Not infrequently, the Winnipeg Free Press was placed under the microscope as we would examine the reported details of their stories, compare against the reports in other media (including bloggers), and the unreported facts already known to us and others.
We would establish the biases, slants, and selective quotes published, and hold the Free Press to account.
Free Press editor Margo Goodhand has lectured others, notably conservative politicians, for being thin-skinned about being criticized.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/under-siege-blame-the-media-87319262.html
But, there is no one with thinner skin than professional journalists.
This Fall, TGCTS took the Free Press to task for their failure to report on the public admission of city council candidate Ross Eadie, that he could not afford to run in Mynarski ward without the financial support of the New Democratic Party. That is a breach of the campaign finance law which bans election contributions by political parties.
Despite the fact about 10 witnesses had come forward to say they were present and heard what Eadie said, the Winnipeg Free Press reporter covering the meeting refused to do a story, and when criticized, she went crying to Margo Goodhand, her editor, to vent her bruised ego.
And Margo, like an avenging angel, targeted The Great Canadian Talk Show to her new bff, Stephanie Forsyth who had just arrived as President of Red River College, where Kick-FM is housed.
Here is a copy of the email of Friday, October 22, 2010 at 2.58 PM entitled "Hi Stephanie":
Her message, was clear: kill the show.
And to get the message across, she-not-so subtly mentioned the Free Press lawyer and the spectre of a lawsuit. In the media business, this is called libel chill.
And if anybody else tried to pull it on a media outlet, journalists would go ballistic.
Margo Goodhand suffered a surprise episode of amnesia when the National Post came a-calling, after The Great Canadian Talk Show was axed at the behest of Forsyth.
In an email to the National Post, Ms. Goodhand said: “I’ve never met Mr. Gold, I’ve never actually heard his college radio show, and I don’t know why it was cancelled.”
What Margo never expected, was that this 2 page email from Stephanie's office would ever surface:
(page 2)
The link was direct.
Stephanie got a complaint from her bff Margo, and the Dean of Business, Graham Thomson, who is the RRC watchman on the Kick-FM board, immediately told the secretary he would find a way to kill the show "without too much trouble."
But there was one problem. There had NEVER been any complaints forwarded by Red River College to Kick-FM about what was broadcast on The Great Canadian Talk Show.
For Margo Goodhand, the surfacing of this email thread is a BIG problem. It seems she is still suffering from amnesia, for when she was quizzed by Red River College's Student Newspaper, The Projector, she had this recollection:
"It's been falsely reported that the Free Press 'forced' the talk show off the air, or [...] was 'involved' with the show's cancellation. This is simply not true. I know of no one at the paper who has ever suggested that Mr. Gold's show be taken off the air." (Dead air: KICK-FM cancels The Great Canadian Talk Show, Nov. 22, 2010)
With that, she delivered her own version of reality to the student newspaper and forgot her own lecture to Manitoba MP Vic Toews.
"Have you any idea how foolish you look?"
Coming up: Stephanie Forsyth micro-manages the execution order and the obituary for The Great Canadian Talk Show.
RELATED: "So it would seem it is not only the NDP bullying KICK FM, but the Winnipeg Free Press editor whining to the new Red River College President, and Stephanie Forsyth bullies KICK FM.
What is this, a golden triangle? Ménage à trois? Conspiracy to silence freedom of speech, expression, and effectively, an entire community."
http://progressivewinnipeg.blogspot.com/2011/01/golden-triangle.html
** AND **
Reread this post from November 17th with the emails from listeners who instinctively KNEW pressure from outside forces had been at play to control the Board and stifle free speech on Kick-FM.
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2010/11/free-press-fibs-to-national-post-margo.html
HERE IS PART ONE OF OUR SPECIAL EVENT " STANDING UP FOR FREE SPEECH" LIVE PODCAST RECORDED DEC. 7, 2010 -- WITH ALL THE BACKGROUND DETAILS YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT LED UP TO THE EMAIL FROM MARGO GOODHAND TO STEPHANIE FORSYTH -- AND WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THAT EMAIL IN OUR HANDS YET.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/lti76d72zxfzbxi/The%20Great%20Canadian%20Talk%20Show%20Live%20-%20Part%201.mp3