Straight Talk

Tamara Taggart says she's "in a puddle of tears" after kindness shown by her many well-wishers

by Charlie Smith on April 11th, 2018 at 8:13 AM
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      This morning, the three most-read stories on Straight.com are all about CTV Vancouver's decision to axe its popular 6 p.m. news anchors, Mike Killeen and Tamara Taggart.

      Since the story broke, the Straight website has heard from many commenters expressing their admiration for the two broadcasters.

      Many have also slammed Bell Media for dumping the pair, who've been the faces of its flagship program since early 2011.

      Late last night, Taggart tweeted that she "spent the day reading messages, texts, tweets and emails".

      "I'm in a puddle of tears, overwhelmed by your kindness," she wrote. "It's been my privilege to have grown up with you the past 21 years. The love you have shown me is with me forever. xx"

      Taggart is a cancer survivor and high-profile supporter of charitable efforts to fight the disease.

      She's also the mother of a child with Down syndrome and has devoted a great deal of time and effort to raise awareness about this issue.

      A source inside one TV newsroom told the Straight that in the week before the ouster of Taggart and Killeen, CTV News at Six was drawing between 80,000 and 110,000 viewers per night.

      That was four to six times as high as the ratings for the CBC TV local news at 6 p.m. and slightly under half as high as Global B.C.'s numbers on any given night for its 6 p.m. newscast with Chris Gailus and Sophie Lui.

      In recent years, Taggart has become more outspoken about issues that she cares about. The tweets below offer four such examples.

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