Good news story

TV veteran Susan Hay shines a spotlight on the extraordinary efforts of everyday Torontonians

- LEANNE DELAP

Global TV veteran Susan Hay, who hails from North Bay, said she’s still the same small-town girl today. “Kindness is something you carry with you.”

Positivity has paid off for Susan Hay.

The Global News television veteran celebrated her 35th anniversary at the network on Wednesday. She’s covered all the local journalistic bases, from the weather to the Santa Claus Parade, and interviewed stars from Elton John to Goldie Hawn. But it is the long-running segment “Making a Difference,” which she produces and anchors, that stands out as emblematic of both Hay and her career.

Hay always sensed that we want a little good news in our day. We hear it in this business all the time, she said, “people say they can’t take any more death or destruction.” With “Making a Difference,” she trains her focus on what she calls “ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” tipping that balance with a hearty dose of optimism and compassion.

Originally called “Susan Hay’s Heart of the City,” the segment launched in 2001, the same year as the Sept. 11 attacks. “That’s when things started to change with feelgood stories,” she said. “Then the pandemic hit, and people needed them once again.”

She created the project to satisfy her urge to “get out of the studio and do live reporting, to connect with people,” she said. “I came in on a weekend, grabbed a cameraman and we shot the pilot. It started slow, but then it really took off.”