Ross Porter (Canadian broadcaster)

Ross Porter is a Canadian broadcast executive and music writer.

Career

Porter was a producer and host for CBC Radio 2, where he was associated with programs including Night Lines, Latenight and After Hours, from 2004 to 2018 he was president and CEO of the Toronto non-profit jazz radio station CJRT-FM (JAZZ.FM91). Porter was a pop culture reporter for CBC Television's The National and CBC Newsworld's On the Arts. He was named vice-president of the jazz television channel CoolTV in 2003.

Porter published a consumer guide to jazz recordings, The Essential Jazz Recordings: 101 CDs, in 2006. He is a two-time winner for Broadcaster of the Year at Canada's National Jazz Awards, in 2002 and 2004. In 2009, the Jazz Journalists Association nominated Porter for the Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award for Broadcasting.

In June 2014, Porter was made a member of the Order of Canada for his contributions to broadcasting and developing Canadian talent over a forty year career.

Alleged Charges

In 2005, Porter faced accusations of racism by staff members at JAZZ.FM, although such charges were disputed.

In March 2018, Porter was accused of sexually harassing "more than a dozen" current and former employees. In May 2018, he stepped down from his position as president and CEO on the heels of the investigation into complaints of sexual harassment and creating a toxic work environment. He was granted the title of "president emeritus". In an emailed letter, Board members David McGown and Charles Cutts stated that in his capacity, Porter would continue to provide advice and programming to JAZZ.FM91.

As reported in the Globe and Mail, the employees, who call themselves the Collective, wrote to JAZZ.FM91’s Board of Directors in March 2018 alleging “ongoing workplace harassment, sexual harassment, bullying, and general mismanagement of the station by Porter.” In that same letter, the Collective stated that the radio’s work environment “had become intolerable” and that “past complaints have gone unheeded”. Some complainants alleged that Porter regularly “initiated sexually graphic conversations, engaged in unwanted touching and made jokes suggesting that employees should sleep with the station’s supporters” and that Porter would request employees to pitch ideas that would “make me horny”. The Collective also alleged that Porter would "frequently reduce staff to tears, humilitate them in front of co-workers and berate announcers during commercial breaks." The Collective stated that 40 employees "have either resigned abruptly under duress, been fired abruptly or have left their employment with the station because it was untenable." The Collective also alleged that some employees who had reported Porter’s behaviour had faced “threats of legal action or other retribution” and that the management style of Porter and VP of Finance and Operations Sharda Prashad created a “climate of fear, intimidation, retaliation, gaslighting and threat of reprisals” within JAZZ.FM.

Seven staff members were fired weeks after Porter stepped down including Jaymz Bee, Mark Wigmore, Walter Venafro and David Basskin among others. Charles Cutts stated that the decisions were to "address competitive and financial pressures." Such firings were criticized, including "JAZZ.FM91 being hammered by listeners for firing a number of high-profile hosts."

Porter says that he considers "many of these accusations to be isolated, distorted and manipulated out of context," and that they are "fabrications to distortions" and that his stepping down is so that he can "spend more time with his family". The Globe and Mail reported that an independent investigator had found that the charges were largely “unsubstantiated while others warranted further consideration and action”. In a letter shared with The Globe and Mail, the Collective allegedly requested to review the outcome of the investigation and requested the Board to release the report. The Board refused the request. The Collective were also upset "by the lack of postinvestigation clarity from management, noting that employees were advised...that Porter might continue to be a prominent face of the station in its fundraising drives and other public activities. They felt it especially inappropriate...in light of how employees had allegedly suffered under his management." A former host and other staff also questioned the Board's decision to approve Ross Porter's salary of $300,000 given that JAZZ.FM91's annual budget was $4.5 million.

In June 2018, one of JAZZ.FM91's supporters, Bay Bloor Radio, pulled its ads from Porter's Saturday morning show after news of the allegations against Porter surfaced. Mark Mandlsohn, president of Bay Bloor Radio stated that they "were uncomfortable with what we've heard and what we've read." Other donors interviewed in a CBC piece stated that they were cancelling their monthly donations in light of Porter's allegations and the station's "lack of transparency" over their actions subsequent to the allegations.

