CTV exec Michael Melling taking a leave

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CTV exec Michael Melling taking a leave

Postby radiofan » Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:44 pm

CTV executive Michael Melling taking a leave after Lisa LaFlamme’s dismissal
ROBYN DOOLITTLE AND SUSAN KRASHINSKY ROBERTSON


Michael Melling, the vice-president of news at Bell Media, is taking a leave effective immediately, after two weeks of tumult around his role in the dismissal of marquee anchor Lisa LaFlamme.

In a memo sent to staff Friday evening, Karine Moses, Bell Media’s senior vice-president of content development and news, said Mr. Melling was making the decision to spend time with his family.

“His decision reflects our shared desire to support the newsroom and do what’s best to help the team move past the current circumstances to focus on delivering the stories that matter to Canadians,” she wrote.

However, later Friday evening, Bell Canada CEO Mirko Bibic put out a statement saying that Mr. Melling “is on leave effective immediately, pending the outcome of the workplace review that is proceeding.”

Richard Gray, who is the regional general manager for the Eastern Region, will become the acting vice-president of news.

Last week, The Globe revealed that shortly after Mr. Melling assumed the role of head of CTV News in January, 2022, he raised questions about who had approved the decision to “let Lisa’s hair go grey,” according to a senior CTV official who was present at the meeting.

L’Affaire LaFlamme: how was it imagined this would end well?

In a statement sent to The Globe on Friday, Mr. Melling said this was “categorically untrue.” The Globe also reported on tensions between Mr. Melling and Ms. LaFlamme over newsroom priorities, story coverage and resources. (Mr. Melling did not specifically address allegations of tensions with Ms. LaFlamme in his statement, but complained that “serious and damaging anonymous allegations about me have been made or published in recent days that are categorically not true.”)

News broke that Ms. LaFlamme was leaving the show she had helmed for more than a decade nearly two weeks ago, when the long-time anchor posted a video to Twitter announcing her contract had been terminated for a “business decision.”

In the days that followed, the story spiralled into a national outrage. Brands such as Dove and Wendy’s released ad campaigns in support of women going grey. Ms. LaFlamme had earned praise from women across Canada when she decided to stop dyeing her hair early in the pandemic.

In response to the uproar, Mr. Melling and Ms. Moses held a joint town hall meeting. The following day, the company announced it would be conducting an independent third-party review. But staff raised concerns about the scope of that review. It was unclear which newsrooms would be involved and whether it would be focused on the national show exclusively or broader questions about toxic culture within the organization, including in management.

Lisa LaFlamme’s dismissal shows sexism is alive and well in broadcast news

Mr. Bibic, in his statement, said that age, gender or grey hair did not play into the decision to let Ms. LaFlamme go, adding that he cannot say more about why. “While I would like to say more on the Bell Media decision, we are bound by a mutual separation agreement negotiated with Lisa, which we will continue to honour,” he said.

On Monday, journalists within the CTV newsroom, through human rights lawyer Paul Champ, sent a letter to Mr. Bibic, Bell’s board of directors and Wade Oosterman, the president of Bell Media, expressing a lack of confidence in Mr. Melling’s leadership.

A copy of this letter was obtained by The Globe.

In a cover note from Mr. Champ, the lawyer says that he was acting for “a large number of CTV News journalists who have serious concerns about the recent dismissal of Chief Anchor Lisa LaFlamme and the toxic work culture that has developed at CTV over the past eight months.”

Mr. Champ wrote that these journalists had concerns about “denigrating comments and adverse treatment in the workplace, with intimidation and reprisal being a common response to any who question the decision-making or processes of the new Vice-President of CTV News.” Because of the deteriorating workplace culture and fear of reprisal, the letter writers have chosen to remain anonymous, it continued. The letter is signed “Members of the CTV News family.”

The journalists gave the executives and Bell’s board until Monday to respond to their demands.

Read more at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/ ... -laflamme/
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Re: CTV exec Michael Melling taking a leave

Postby tuned » Fri Aug 26, 2022 11:11 pm

He needs some time off to sharpen his axe. There's a lot more dead wood that needs chopping at Bell Media.
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