio shows are often less accurate than those on television.
Hugh gave us some advice to help us succeed down the road in the industry. He suggested that we take basically any position that is initially offered to us, just to get a foot in the door. When mistakes are made, it’s better to have made them in a smaller market as opposed to Toronto. Do not quit unless you have another job lined us, as the industry is fickle and layoffs are frequent. He let us know that we may feel underappreciated by our superiors at times, but that the biggest compliment we can receive on a piece is from a fellow reporter.
(TANYA COLLI)
Seeing Hugh Burrill in my Tuesday’s classroom was awesome! He is a great speaker and fun to converse with. I liked all the questions my teacher had asked him, which had answers that were very informative and sometimes funny. I enjoyed listening to Hugh talk about his radio career, which stations he worked at and the difference between radio and television. I liked the insight he had in radio because I was once interested in radio. I also liked that he told us the fact that he doesn’t watch sports day in and day out in order to be a sport’s reporter.
I really liked the part of the class where my teacher, Hugh and my class were involved in a little debate. Hugh made up a scenario and we debated whether we would run the story and if it was more newsworthy information, or more of a sports story. This exercise was good for future reference. If I need to cover a story, I have to go through all the aspects of the story and its background information before producing a final say on the topic.
Hugh also made it clear that we have to be nice to everyone in our industry. Our teachers tell us this quite frequently but hearing it from someone on television right now just tops it. We will never know who we will have to work with in the future and who could be our boss one day.
Thanks a lot for coming in Hugh!
(TANYA COLLI)
Seeing Hugh Burrill in my Tuesday’s classroom was awesome! He is a great speaker and fun to converse with. I liked all the questions my teacher had asked him, which had answers that were very informative and sometimes funny. I enjoyed listening to Hugh talk about his radio career, which stations he worked at and the difference between radio and television. I liked the insight he had in radio because I was once interested in radio. I also liked that he told us the fact that he doesn’t watch sports day in and day out in order to be a sport’s reporter.
I really liked the part of the class where my teacher, Hugh and my class were involved in a little debate. Hugh made up a scenario and we debated whether we would run the story and if it was more newsworthy information, or more of a sports story. This exercise was good for future reference. If I need to cover a story, I have to go through all the aspects of the story and its background information before producing a final say on the topic.
Hugh also made it clear that we have to be nice to everyone in our industry. Our teachers tell us this quite frequently but hearing it from someone on television right now just tops it. We will never know who we will have to work with in the future and who could be our boss one day.
Thanks a lot for coming in Hugh!
Having Hugh Burrill come into our class was a great experience. Being a sports guy, Hugh is someone I look up to and getting advice and insight from him was invaluable. What I took away from him coming is something that we’ve really been hearing a lot of so far this year, networking. Time and again he referenced the importance of meeting as many people as possible and making good relationships with them. The notion that just getting along with people and having them like you is in some ways just as important as your talent has been something that has come up a lot this year in class. Another point that Hugh drove home was to work in a smaller market before Toronto. He used the term “playing in the minors and then getting called up to the big leagues” and that’s another thing that stuck with me. Making mistakes in a little town where it wont be a big deal is the best way to learn, because in Toronto just one mistake could be the end of you. I think an interesting fact is that Hugh was the only person to get an interview with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford when he won his election. As someone that wants to get into the sports side of things, this peaked my interest. One thing I will apply to my stories from Hugh is giving it all you’ve got every time. I know that’s cliché and everyone tries to do it every time, but realistically sometimes, for whatever reasons, your finished product isn’t as good as you’d like it to be. I think if you really focus on giving it all you’ve got every time and don’t let yourself have any excuses then you should do alright in this business.
I really enjoyed the guest speaker, Hugh Burrill. As a sports fan and aspiring sports journalist I was interested in what Hugh had to say about the journalism industry. Not only just the industry for just news, but the sports side of it as well. From what I gathered from him there are different “rules and etiquette” when dealing with high profile athletes. Putting yourself in the shoes of a pro athlete is difficult because they are under media scrutiny for the majority part of their job. Knowing how to act around them and be affable to certain point is key in maintaining a good working relationship with them. Which makes sense because there are also certain guidelines to follow when dealing with politics too. Some may be unwritten but at the same time must be known and followed, which usually ends up in your best interest. The example of him being able to speak to Mayor Rob Ford about something other than politics shows this. From his prior relationship with the mayor he instead talked about football. This goes to show it also helps knowing important people in high places. You never know when it might be advantageous. Overall I generally enjoy the guest speakers who work in the industry and am eager to hear what they have to say about the real inside aspects of it.
I think that having Hugh Burrill as a guest a guest speaker was a really cool experience. Even though he is a sports guy, and I'm not into sports, he was able to give a good insight into the business. I liked hearing about his past and how he got to where he is at now. And even though he told us that we would inevitably be laid off at some point in our career, it was comforting to know that it wouldn’t the end of our career and that it is possible to bounce back and get back into the business.
