last link on the left

November 30, 2007

Details that legendary and colourful Edmonton radio crime reporter Byron Christopher has been terminated by 630 CHED and parent company Corus Entertainment have now been confirmed.

Christopher, left, with Premier Ed Stelmach

Word of Christopher's departure first surfaced in the Provincial Courthouse building where Crown prosecutors were heard referring to the explanation of the veteran reporter's sudden absence using words such as "canned" and "fired."

Christopher was observed November 30th, 2007 removing personal effects from the courthouse office he shared with Tony Blais of the Edmonton Sun.

Contacted by the Last Link at his home, Byron Christopher offered "No comment" regarding the status of his employment with Corus Entertainment.

In courthouse circles, "No comment" is usually code for "F--- off" or "I wish I could tell you more but I can't."


Layton	Rutherford

However, Christopher did confirm a meeting took place at the 630 CHED studio building at 5204 84th Street on November 30th where news director Bob Layton and Corus Vice President and station manager Doug Rutherford were in attendance.

A call placed by the Last Link to the 630 CHED newsroom the next day yielded a "I can't comment on that" response from reporter Simon Ostler. Ostler then forwarded the call to Bob Layton's voice mail. E-mails were also sent to Layton's address.

The Last Link continues to wait for a response.

That Christopher has been let go by Corus Entertainment marks the second departure of a high-profile personality from the broadcaster's airwaves in three months.

On August 21st, 2007 Gord Whitehead left the station for reasons not yet made public.

While there has been no official response from 630 CHED or Corus Entertainment, Edmonton Sun columnist Graham Hicks reported Christopher's departure in his December 4th, 2007 column (excerpted below).

BYRON CHRISTOPHER EXITS CHED NEWS

Gone from CHED, with his unique take on law and order, is crime reporter Byron Christopher.

Neither CHED management nor Christopher is talking, which usually means a hefty payout in return for a quiet departure.

This is distressing. Christopher was known as a champion of "ethical journalism" within CHED's ranks, an opponent of the "rip and read" school of radio reporting (i.e. reporting a news item from another source, without attribution). He was openly critical of news director Bob Layton's involvement with the police helicopter, arguing that the reporter should not fraternize with the reported.

It's impossible to pass judgment, not knowing the internal circumstances leading to the end of Christopher's 10 years with CHED.

But Byron's ability to find the human side of the law in his news reports will be missed, as will his candid and principled views on journalistic integrity.

In 1991 Christopher received an award for outstanding investigative journalism from the Canadian Association of Journalists for his probe of a double homicide in Saskatchewan.

Over the years, 630 CHED listeners have heard Christopher's exclusive interviews with people accused of high-profile crimes such as wife-killer Michael White and Joseph Laboucan (convicted of the April 2005 murder of Nina Courtepatte).

In July 2007, Christopher conducted Colin Thatcher's first post-prison interview. Portions of the interview were aired on CHED during newscasts, on the national Corus Entertainment Charles Adler Show, and in an extended form on the CHED Afternoon News program in addition to a similar broadcast on their sister-station CHQR 77 in Calgary.

Christopher has faced six search warrants and three subpoenas related to his reporting over the last 15 years. Most recently, in October 2006, Edmonton Police served 630 CHED with a search warrant for information related to the second-degree murder case against Michael White. A copy of the search warrant can be seen here.

Details of CHED's possible conflict of interest with the Edmonton Police Service in the matter were revealed in an article written by Michael Simpson for the Vegreville Observer (opens as a .txt file).

In the article, Simpson points out that news director Layton is also a board member of the Edmonton Police Foundation, a non-profit organisation that works closely with the Edmonton Police Service.

Layton helped raise more than a million dollars to buy Edmonton Police its own helicopter, known as "Air One."

In addition, senior CHED reporter Ed Mason came up with the idea of a "Blue Ribbon" campaign that encouraged people to wear blue ribbons or put them on their vehicle antennas to show their support for police.

Mason's efforts were acknowledged on the air by Doug Rutherford in March 2005 – at about the same time Rutherford's son was trying to get on with the Edmonton Police Service. The younger Rutherford was not accepted but Ed Mason was still named employee of the month.

Layton is a member of the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA). In the RTNDA code of ethics (article 6) it reads "Broadcast journalists will govern themselves on and off the job in such a way as to avoid conflict of interest, real or apparent."

In October 2007 a Corus Entertainment company vehicle was spotted with a sticker on its rear door.

Cool 880 event cruiser - Last Link on the Left image

Apparently affixed to the Cool 880 event cruiser by a Corus employee, the sticker reads "Support Our E.P.S."

