These are wild and quickly changing times in the world of journalism.

Everyone knows that.

Certainly, longtime CTV anchor Carol Anne Meehan is keenly aware.

And she knew like anyone in the business, the day could come when she might be let go from a job she absolutely loves.

“But never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get terminated in this way,” Meehan told the Sun Thursday morning in her first in-depth interview since she was unceremoniously dumped on Nov. 17.

Anyone who pays attention to the changing media landscape of Ottawa media knew cuts were coming to Bell Media, expected for both CTV Ottawa and CFRA.

The night before she was let go, Meehan received the dreaded email, advising her of a meeting the next day.

Of course, she knew nothing good was going to come of that.

“It was sent just before I went to bed, it felt like a hit to my head. I just felt sick to my stomach,” she recounted.

“It hurts a lot. To hear you’re being laid off, that your position is being terminated. It’s still a shock.”

She went into the meeting with colleague Eric Longley, the newsroom’s union rep.

“We were both stunned. I just sat there in stunned silence. We were just flabbergasted. I walked back downstairs, I didn’t have the heart to say goodbye to anyone — the people who are part of my family. I went to my desk, grabbed the pictures of my kids and I just left.”

As Meehan points out, she was never told there were any issues with her on the job, no one ever said they were unhappy with her work, and she never received any complaints.

More specifically, as a reflection of her performance, in times of ratings, she could never take time off.

Yet her abrupt dismissal came at a time of ratings.

“I’ll never understand that,” she said in our interview, which took place at her home. “To me, that’s a real puzzle.”

Shell shocked, she drove home — and sat down in her empty house.

Her first call was made to her parents, whom she says always watched the CTV nightly news.

They needed to know before they heard about it elsewhere.

“The hardest thing was the finality of it all,” she said.

She had this sense that something really horrible had happened to her, but that no one else know.

She had no idea what to do next.

“And then, the phone started ringing.”

She wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming city-wide reaction to her dismissal.

An online petition started immediately after her abrupt exit — calling on her to be reinstated — quickly got almost 18,000 signatures, along with some of the most heartfelt comments from viewers who considered her family.

Why wouldn’t they be upset? Every night at 6 p.m., they spent an hour with her. They saw her in the community, and many benefitted from her charity work.

But there’s an incredibly and very real humble side to Meehan. Despite her years of service, she had no idea how much people truly cared about her.

It’s all taken her by surprise.

“I’m still flabbergasted by that,” she said. “The public has been so generous.”

Many vowed to stop watching the station if she wasn’t going to be on it; others said they wanted nothing more to do with Bell Media, the parent company of CTV.

Meehan thought any popularity she had was because of her longtime co-anchor Max Keeping.

“I always thought it was just Max. He just loved being with people, and he was so good being in crowds. I used to marvel at how he would work a crowd. I had to work harder at it,” she said.

“To have a petition ... I didn’t believe any of that would happen and all of the comments. I knew nothing would change the decision, that I’d never get my job back, but it meant a lot,” she said.

At some point, she took to Twitter to thank all of those signing the petition, but told them she wouldn’t be returning to CTV.

The ordeal has been hard and continues to be difficult for her to understand.

But Meehan said her real regret was not being able to say goodbye to the faithful viewers, to offer her thanks and appreciation to those who opened their homes to her every evening.

It’s difficult for her to get the words out, with emotions still running high.

“I want them to know I really appreciate their love and support.

“It sounds trite, but people have really gone out of their way to let me know how much they care. It means a lot.”

Twitter: @SusanSherring