New faces, new places
CBC Northbeat's third season starts tonight

by Janet Smellie
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 22/97) - CBC North television today launches the third season of daily news and current affairs coverage from across the North.

Northbeat, along with its Inuktitut sister program, Igalaaq, begin new seasons this evening.

New faces on the program include Patricia Russell , the former host of Let's Do Lunch (CBC Mackenzie's noon-hour radio program), who will replace George Tuccaro as Northbeat's news reader. Rassi Nashalik returns as both host and news reader for Igalaaq, shown nightly at 6 p.m. ET and on TVNC.

Executive producer Diane Lonergan says both shows are entering the new season with a "significant reduction" in both staff and money.

"We've lost some of our aboriginal language capacity and some of our key support positions," she says, adding that some of the positions axed include a unit manager as well as their Dogrib language reporter.

"There's more cuts to come. We're not out of the water yet. This year will be the leanest you can go," Lonergan adds.

Eva Arreaq, who reported on news and current affairs from Iqaluit, is also leaving the program to pursue a career in the emerging land claims structure that will be in place when Nunavut becomes a reality.

"It's a big loss, losing someone as qualified as Eva." Arreaq has gone on to work for the Nunavut Tungavik Incorporated and Lonergan fears that as "more and more Nunavut jobs come on stream," there may be more people leaving CBC North from the Eastern Arctic.

Lonergan says this year there will be an emphasis on covering evolving stories that affect all Northerners, including changes to health services, coping with the needs of the fastest-growing population in the country and the countdown to Nunavut.

"Our shows have matured, they're better able to cover the major breaking stories with interviews and reaction from Northern news-makers and opinion-leaders. We want to ask the questions Northerners want answered," Lonergan says.

CBC Northbeat continues to appear at 8 p.m. MT in the western NWT and Yukon. Due to a change in network programming, viewers and the Eastern and Central time zones will see the program at approximately 10:25 ET, following the National.