Station manager Doug Rutherford said some of the Michael White material was not on-site at the time the warrant was served, and police left the newsroom only with available copies and recordings of all stories that CHED had broadcast.

“We couldn't provide what we didn't have,” said Rutherford in a Canadian Press story published October 27th, 2006.

The Canadian Association of Journalists, the nation's largest organisation of journalists, criticised the tactics of the Edmonton Police Service.

“Don’t try to turn journalists into cops,” said CAJ president Paul Schneidereit in the same Canadian Press story.

“Journalists have an important role in our society, and if you're going to interfere with that role, you'd better have a damned good reason," added Schneidereit.

Further comments on the matter by the Canadian Association of Journalists can be read on this screenshot of their web site as posted on October 27th, 2006.

After refusing to hand over his personal notes on the White matter, Christopher was pulled off the story by management who told him he was "getting too close" to the story. It was the first time the reporter had been taken off a story in about three decades of reporting.

In addition to his roles as 630 CHED news director and Global Edmonton editorialist, Bob Layton operates an entertainment company that offers DJ services and puppet shows.

The "not your average guest speaker" has been paid to appear at events held by RCMP in Edmonton, Three Hills, Camrose, Innisfail and Inuvik, and for the Edmonton Police Service.

On November 15th, 2007 Byron Christopher happened upon an incident at West Edmonton Mall that involved Edmonton Police and a group of teens.

His report was posted on the 630 CHED web site under the headline Report of Police Brutality in West Edmonton.

Nov, 16 2007 - 6:10 AM

EDMONTON/630 CHED - Reports of possible police brutality, outside West Edmonton Mall Thursday evening. According to a group of 5 teens, their friend was violently arrested by city police, who were investigating a large fight at the Mall's bus terminal. The girls claim their friend, 17-year-old Don, was not involved in the brawl. They call him "an innocent by-stander" but, also say an officer at the scene "stomped on him" and pulled a gun on him. 630 CHED's Byron Christopher spoke with Brittany & Maria, shortly after the incident. The girls say it all started after another friend, Brad, was jumped and beaten by a large group of people who took off when the police arrived.

City police confirm that around 7:30 PM they responded to a report of a large group of kids fighting outside the mall...some possibly armed with base-ball bats. But they say the event fizzled-out after no victims or suspects could be found. They also say no reports have come in about an arrest made at the scene. (kc)

An actuality of the girls' comments can be heard during Chris Gardner's report of the incident in 630 CHED's 11:00 p.m. November 15th, 2007 newscast (opens as a .wav file).

The incident was not reported by the CBC, CTV or Global television news outlets, nor did it appear in the Edmonton Journal, the Edmonton Sun, or on the Edmonton Police Service web site.

630 CHED also airs a weekly program, Cop Talk, that features Edmonton police officers Patrick Tracy and Aubrey Zalaski hosting a call in show.

In April 2007 Const. Aubrey Zalaski, 34, was on trial in Alberta provincial court, charged with assault with a weapon (a Taser) in a case involving Paul Cetinski Jr., 35. The assault allegedy took place in August 2004 near police headquarters.

Zalaski was convicted by provincial court Judge Brian Fraser who ruled the officer overreacted with an "unnecessary, gratuitous use of force" when he stopped Cetinski.

Outside court, Crown attorney Gary Cornfield said: "When you are shooting somebody in the back it's hard to say you are acting in self-defence."

In June 2007 Zalaski received a conditional discharge, was ordered to report to a parole officer for one year and was to give $1,000 to charity in an effort to restore public trust in the Edmonton Police Service. If Zalaski fulfilled the conditions of his discharge, he would be considered not convicted of the offence and would not have a criminal record.

In November 2007 Justice James Lewis overturned the original verdict and awarded Zalaski a new trial. Lewis ruled the Crown had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that excessive force was used in the arrest of Cetinski. A new trial date was set to be scheduled November 22nd, 2008.

In their May 9th, 2007 issue VUE Magazine reporter Ross Moroz took 630 CHED to task in an article headlined COP WHO TASERED JAYWALKER STAYS ON THE AIR.

Moroz challenged 630 CHED's Lesley Primeau over the station's decision to allow Zalaski to remain behind the microphone.

“First of all, it's still before the courts because there is an appeal. Until that's done, we'll make no decisions, and at that point it will be a management decision,” Primeau told Vue Magazine.

According to Primeau the station has received few calls from listeners about Zalaski’s involvement with the program.

“Virtually none,” Primeau stated. “I'd say you could probably count them on one hand and have fingers left over.”

The Last Link has learned that calls to the program were heavily screened at the time of Zalaski’s court appearances, and the station's talk shows are processed through a digital delay that is capable of removing unwanted audio in a manner that is virtually undetectable.

