Compare and contrast:
First, the public excuses of the educators for the cancellation:
Recently, the Executive Committee of the Board of CreComm Radio Inc. made a decision to re-focus on the station’s role as an instructional resource. This means giving students more opportunity to hone their craft during primetime hours, ensuring they receive structured performance feedback, and exposing them to standards and practices that are consistent with the management of a commercial radio station... As an initial step, the Executive Committee has decided to stop broadcasting the Great Canadian Talk Show.
Now, the facts, from the blog of Kick-FM news director Danielle Conolly ( and check out the comments other students posted in response):
http://thriftodyssey.blogspot.com/2010/11/so-long-and-thanks-for-listening.html
"he was a friend to every student who helped with his show. He asked about our course load, offered help where he could, and was excited to help us learn how to operate the sound board. He frequently asked me if I had any classmates who wanted to learn, or if there was any way he could help us with our studies of radio.
Marty would welcome even those who called to tell him he was outright wrong - just as long as he knew people were thinking about civic issues and starting to be more aware of what goes on in their city.
The accusation that there was no student involvement in his show alarms me.
No students were asked if they were involved in his show.
One of my classmates would have shown up to operate the soundboard for Tuesday's show, had she not found out via TWITTER that it had been cancelled. The first-year students who opped for his show weren't asked or told about the cancellation, either. Another classmate who often appeared as a student commentator on his show wasn't told either. And I, volunteer news director for the station, was not consulted...
Marty did provide opportunities for students - students who went on to have their own shows and to teach others, like I did. Students who weren't consulted before a decision was made...
As a longtime volunteer for KICK FM, and a PR student, I feel that we volunteers are an important internal audience who should have been given a voice... Everyone is entitled to their opinion of his show - there are days that I changed the station while he was broadcasting, too, if I didn't see eye-to-eye with him on a topic. But looking beyond that to the advertising he brought in for the station, the live-remote broadcasts he did that I assisted on, and his interest in helping students, I see opportunities lost".
Thank you to the record number of visitors to this blog already this month.
Please join the Facebook support group
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-River-College-Kills-Free-speech-on-929-Kick-FM/174397305909084?ref=mf
Blogs about the silencing of the voice of the community :
http://winnipegcrime.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/rip-tgcts/
http://blogs.canoe.ca/thejerk/general/why-selinger-will-give-more-cash-to-stadium-deal/
http://www.chrisd.ca/blog/31178/marty-gold-kick-fm-great-canadian-talk-show-cancelled-red-river-college/
http://johndobbin.blogspot.com/2010/11/great-canadian-talk-show-ended-shock.html
http://winnipegonegreatcity.blogspot.com/2010/11/journalistic-independence-ya-right.htm
http://progressivewinnipeg.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-happened-to-great-canadian-talk.html
http://www.chrisd.ca/blog/31243/kick-fm-radio-red-river-college-marty-gold-time-slot-show-programming-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-30156
http://kickfm.blogspot.com/2010/11/kick-programming.html#comment-form
MORE DETAILS COMING...
late addition to the bloggers list:
http://yaciuk.blogspot.com/2010/11/if-radio-station-falls-in-forest-and-no.html
