Information Morning host Don Connolly reflects on 40 years with program

If you asked Don Connolly 40 years ago whether he'd still be sitting in Information Morning's host chair in 2016, the answer would have been, "No, absolutely not."

It was 1976. Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs had just released the first Apple computer and Barbara Walters had just become the first female news anchor.

That same year a young Connolly joined CBC Nova Scotia's Information Morning as co-host with Don Tremaine. The rest is history.

The show has always started early in the day, but despite that, Connolly says, "I am not now, nor was I then, a morning person."

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Over the past 40 years, Connolly has presented stories from one end of the spectrum to the other.

He said there are a few that stick out in his mind, including the Westray mine disaster, which claimed the lives of 26 men, and the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off Peggys Cove.

In 2003, the Maritimes got slammed by Hurricane Juan and Connolly and Information Morning were there, broadcasting through the night and into the morning, giving Nova Scotians continuous updates.

After that, the show received notes and letters for people, saying what a comfort it was having Connolly's familiar voice getting people through the night.

"That's the best example of what a public broadcaster can be," said Connolly.

He said having a strong public broadcasting service is vital, given the diminishing state of journalism in the country.

"In my 40 years, it has never been more important," he said.

When asked what other careers he would have liked to pursue if broadcasting didn't work out, Connolly said he could easily see himself as a features writer — that or, wistfully, captain of his beloved Montreal Canadiens.

Connolly said he's come to love what he does and "always liked the idea of meeting interesting new people."  

Information Morning is broadcast live from CBC studios on Chebucto Road in Halifax weekday mornings between 5:55 a.m. and 8:37 a.m. AT.

The program was first broadcast on June 1, 1970. The show brings a mix of "survival information" such as news, weather and traffic, as well as more in-depth radio projects on local and national topics.