When most 12- year-olds flip through television channels, it’s not the news they’re looking for. But for Brandon Harder from Canora, that’s exactly what he’s watching.
“There’s times actually where I’ve went through all the newscasts from every single city,” Brandon said. “It takes forever.”
Brandon watches newscasts from around the country, from national broadcasts to more local news from Regina, Saskatoon and Yorkton. As for newscasts that air a little later than he stays up, he’ll make sure those are set to record to watch later.
“Every day our PVR is filled with newscasts from across the country,” said Brandon’s mother Kristen Kelbaugh.
Brandon says he first really started getting into news following a CTV Hometown Tour stop in his then home of Dundurn, south of Saskatoon. Since then he’s even started practicing some of his own broadcasts, following along with the stories of the day, and in some cases, his younger brother’s hockey games. He’s even started working on his reporter signoff from Canora.
The last few months haven’t been easy for the family, as Brandon’s mother is battling breast cancer.
“Brandon, he loves the news,” Kelbaugh said. “So I think it has been something that has helped him cope.”
One of Kelbaugh’s appointments was what brought the family to Regina on Thursday, but there was another purpose to the trip that Brandon didn’t know anything about. His mother had organized for Brandon to take a tour through the CTV Regina studios to see behind the scenes, meet the anchors, and present a little news and weather himself.
At age 12, Brandon is still a little young to join the news team, but who knows what the future could bring.
