Paul Cook is co-anchor of the morning show and the managing editor of 680News. He has anchored the morning drive shift since 1997 and has been a full-time member of the Rogers radio family since 1985. He is on the air each weekday morning from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
While the middle of the night wake-up can sometimes take its toll, Paul loves his job. “I feel useful. When people wake up in the morning, the first thing most want to find out is if their world is safe. I get to answer that question. I don’t take that task lightly. Once we have determined it is, we can bring people up to speed on everything they need to know to carry on a conversation at work about current events. Let’s face it, many of our listeners have kids and don’t have a second to read the paper before racing out of the house.”
While the subject matter of the morning show can be serious, Paul says he and his morning show colleagues try not to take themselves too seriously. “We poke fun at each other on the air all of the time and at ourselves. Some listeners ask if it is planned out before hand, and I can honestly say it isn’t. That is half the fun. We never know what to expect from each other. We pride ourselves in being real and not having some stuffy on-air image.”
Paul has also moonlighted in television. For three years, he was host of the one hour public affairs show, Agenda, which first aired on MSNBC Canada and later on Omni and Rogers Cable. He has also filled in as host on the TV call-in show, Goldhawk.
Before joining the 680News team, Paul worked as a reporter/producer/co-host for CHFI’s daily public affairs show, Chronicle and on the nationally syndicated news magazine, Sunday Sunday. He has captured awards as a reporter for his on-scene coverage of the crash of the RAF Nimrod at the International Air Show in Toronto and for his coverage of the Meech Lake constitutional crisis. International reporting assignments include the Barcelona Olympics and the funeral in London, England for Diana, Princess of Wales.
Paul’s proudest professional accomplishments are being part of the team that put 680News over the million-listener mark for the very first time in 2001, and when the morning show captured the Edward R. Murrow Award from the International Radio and Television News Director’s Association for best radio newscast in the world.
His proudest personal accomplishments are his eight marathons, including New York City twice.
Paul has his Bachelor of Applied Arts from Ryerson University’s radio-television arts program. He was born in Hamilton, but spent his formative years growing up in Huntsville and in North Bay.
Paul and his wife live in North Toronto with their four school-aged children and their pet German Shepherd. The kids keep them very busy racing off to baseball diamonds, hockey arenas and dance studios. “Good thing the city has a radio station with traffic reports every 10 minutes, 24-7, to help us get there in time!”
