Denise Benson Writes To Her Listeners

From her Facebook Note

hello friends,

Many of you are longtime listeners and supporters of my Mental Chatter radio program, which has been heard on CKLN 88.1FM since 1987. I've been a volunteer at the station for the past 21 years, and also worked on the management team, first as Development Director (fundraising) and then as Program and Music Director for a number of years in the early '90s.

In short, I know CKLN's principles, policies and stated mandate intimately, as I am among the hundreds of people who worked to develop CKLN into the socially, culturally, and artistically progressive and adventurous radio station it once was.

This past weekend, while I was on vacation, I received a one sentence dismissal 'letter' via email from Interim Station Manager (I'll return to the 'interim' part) Mike Phillips. It reads:

-----

Aug 15, 2008

Denise Benson
address
Toronto
Ontario

Please be advised that your volunteer services at CKLN Radio Inc are no longer required effective immediately.

Mike Phillips.

Station Manager

-------

Yes, that's the extent of it. No cause, no reason, no notice, absolutely no respect. This is the exact same dismissal 'letter' sent now to more than 25 volunteers at CKLN over the past few months. Some of these now dismissed programmers include:

- Verlia Stephens, Limin' With Verlia
- Chloe Onari, Dat Dere
- David Barnard, Lowdown to Uptown
- Ron Nelson and Lisa Skeete, Reggaemania
- Claudia McKoy, Upsurgence
- Audrey Redman, Honour the Earth
- the entire Friday Word of Mouth news crew
- Nik Red and DJ San Fran, Aftrotransit (also as of this weekend)
- DJs Dialect and Vision, Bruckbeat Radio (also as of this weekend)
- and many more....

Those of you who have been listening to CKLN over the past six months in particular may have noticed that the radio station not only often sounds terrible technically (Mike Phillips, the Interim Station Manager also happens to be CKLN's technical Engineer), it has been heavily gutted, both in terms of progressive content and with this firing many volunteers.

I don't know exactly how to explain the situation. It would be more clear if I could say 'They're gutting the station to put in more commercially viable programming' (which many people have been speculating may be the case) or if I could, with certainty, say 'They're firing us in order to create lots of room to put in Ryerson student programming' (which may also be the case,, effectively pitting Ryerson students against community members at a campus-community radio station funded by both).

What is 100% clear is that Interim Station Manager Mike Phillips and Interim Program Director Tony Barnes (both appointed by a Board of Directors on which they now sit and have sat on in the past) have specifically targeted and fired volunteer programmers who have spoken out about their being hired (with no hiring process) in the first place and / or the detrimental decisions they have made and are making.

Again, both of these men were APPOINTED on a one-year INTERIM basis and yet they've felt fully justified in turning CKLN's policies, principles and programming upside down. Any time we question them, whether in person, on-air or in volunteer staff meetings, we have been, at best, greeted with no answers to our questions and, at worst, censored and fired from the airwaves. How convenient for them.

Oh yeah, they've even hired off-duty police officers on a number of occasions to keep dismissed programmers physically out of the radio station and studio as well as out of programmer staff meetings so that we can't even have a say or make other CKLN programmers fully aware of all that is happening.

These police officers have been paid more than $60 per hour by CKLN... that's money contributed by you, the listeners, us, the volunteers and, of course, by Ryerson students as part of their student fees (CKLN gets $8.03 from each full-time Ryerson student).

Obviously, after 21 years of putting my heart and soul (and so much time) into CKLN, I am baffled and upset. Mental Chatter has been a very special opportunity for me to share music, information and interviews with hundreds of local and international artists with tens of thousands of listeners over the years. To say I'll miss producing the show and connecting with people through it is a massive understatement.

There are so many elements to this ongoing tale, more than I can share in one note, so, for now, here is one source of further backgrounding and information: http://www.takebackourradio.blogspot.com/

There is also a Facebook group that has been formed if you care to join:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18018193979

If you care to let Interim Station Manager Mike Phillips or Interim Program Director Tony Barnes know how you feel about their actions, they can be reached at:

416.979.5251

Mike Phillips, Interim Station Manager, extension 2383
stationmanager@ckln.fm

Tony Barnes,  Interim Program Director, extension 2374
programdirector@ckln.fm

By mail:
CKLN 88.1 FM
55 Gould Street
Toronto Ontario
M5B 1E9

If you would like to file complaints directly to the CRTC (the national governing body for radio and television broadcasters), information on how to do so can be found here: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/Eng/INFO_SHT/G8.htm

From 11am - 2pm today, I'll be tuning in to CKLN 88.1FM to see if they've replaced me with another show already or will simply air a CD on repeat or perhaps even air a recorded Mental Chatter from the past, which is a tactic they've taken after dismissing other programmers. If there is an actual live person hosting a show in this time slot today, I will be calling them at 416.595.1655 to ask if they understand how they've come to be there.

I'll add further notes and information as I'm able. For now, thank-you to the dozens of people who've already sent emails and wall posts and words of encouragement. Keep in touch. xoxo

-db-

If any single person embodies/personifies CKLN, it's Denise Benson.