Sit back and imagine yourself in a different era. A time when there was no such thing as high definition anything and the phone lines were always open. Journalist Jack Webster hosted a popular current affairs show in Vancouver, BC from 1978 to 1986. Many of the shows have been digitized. You can search for entire episodes on YouTube. We present some select video about and from the show here.
Webster on This Week in History
Preservation Manager Ember Lundgren talks about the Jack Webster collection on This Week in History.
Credit: Courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and Archives in partnership with CHEK News
Webster! Opening Sequence 1982
See what the opening sequence of the Webster show looked like in 1982. If you know Vancouver, how many locations can you recognize? How have they changed?
Credit: RBCM/BCA, AAAA7234, courtesy British Columbia Television
Webster! Phone-In 1979
Jack Webster included a phone-in portion of the show so that the public would have an opportunity to comment and discuss the issues. But, if you didn't get to the point or were off topic, Webster would firmly let you know or cut you off. Watch what happens in this phone-in segment from 1979, as Webster discusses proposed sport fishing regulations, barbed hooks and catch size limits. Watch to the end to see Webster go on to sum up the situation himself. Guests that day were Lee Straight, Recreational Fishing Advisor, Field Services, and Allan Gibson, Chief South Coast Division, Fisheries and Oceans.
Credit: RBCM/BCA, AAAA6788, courtesy British Columbia Television
Webster! Sophie Pierre Interview 1986
Jack Webster interviews Sophie Pierre in 1986. Pierre was the elected chief of St Mary's Indian Band for 26 years. At the time of this interview, she had been chief for nine years. They discuss Aboriginal land claims, the Indian Act, language and cultural survival. Pierre was appointed Chief Commissioner of the BC Treaty Commission, given the Order of British Columbia and awarded the Governor General's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, which recognizes the achievements of outstanding Canadians. Today, Sophie Pierre is one of the most accomplished and recognized Indigenous leaders in the Canada.
If Webster were interviewing Sophie Pierre today what do you think he would ask her? How many of his questions might he phrase differently, or not ask at all? Learn more about indigenous languages in Our Living Languages.
Credit: RBCM/BCA, AAAA7750, courtesy British Columbia Television
Pierre Trudeau Interview
This is from the first episode of Webster! on October 2, 1978. Watch Webster interview then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
Credit: RBCM/BCA, AAAA6721, courtesy British Columbia Television
BC Archives Webster Interview
To celebrate International Archives Week in November 1979, Jack Webster speaks with Pierre Berton about the importance of archives. Webster’s team visits our own BC Archives.
Credit: RBCM/BCA, AAAA1533, courtesy British Columbia Television
