CKNW is officially finished

[HEyHEY]

The long, slow death of the station at the hands of Corus is over.
Yesterday CKNW commited journalistic genocide, firing 12 people including two of it's last remaining seasoned reporters.
This is the sequel to what has been refered to as "black Tuesday" on which NW did the same thing three years ago.
And to make matters worse, Gord MacDonald, the director has been demoted, and the stations PUBLIC AFFAIRS director will now be the news director.
So, basically you'll have a PR guy deciding on what is news instead of journalists. Likely, anything that would upset someone in power will not be reported.
Among the terminated from yesterday are;

Jason Howe - Nice guy and a hell of a reporter
Leanne Yuzwa - 18 year veteran at CKNW and a good reporter
David Berner - Only remotely left wing talk show left on the station

As for the rest of the station's format. Peter Warren retired last month to become a private eye, which is good, cause he's always been a dick, now it's official.

Morning man, Phillip Till can put you back to sleep as fast as you wake up.

Mid Morning political talk show host, Bill Good, never states an opinion on anything and is as interesting as a box of dirt.

John McCoomb, does anybody really care about this guy?

There are three reporters at NW now that are worth anything.

Stephen Smart - young and green, but does a decent job for his experience
Marcella Bernardo - Excellent reporter
Tracy Pellizari - Great reporter and nice person, as I found out recently, hot as hell to boot.

NW used to be a destination for reporters in Canada and was regarded by many as the best news/talk station in NORTH AMERICA. That's 100 per cent true, it was an amazing station at one time.
The station manager was my friend's Dad, and when the ad people once came to him asking to have one of the talk-show hosts muzzled on certain issues, Ron told them to get fucked.
He told them, "Free speech is what we're selling, so get out there and sell it."
Those days are long fucking gone.
Sad, sad day..

[tuvor]

1. That's too bad.

I guess it'll be more CBC for me when I'm on the road.

(This doesn't mean even more of the insufferable Charles Adler, does it?)

[HEyHEY]

2. Yep, the third largest city in Canada, host of the 2010 games...

And one of the most advanced and talked about citys in the world, is getting its afternoon radio show out of Winnipeg... :eyes:

[MrPrax]

3. Well...

NW has always been full, front and center for Right here, and Corus has gutted most of it's stations.

Not entirely sure I buy the NW legacy rap, there are enough local stations doing 'cop' dictation and ignoring local politics...so no big loss.

But which is worst? Bill Good or Christy Clark...I can't tell

[HEyHEY]

4. Here's the official memo given to NW employees

Here's the official memo from the GM. By the way, the newsies have been threatened that their e-mail is being monitored (to prevent leaks, silly boys!):

Today is a difficult day for a number of our colleagues here at Corus Radio in Vancouver as a number of people have been advised that their positions within the company have been eliminated. 12 full time people and one contract person have been affected today.

In an increasingly competitive industry and marketplace, we have had to make solid, strategic business decisions to remain competitive and successful for the long term. In order for us to achieve our performance potential, we have had to make very difficult decisions. Based on a thorough review of the stations, these changes should allow a more free flowing work environment structure that encourages more initiative and gets our cost structure closer to a more manageable cost level.

Our restructuring is being implemented after a complete review of the challenges and opportunities that exist for our business and an assessment of the best operating structure for the future.

I have thoroughly digested the Navicom staff surveys. I have watched the operation in action, and I have compared structure with those I have seen in my senior management and consultancy positions over the years. I’ve talked to a great deal of you in one on one’s and I will continue the process. I have been looking for themes and some have developed. You have given great suggestions, stated your concerns and expressed your desire to do great work and to be recognized for it. You have told me of the structural roadblocks that you feel are in the way of doing that great work. You told me you expected me and the management team to help you be better at your jobs and provide a freer flowing, efficient, productive, challenging, and satisfying work environment. You have expressed your concerns in the past and have not seen the follow up action on those concerns. You have told me you want to win and you want to be recognized by Corus as a significant contributor. Today we are following up: We have responded to all of this with the restructuring we have seen today.

After long and distinguished careers at Corus we have come to a mutual decisions with Mark Friesen, Sheri Henshall and Phil Evans who have decided to leave Corus and pursue other opportunities.

In Marks words:

I have decided to ‘downsize’ my life. My kids are grown up, and hopefully will be leaving home soon, (please God please), I’ve got to a point where I can get away with part time work, leaving me with more time to travel and relax, and most importantly, not be on call.
I am also looking into the possibility of developing equipment targeted at the studio and broadcast industry. I have had discussions with a Canadian manufacture to see if there is a mutual development venture we can enter into. This is an area of my job that I used to enjoy immensely, but in the last few years I haven’t had budget or time to do it.
Mark will continue with us in a contract position, continuing to do all of Corus Vancouver’s transmitter site inspections and routine maintenance and he will also be able to help us in times of emergency.

