Chronicle 2017

PROFILES

All ears on the air

GILLIAN DEACON 1984

Profile by Allison MacLachlan 2005

As the host of CBC Radio’s Here and Now , Gill Deacon 1984 is a familiar voice on air in Toronto and across southern Ontario. She conducts conversations and interviews in a live, early-evening wrap-up of the day’s local, national and international news. In this line of work, you need to think on your feet. Aside from not knowing each day’s material very far ahead of time, Gill also becomes

when she was in Grade 13. From there, Gill attended McGill University, where she was involved in improvisational comedy. At a stage performance in Montreal, a local radio producer noticed her quick- thinking instincts and told her that live radio is, essentially, improv. Gill was hired, and began her career in radio and television. Also the author of three books, including 2010’s national bestseller There’s Lead in Your Lipstick , Gill’s journalistic work has taken many forms over the past 25 years. In that time, the media landscape has changed considerably. As Gill points out, there are so many different ways for people to get their news and information today, such as podcasts and social media. But because Here and Now airs during the evening commute, it has a unique captive audience. When she speaks on air to hundreds of thousands of people at once, Gill thinks of her listeners as individuals. “I love the intimacy of radio,” she says. “In my own experience as a listener, I always feel like whoever is talking on air is talking just to me. There’s a real companionship.” To Gill, the magic of radio comes down to its ability to connect people. “If I’m doing my job well, listeners feel like turning on Here and Now is just good company,” she says. “It’s really just a conversation.”

responsible for communicating major world events if they happen while she’s on air. She remembers reporting live on the death of Nelson Mandela and the 2016 Bastille Day attacks in France. Being an informative voice on current events involves a keen ear for story and detail. “People think of what I do as talking, but a big part of the job is listening,” Gill says. “The number-one thing I do in my work is listen.” Especially when interviewing over the phone, there’s often more to the story – beyond an interviewee’s words – that needs to be drawn out, distilled, interpreted and contextualized. As Gill says, “I’m listening for a lot of layers.” Gill honed her early interest in performance at Havergal, participating in the choir, band and theatre. “I always wanted to be in the arts, or thought I would be,” she says. One of her favourite experiences was launching a theatre program for middle school students and directing them in a play

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