I really enjoyed hearing about his experiences in radio. Going into radio has always been a possible goal for me in the future. It was also nice to hear about it because we don’t have a radio course in this program. Even though I already had preconceived thought about radio, it was good to know that I was right. When he was talking about the atmosphere of work on radio and being in the station, it got me really think about going into it.
Another thing I found very interesting was him talking about his contacts. It was interesting to hear about all of his contacts and how you need to work your contacts before you spit out the hard-hitting questions. It was also good to know that we need to be careful what we say to contacts and interviewees, because if we say the wrong thing we could be blacklisted.
(Jaspreet Dhaliwal)
This week Hugh Burill sports specialist for City TV came to our class to talk about his career. He talked about his career path and how he became who he is today. And this was the first time we looked at the radio side of broadcasting. He talked about how the two sides are different from each other and it was nice to hear about radio since we didn't cover it in any of our classes. The main thing he said about radio was that it’s less scripted. And once you get into that talk, you feel connected to your audience especially if it’s live. Another thing that really struck out to me was his advice. He said that we all make mistakes but its better to make mistakes at a smaller station rather than a bigger one. This year we are doing internships and everyone is applying to bigger stations such as Global, CBC, CTV, City TV etc. This is something that stayed with me for the rest of the day, especially when we had someone coming in for the Internship class.
And another important piece of information that I got from his was about crossing the line. He talked about what is news and what is someone’s personal life. He gave lot of example of various players from different teams and by the end of it, personal life and the news factor was clearer to define. Although I am not planning on going into reporting, but if I do, then this is something that will be very helpful to me. I can apply this knowledge with any news story because in every news story, there will be a line somewhere down the path. It could be breaking the news to someone’s parents about their child’s arrest or the football captain cheating on his wife.
Thanks Hugh for coming in.
Hugh Burrill was insightful and knowledgeable as a guest speaker for our class. His story of how he became a Sport Anchor showed us that there are many ways to get into the industry. I felt he gave a lot of good examples of the do’s and the don’ts of working in a news environment. He also warned us of the consequences of working in such a time consuming industry. I found it interesting that he isn’t a sport fanatic, that aspect of him opened my mind up to other possible areas in the industry I might be interested in pursuing . He spoke on the importance of contacts and how important is it to have a good relationship with as many people as possible in general. Because of his contacts in sports, he was able to help in a different area of the newscast.
Another interesting aspect to Hugh’s career is his history in talk radio. I am a fan of news talk radio and have always been interested in how the industry works. Hugh was able to give us insight into how it is to work in the radio industry as opposed to television. I wasn’t aware of the differences between radio and television, mainly being money and public image. Although I am still interested in being involved in radio I’m glad I chose to focus on television. It was a pleasure having Hugh come to our class and I thank him for the visit.
Gabriel Goncalves
Rosie Dimanno’s Article: ‘Media's a-Twitter, but it's not journalism’
Amanda Moelker
This article raised a lot of interesting points. I believe it is an important article because it focuses on how social media makes it harder to keep things personal or out of the media. This is so relatable because even simply in groups of friends nothing ever stays secret. You’ll tell one person something and in the heat of moment or if their mad about a fight it gets texted to others or tweeted about or even put in face book statuses. Even if they take it off after who knows how people will have seen it already or copied it.
Dimanno raised a good point when she referred to tweeting as “verbal belching”. It is very spontaneous and mood related. If you’re happy or mad or have done something exciting, you want to tell people. In the past a text/call to someone it most related to would suffice but in today’s society ‘its all about me’. People constantly want everyone to know what’s going on with them and how great their life currently is, or how mad they are, or who’s being a bitch. This all leads to re-conceived notions on people you haven’t met who are friends with your friends.
In this article however, Dimanno is more focused on courts and news streams. Tweet updates on court hearings can be affected by the reporters gut feeling at the time for how the trial will turn out. This means they could be giving inaccurate information. Tweets are limited as well (only 140 characters) so details can’t be included. Room for error is also a common factor with tweets. As Dimanno pointed out it’s bad writing, filled with grammar malfunctions, no context, and sometimes spelling errors. Today’s society is all about the now though. We want things fast and we want to know everything right away. This brings us back to the “verbal belching”.
I don’t agree that this is not a positive development. And input from media wont change anything because media is about pleasing the larger audience. And that audience is not a patient one. However, Justice Officials and Lawyers should have a strong say on whether phones, ipods, and laptops are permitted in the courtroom.
Some viewers see too much detail as a bad thing so they appreciate the shorter context. Dimanno does not agree but this was demonstrated in a case she brought up for other reasons; the Russel Williams case. I know personally I wished I had not read the newspaper articles. I actually was fearful for the following two weeks about going into my basement or being home alone. I am a person who loves horror movies and never gets nightmares yet this story shook me up.
One method mentioned of dealing with the problem was keeping the public out. I agree with Dimanno in that this is an over-correction. Simply banning wireless devices would be beneficial for courts.
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