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This Hour Has Seven Days was a weekly television program which ran from 4 October 1964 to 8 May 1966. Hosted by Laurier LaPierre, Patrick Watson, John Drainie and Dinah Christie, the show became a huge hit with the public but also sparked controversy.
Description
Produced by CBC public affairs, This Hour Has Seven Days achieved unprecedented popularity through its combination of serious topical and satirical elements, fast-moving pace and occasionally unorthodox and innovative subject matter. Its success was also due to the strong appeal of hosts Laurier LaPierre, Patrick Watson, John Drainie and Dinah Christie.
Conceived and produced by Douglas Leiterman and Patrick Watson, it was directed deliberately at a mass audience and borrowed many of its techniques from light entertainment. At the same time, the program earned the respect of the audience by presenting nine hour-long documentary films of considerable depth and substance, such as Beryl Fox's The Mills of the Gods: Viet Nam (December 1965).
Controversy
From the beginning, CBC management raised questions about journalistic procedures which were judged to be crusading and sensationalist. The tensions came to a climax in April 1966 and led to a major crisis which was defused on May 1 when Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed Stuart Keate, publisher of the Vancouver Sun, to study the conflict and make recommendations. Negotiations for the continuation of the program for the next season collapsed in July 1966 when Reeves Haggan, head of CBC public affairs, resigned.