Regarding the officer's absence from the show immediately after his conviction Primeau said, “Aubrey pulled himself off of the air that day – and he did so because he didn’t want to embarrass us.”

“[Zalaski continuing to host the program] was fine with us until the appeal process goes through. We do that with all of our staff regardless of the situation,” Primeau said.

Zalaski is married to Kathryn Heather Sharun. Sharun's grandfather is Robert Stollery of Stollery Children's Hospital fame. 630 CHED is a leading media fundraiser for the health care facility.

In a possibly related development, Corus Entertainment had recently sent out an "employee satisfaction" survey for station workers to fill out.

And a week before Christopher's separation of service, Sterling Faux of CHED's Calgary sister station CHQR 77 was escorted from their building.

Faux was often heard on the Corus network locally on weekends and filling in for talk show host Dave Rutherford.

Just prior to being let go by Corus, Faux took a position on the air regarding police use of a Taser on a man in a Vancouver airport.

Dave Rutherford (above) is Doug Rutherford's brother.

For more about Byron Christopher's career and unique reporting style, visit the Last Link's Who Is That Man? page.

The Sherwood Park News in their December 7th, 2007 issue ran a column entitled Dark Day For Integrity-based Journalism.

The Michael Simpson-authoured article is reprinted below as it can no longer be accessed online.

Dark day for integrity-based journalism
by Michael Simpson - Friday December 07, 2007

The world of journalism has been dealt a savage blow with the loss of one of its champions, Byron Christopher.

Recently, Christopher, an award-winning investigative journalist was terminated by his employer.

Christopher’s coverage of an Alberta energy company’s accused support of a Sudanese government responsible for genocide was discouraged even though human rights groups such as amnesty international were begging for attention to the gross human rights violations inside Sudan’s borders. While other media groups in Edmonton turned away from the story, Christopher pressed on. The company was later cleared of all charges in the case, but not before the judge that allowed it to go to trial died in an accidental car crash.

Christopher has endured numerous CPIC searches by authorities which were ruled unethical and unnecessary by the Alberta Privacy Commissioner, faced six search warrants and three subpeonas, the most recent warrants issued after police tried to seize information Christopher gathered during his own investigation on the Michael White trial last year.

Christopher’s work has also included the Nicaraguan civil war, missionary work in the mountains of Nepal during the ’80s which won a Canadian medical pioneer, Dr. Helen Huston, the Order of Canada for her work helping the sick.

Christopher also carefully followed the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard and his subsequent pardon after more than two decades in jail.

For those that knew him, Christopher’s termination comes as a shock. Former Nicaraguan charges d’affair for Canada, Pastor Valle-Garay, who is now a professor at York University, said the following upon hearing the news. “This is the saddest news I have heard in a long time. People, with rare exception, have neither the moral authority nor the guts to recognize principles in broadcasting.”

A man once hugged by Mother Teresa amidst a crowd of people, Christopher humbly put his work before his wallet and always made an effort to tell an unflinching truth.

Further details of Christopher’s career and its untimely end can be read online at www.lastlinkontheleft.com, a website independently hosted by Stuart Bayens.

For those of us who knew him, today, and each day after will be a challenge to continue to uphold the same values he did, even when it meant standing alone.

If his dismissal proves one thing above all else, it’s that integrity and honesty are needed now more than ever within the media.

Byron Christopher's dedication to ethical journalism was more than apparent in an open letter that circulated over various wire services and the internet in June 2003.

The letter was in response to the firing of Jayson Blair, a New York Times reporter who was dismissed over issues of plagiarism and faked news stories.

According to his own web site - www.jayson-blair.com - Blair is a self-confessed manic depressive and suffers from bipolar disorder. His story is about – in equal parts – his own mental illness and an industry without checks and balances.

Despite an increasingly-mounting track record of incompetence, Blair rose through the ranks of journalism and succeeded at the New York Times through "a series of management and operation breakdowns" and "a stunning lack of communication within the newsroom" of one of America's most respected newspapers. Allegations of "cronyism" surfaced, along with a suggestion that affirmative action hiring was partly to blame.

Blair was forced to resign in May 2003 and the New York Times held an internal investigation. For a summary of the matter, visit the Wikipedia Jayson Blair entry.

When Christopher heard of the Blair firing and the reasons behind it, he wrote an open letter that not only underscored his own values regarding journalism – but exposed still-ongoing practices in the radio news business, including those in Edmonton.

Christopher's letter is reprinted below – with permission.

An Open Letter to Jayson Blair – fired NYT Reporter

by Byron Christopher

June 2003

A lot has been said about your reporting for the Times, how you faked headlines, submitted phony expense claims and most damning of all – stole the work of other reporters: plagiarism.

