Lisa LaFlamme, CTV News, and Bad Executive Decisions
There will be no bittersweet on-air goodbye for (now former) CTV countrywide news anchor Lisa LaFlamme, no ceremonial passing of the baton to the up coming era, no broadcast retrospectives lionizing a journalist with a storied and award-successful job. As LaFlamme introduced yesterday, CTV’s mother or father corporation, Bell Media, has determined to unilaterally conclude her agreement. (See also the CBC’s reporting of the tale below.)
Though LaFlamme herself does not make this declare, there was of course speedy speculation that the network’s final decision has something to do with the point that LaFlamme is a woman of a certain age. LaFlamme is 58, which by Tv benchmarks is not accurately young — apart from when you compare it to the age at which common males who proceeded her have still left their respective anchor’s chairs: take into account Peter Mansbridge (who was 69), and Lloyd Robertson (who was 77).
But an even extra sinister principle is now afoot: instead than mere, shallow misogyny, evidence has arisen of not just sexism, but sexism conjoined with company interference in newscasting. Two evils for the price tag of one! LaFlamme was fired, says journalist Jesse Brown, “because she pushed back versus 1 Bell Media government.” Brown studies insiders as claiming that Michael Melling, vice president of information at Bell Media, has bumped heads with LaFlamme a quantity of periods, and has a background of interfering with information coverage. Brown additional experiences that “Melling has persistently shown a deficiency of regard for ladies in senior roles in the newsroom.”
Useless to say, even if a individual grudge additionally sexism make clear what’s likely on, here, it however will feel to most as a “foolish determination,” 1 sure to bring about the corporation problems. Now, I make it a coverage not to question the business savvy of skilled executives in industries I really don’t know properly. And I recommend my pupils not to leap to the conclusion that “that was a dumb decision” just because it’s one they don’t have an understanding of. But however, in 2022, it is tricky to imagine that the business (or Melling much more precisely) did not see that there would be blowback in this case. It’s just one thing to have disagreements, but it’s yet another to unceremoniously dump a beloved and award-profitable female anchor. And it is bizarre that a senior government at a information corporation would think that the truth of the matter would not occur out, presented that, immediately after all, he’s surrounded by folks whose occupation, and personalized commitment, is to report the news.
And it’s difficult not to suspect that this a less than satisfied changeover for LaFlamme’s substitute, Omar Sachedina. Of training course, I’m guaranteed he’s joyful to get the work. But though Bell Media’s press release rates Sachedina stating swish points about LaFlamme, definitely he didn’t want to presume the anchor chair amidst common criticism of the transition. He’s getting on the function beneath a shadow. Most likely the prize is really worth the price tag, but it’s also challenging not to think about that Sachedina experienced (or now has) some pull, some skill to influence that manner of the transition. I’m not expressing (as some surely will) that — as an insider who appreciates the actual tale — he should really have declined the work as sick-gotten gains. But at the pretty least, it would seem truthful to argue that he must have applied his impact to condition the changeover. And if the now-senior anchor doesn’t have that sort of impact, we should really be apprehensive indeed about the independence of that position, and of that newsroom.
A final, related notice about authority and governance in intricate corporations. In any fairly perfectly-governed organization, the conclusion to axe a significant, general public-struggling with expertise like LaFlamme would demand sign-off — or at least tacit approval — from extra than one particular senior government. This indicates that 1 of two issues is genuine. Either Bell Media isn’t that variety of properly-governed corporation, or a huge range of folks were being involved in, and culpable of, unceremoniously dumping an award-profitable journalist. Which is even worse?