In August 2018, a statement of claim was filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by Garvia Bailey, once host of JAZZ.FM91’s show Good Morning Toronto from 2014 to 2018. The claim alleges that she and others were "being bullied, harassed and sexually harassed by Ross Porter" and that “given the years of bullying and harassment from Ross Porter directed at Ms. Bailey, the environment created by the bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment of staff at JAZZ.FM91 by Ross Porter, Sharda Prashad, Renah Persofsky and others, and the callous, high-handed and egregious nature of the attempt to demote and/or subject Ms. Bailey to arbitrary performance management without any legitimate rationale, Ms. Bailey determined she could not return to an unsafe and toxic work environment."

In a statement issued by JAZZ.FM91 and posted to its website, JAZZ.FM91 responded to Bailey's claim stating that "JAZZ.FM91 has received Ms. Bailey's Statement of Claim and denies the allegations."

In August 2018, The Toronto Star reported that David McGown, who chairs the Board, believed that a group was seeking to control the board and was "looking for an opportunity to disrupt a relatively small charitable institution and grab what is an extremely valuable asset"--its strong signal from the CN Tower. McGown also stated that doing so would result in JAZZ.FM91 becoming "just another commercial broadcasting station." A Globe and Mail article released that same day noted that the email received by McGown alleged that the station had "consistently rebuffed requests from members...to provide 'full disclosure of corporate records, copies of the By-Laws and minutes to meetings.'" and that there was "no transparency" in how the Board handled the allegations by the Collective. . In that same piece, the Globe and Mail reported that the not-for-profit JAZZ.FM91 holds a license from the CRTC that requires the station to "provide programming that is 'clearly complementary to, rather than imitative of, that provided by commercial broadcasters'" so that a take-over "seems unlikely".

Dissatisfaction with JAZZ.FM91's mishandling of Porter's allegations came to a head on August 31, 2018 when member-donors attended the station's AGM. The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and National Post all reported that donor-members called for the entire Board to resign over its handling of the allegations as a way to regain trust with sponsors and donors. Those in attendance were angered over the Board's decision to keep Ross Porter on air as a host and called for Porter's radio program to be discontinued. David McGown later confirmed in the meeting that Porter "continues to play a role with the station". In a telephone interview with the Toronto Star, Porter himself confirmed that he "continues to serve at the pleasure of the board and the station's senior management" and that he "continue[s] to play a significant role in making the station successful." Attendees were also "disappointed at the lack of transparency from management and the Board" citing that they had not been notified about the AGM, had not been able to access the station's financials and that if sent, AGM material was "sent the same day that members could nominate directors" leaving little time for action. The AGM was described by all three newspapers as "standing-room-only", packed with "angry donors", who were "certainly agitated". .

The National Post and Globe and Mail reported that a savejazzfm.com website was set up by Brian Hemmingand consists of "a group of donors and other supporters that is concerned for the future of the station under the current leadership." The website details what occurred at the AGM and states that, "No adequate answers were provided with respect to the role or remuneration of Ross Porter, citing privacy. In fact, the board refused to even acknowledge whether Mr. Porter was receiving any remuneration and why he was bestowed the title of President Emeritus." and that "[b]ecause of a question submitted by a member, the board was forced to acknowledge that by not presenting the financial statements to the annual meeting no later than six months after the end of the fiscal year, it was not in compliance with the Corporations Act. They were also in breach of the Act last year on this point, indicating a troubling lack of attention to proper governance. Additionally, as noted above, by not giving all members notice of past AGMs, the board may have breached the Act further."

In a release issued on the JAZZ.FM91 website, it was reported that "donor members offer[ed] unprecedented support" at the AGM, and that David McGown "described the meeting as 'absolutely positive'"

External links

• JAZZ.FM91 Website