Barely 3 weeks later, on October 22nd, the editor of the big city paper, Margo Goodhand, left a message for her, and Forsyth called her back. Hours later, Goodhand itemized why she had called, and it wasn't because she was with the Welcome Wagon.
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2011/01/red-river-college-emails-prove-fp.html
Graham Thomson, the Dean of Business for RRC and an ex-officio member of the Kick-FM Board, was told to get the goods on Marty Gold so Forsyth could deliver the file to the College lawyer so he could build a case to get the show knocked off the airwaves.
Thomson's task was complicated by the fact there were no complaints on file, but even if there had been,
" I don't think the College has the technical ability to remove him from the air, the station is a separate entity... this could be done without too much trouble, either through a chat with Rick, or more formally, through a board directive. "
The secretary passed his comment to Forsyth and helpfully explained the College had a voting member on the radio station Board, RRC vice-president Cathy Rushton.
Rushton served as Treasurer of Kick-FM's parent non-profit, Cre-Comm Inc. As the station does not have it's own bank account and relies on RRC to pay the bills and the station manager, Rushton had the clout to deliver the head of Marty Gold, as demanded by Margo Goodhand.
There was only one roadblock: there were rules for how to handle complaints.
A "chat with Rick" would result in Thomson being told that Margo had put it in writing like everyone else and she had to specify the date and time of the broadcast and the comments in question.
Forsyth's agents had to figure out a way to remove Marty Gold from the air without violating Goodhands' request her complaint "has to be kept confidential".
So, for 17 days RRC officials on the Kick-FM Board contorted themselves until they developed a tall tale they could try to sell.
And for help, they turned to the College's lawyer, who on November 8th drafted a termination notice on behalf of the "separate entity", Kick-FM.
The notice had to be approved before the ax fell; and so it was sent by the lawyer, NOT to the Kick-FM Board chairman, not to the station manager (who is supposedly solely responsible for programming decisions) -- but to Stephanie Forsyth, President of Red River College.
Email to Forsyth Nov. 8 2.32 PM
The lawyer did his best to echo Margo Goodhand's complaint to Forsyth that the show breached "all of the tenets of good journalism" when it critiqued the newspapers errors, biases, slants, cheap shots and almost daily "Our Mistake".
The concept that "The Board" had made the decision to change the emphasis of programming was replaced by something called "the Executive Committee" being responsible. "Consultation with radio station stakeholders" disappeared, as did "high standards of journalism".
Finally, the story took a subtle change, from a contract dispute ("The services of Marty Gold will no longer been required") to a mere format change ("The Executive Committee also wishes to give students the opportunity to hone their craft during prime airtime.")
The lawyer sent the final version to Thomson twenty minutes later, and before the hands on the clock reached 3.30 PM, Thomson was busy denying the College had received a complaint or that the Free Press had been involved.
The eruption of outrage from listeners and supporters caught the executioners by surprise. College PR experts were enlisted to design a fuller explanation of the supposed format change, for publication on the www.Kick.FM website.
And once again, before the station was allowed to speak, Stephanie Forsyth had to approve the script.
Keep the following emails in mind whenever you hear Red River College say, "the station is separate from the College and we don't run the station."
{ 2 page email for her approval.}
page 2
College PR spinners polished the deception as best they could, and the draft statement was sent up the chain of command on Nov. 9th until Cathy Rushton exclaimed:
"Just talked to Stephanie. She liked it - her only suggested change is to reorder the list of who makes up the Board to put the general community first and perhaps the student body next. With those changes we can go ahead and get it up on the station's website. Thanks!"
The statement was published on the Kick website -- but don't bother searching for it because it has been removed. Right after Annual General Meeting on December 9th, when the Board heard from members of the public asking for the show to be reinstated and challenging the logic of the decision.
Her job as an editor complete, Forsyth had no doubt believed Thomson's earliest assurance The Great Canadian Talk Show could be removed from the air "without too much trouble".
Forsyth had denied she was a micromanager to the Terrace Standard in an exit interview from NWCC.
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2010/11/red-river-college-president-stephanie.html
"But Forsyth did describe as “unfair” suggestions she is a micromanager, zeroing in on issues and situations.
“With new people it’s critical they get my guidance until they’ve got it,” said Forsyth. “But then I’ll leave you alone and you only need to come to me if you need my help.”
Margo Goodhand came to Stephanie Forsyth when she needed help, but before the dirty deed was done, Margo was wiping her fingerprints off the crime scene.
That's next.