In Phil’s Words:

On the Town Hall - if you could give out my e-mail address [e-mail] at the end of it, also that apart from the unfortunate nature of the situation, I'm fine with everything, I've been treated fairly and I will have the most meticulously groomed lawn you have ever seen for the next couple of months.
Just wanted to say thank you for your friendship and support over these last three years. As I would have expected, the JJ and the company have dealt with me honourably and fairly.
I find this all a bit bittersweet - bitter - because this was the best job I've ever had, with the best people I've ever had the pleasure to work with. And sweet, because it brought me here to beautiful BC to work with the most passionate people in the industry at the most passionate radio stations in the country.
We're going to stay here in BC, because to paraphrase Bill Good, - "The End of an Era - Certainly. The End of the World? Hardly."I'll miss working with you day to day, but most of all I'll miss the free t-shirts and thanks for all the fish.
In Sheri’s Words:

- It was my decision to leave. I asked JJ for a package. To all my wonderful clients and friends at Corus. After 19 years I have decided to leave Corus. It is bitter sweet because I will miss all of the incredible relationships I have developed with you over so many years. It has been a blast and I know we’ll meet again. Thanks for making my career so memorable. Wishing all of you good health, happiness and prosperity in the ongoing years.

Other staffers affected are:

Dave Barnes, David Berner, Derek Bolduc, Jason Howe, John Mair, Jean Sarnecki, Jennifer Thomson, Dean Ward and Leanne Yuzwa.

While losing valuable employees is always difficult, we are grateful and appreciate their work and commitment to Corus Radio. All affected staff are being treated with dignity, respect and fair compensation packages during this difficult time. We have also commissioned the services of a highly regarded out-placement firm to deal to help them deal with the stress of today and assist with future career planning.

Restructuring alone will not secure our success in this competitive industry. We are implementing an operating structure that will allow us to respond quickly to our ever-changing business environment to provide better service externally and internally. Effective immediately:

§ Promotion Directors will report to their program directors.

§ The Agency Pool will continue with Lonnie and Anne reporting to Sherri and Gord.

§ Interactive will now report to Chris Duncombe who will pick up those Interactive duties that Phil Evans has been handling.

§ Tom Plasteras. Identified in the MBO is the need for more attention on CKNW. Tom has handled the position of PD at CKNW and MOJO, Creative and Production reports into him as does CRN. This is not fair to put on anybody and makes it difficult to be effective. Tom will be moving upstairs and hands on at CKNW. Identified in the MBO is the need for more attention on CKNW.

§ MOJO. We will be putting together a new structure as soon as possible to give 730 the time and attention it needs. For the interim the new structure will report to Tom with a dotted line to me.

§ In the MBO’s you identified the need for News and Talk to come together to work more closely. The newsroom will now report to Ian Koenigsfest who also retains his APD duties at CKNW. Gord McDonald will now be Senior News Editor where he will help us develop a culture where the efforts of talk show hosts, producers, newscasters, and beat reporters are synchronized as we work on stories. Where everyone is aware of who will be doing what on a story, so each group has a specific role and responsibility for moving the story forward. Once any group gets a hold of information, all groups then move the story forward in full knowledge of what each group has done. In Gord’s Words: You have stated that you needed better communication between News and Talk. You stated that you needed better administration and help. This new structure will allow better communication and administration between the two departments and has me in a role as “Senior News Editor” where I can still contribute on the news side and also spread my wings in the talk side.

§ Creative and Production has been reporting to Tom and will now report directly to Steve Parsons. At ROCK 101, Steve will be the acting music director for now.

§ Bob Brennert will now be acting Director of Engineering.

There will be some bumpy spots work to these new structures along the way but we will work through these. Please provide your encouragement and support to everyone here who is coping with change. We are much stronger as a team than we are as a collection of individuals. We know that our team will show what we’re made of in the months ahead.

In summary:

While losing valuable employees is always difficult, Corus is committed to providing support and services to helping our departed employees to deal with the stress of today and to find new opportunities.
The radio industry is highly competitive and we need to make solid, strategic business decisions in order to ensure that our cluster is appropriately structured to remain successful and competitive in that marketplace.
It is important to our success as a Company to ensure that we are always using our resources as effectively and efficiently as possible.
The environment will be one of more consistent roles and responsibilities for employees to leverage the incredible talent we have here.
We have the potential to be on par with Corus’ other major market clusters in terms of performance – currently we are the #4 contributor in the number two market in Canada - and we feel confident that by working together with a focused strategy and strong MBO business plans we can achieve this goal.
The Vancouver radio stations are key assets to Corus. Corus continues its strategy of focusing on developing/building long-term growth for station clusters in the major markets, by working to deliver strong performance levels and providing audiences and advertisers with the best possible customer experiences to ensure we stay in a dominant market position for the long term.
It’s at these times we show what we are made of. Change is never easy but adversity and challenge often build new strength within an organization allowing us to continue shaping our own future. And we do have an exciting future. We have all been involved in developing solid MBO plans and we will be present those exciting plans in the weeks ahead.

So what can you do now? Be a top professional. This is a time to shine. Show how good you really are at what you do.

I will close this note by reiterating what I said earlier in this e-mail: While losing valuable employees is always difficult, we are grateful and appreciate their work and commitment to Corus Radio. All affected staff are being treated with dignity, respect and fair compensation packages during this difficult time. We have also commissioned the services of a highly regarded out-placement firm to deal to help them deal with the stress of today and assist with future career planning.

If you have specific questions regarding today’s announcements or our plans for the future, please speak to your direct supervisor, come see me, talk to Larry Burnett who will be around for the next few days or an HR Representative. You can also use our Employee Assistance Program at 1-800-387-6000 and provide comment, feedback and questions to the Corus employee e-mail at [e-mail].

Jim JJ Johnston

General Manager

Corus Radio Vancouver

[Bassic]

5. Corus is evil

They bought up and closed down the oldest radio news-room in Montréal (and in all of Québec, really) to make room for their own "Corus Nouvelles".