James Duthie, a graduate of the journalism program at Carleton and host of the NHL on TSN, visited Ottawa on Oct. 25 promoting his latest book, The Guy on the Left.
Since graduating in 1989, Duthie has gone on to work as a news reporter for CJOH-TV in Ottawa and Vancouver’s VTV, and has been with TSN since 1998.
Duthie has also won three Gemini Awards for his work as a sportscaster and is well known for his humour both on-air and in his writing.
The Charlatan sat down with Duthie ahead of his book signing to talk about his time at Carleton.
The Charlatan (TC): You grew up in Ottawa and have talked about how you were interested in journalism while you were in high school. Did that make choosing Carleton for post-secondary education a really simple decision?
James Duthie (JD): It wasn’t a simple decision because I wanted to be a gym teacher. I was going to go to McGill, play football and be a gym teacher. Carleton was, I think, my third choice. Somewhere along the way between that moment when you apply and that moment when you hear, I sort of changed my mind. Gym teacher is a good job but I really wanted to be involved with professional sports, so I said broadcasting or journalism in some way is the best ticket for me to get there and still be involved in sports if I can’t play. Once I decided it was fine, but I was really torn that entire year.
TC: Did you ever have any doubts in your early years of university at Carleton that maybe journalism wasn’t for you after all?
JD: Yes. Definitely in first year, when it was theory-heavy and I was frankly a little bit bored at times. I think I stayed in only because I was too scared to disappoint my parents. Once I got into second and third year, I started to really like it. I did a TV report in second year and my professor wrote on the grading: “You might want to consider TV as a career.” That was the first time a little bell went off in my head and said, “Wow, someone thinks I could actually do this.” So that was the moment I think I got really into it.
TC: If you went back and did university all over again, is there something you’d do differently?
JD: I would involve myself way more. I didn’t immerse myself enough in the school. I really regretted that because you get out of university what you put into it, and I never felt like I did enough. I got more involved in Carleton the last couple years, after they had me back for homecoming, than I did when I was actually there.
TC: You’re known for your humour and storytelling; do you have any great stories to share from your time at Carleton?
JD: The first time I made the Citizen, it was during frosh week. They filled a pool with Jell-O, and you had to dive for prizes at the bottom. I had my sister’s pink unitard on, dove into a pool of Jell-O and made the front page of the Citizen. That was my big journalism debut. Funny stories, some of the embarrassing stuff I wrote about in the book, like rapping the weather. It was 1988, so give me a break. That was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done but I got an A+ so I was happy. I did a story, a serious news story on a parking scam. I did a “60 Minutes” type story with people in shadow. They were all my best friends, they were ripping off the school with a parking scam and I did a feature on it. I did voice warping and everything. It was good times.
TC: You’ve mentioned your time at Carleton a few times on-air. What is it about Carleton University that makes you so proud to be an alumni?
JD: I think I went for several years, where I wasn’t involved. It’s more in the last decade that I got back in touch with the school and realized all the opportunities they gave me and really started to get that Carleton pride back. I came last year for homecoming, went to basically every sporting event that weekend. I realized that the education I got at Carleton gave me a big chunk of my career and I want to give back in whatever little way I can and that would be by supporting the Ravens whenever I can.