Your name has now become a lightning rod of sorts for dishonest reporting. That's a bummer. Don't fret, Mr. Blair. There's a new career waiting for you – in radio news.

You'll fit right in. You'll be happy to know that in most radio newsrooms in the U.S. and Canada, it's accepted practice to steal the work of other reporters. Unlike your old bosses at the New York Times, management at radio stations will welcome you with open arms. That's because you'll save them a pile of money.

Plagiarism is as common in radio news as corruption in law enforcement in Mexico. Perhaps that's not a fair analogy: Mexican police can't be that bad.

Theft in the radio business shouldn't come as a big surprise to you. From time to time, on your morning drive to work in New York, surely you heard on the radio news stories you'd written the day before. Bet there's not a print reporter in North America who hasn't tuned a station in and had that gnawing feeling, “Hmmm ... where'd they get that story?”

Perhaps you wondered how a radio station (with fewer reporters than the Times' mailroom has staff) could match the big stories of the Times, the Post and other New York newspapers – at 6AM? Well, now you know. Those stories were often lifted, scalped ... you know, stolen.

It's been going on a long time. It just that no one talks about it. This may be the first time you've ever read about it.

The Concise Oxford dictionary says plagiarism is taking and using another person's thoughts (or) writings as one's own. The Merriam Webster's Collegiate dictionary defines plagiarize as “to use a created production without crediting the source.”

More than dictionaries warn reporters about literary theft. So do textbooks used by broadcast journalism schools, although the part on plagiarism is sometimes skipped over. Newspapers print warnings to help protect against theft of their material. The Edmonton Journal prominently posts the following warning on page A2: “The contents of this newspaper are protected by copyright and may be used only for personal, non-commercial purposes.”

Journal Publisher Linda Hughes says she doesn't mind if radio reporters use their material – as long as they get credit.

So it's pretty clear. If you lift stuff out of the papers, give attribution. It's dumb not to attribute, really. If a reporter can't match the story or independently verify the information, why wouldn't they want to tell their listeners where it came from?

Should you land a job in radio news, here are a few pointers on how to ... how do I put this tastefully ... “play the game."

* Never announce you're about to plagiarize a story from the papers. God, no. Plagiarism sounds too much like stealing. Better “lift” or “scalp”, perhaps “rewrite” a story. Plagiarizing is what poor university students sometimes get caught doing, before they get kicked out of class and become the focus of national stories – including radio news stories lifted from newspapers. Funny how that works.

* Never scalp a newspaper story word-for-word. If you do that, you're not only a thief – but a lazy one. Take a tip from car thieves: repaint that sucker or strip it down (makes it harder to tell where it came from).

* Be careful with direct quotes. At six in the morning, even the most trusting listener will wonder how you got quotes identical to what's in the morning paper. You don't want to make it too obvious. I mean, what if companies got wind they were sponsoring a plagiarized newscast? They might demand refunds. That would be another public relations disaster.

* It's okay to use stories from a wire service your radio station subscribes to. The wire service has permission to run stories from certain news organizations and to pass them on to member stations, for a fee. With wire stories you may want to give the original source credit, out of professional courtesy. Just to warn you, some people in radio news management don't want it known that Pam Coulter doesn't work for them, but actually works for ABC News in New York; same for Steve Fairbairn of Broadcast News in Toronto. It's an image thing. Like much of the news media, a good impression is just as important as good information.

From time to time you'll be doing stories on petty thieves. You might feel awkward about this at first, but the more you do it the easier it becomes. Think of it as a good “career move."

You may wonder why more radio reporters and newsreaders don't give attribution. Seems like an easy thing to do, and it is. Think ‘image' again. Some radio stations want to give the impression they have lots of reporters and their newsrooms are on top of things. Truth is, most stations have few reporters out on the street chasing stories. Some radio newsrooms have no field reporters at all; perhaps a news reader or two, and that's it.

In a city the size of Edmonton (with a population of about 1 million, served by more than two dozen radio stations), there may be one field reporter working weekends. That's one radio field reporter to cover the entire city. In fact, Edmonton has more radio stations than radio field-reporters and I suspect the city is not unique.

Don't waste your time applying for a reporting job at most FM radio stations, because few have their own newsrooms anymore. Times have changed. If you're applying for work in Canada, keep in mind the laws here have changed too. Canadians can thank the former Conservative government of Brian Mulroney for amendments to broadcast regulations more than a decade ago that paved the way for owners of radio stations to cut back on newscasts – and reporters. Combined with the new right of owners to own several radio stations in the same market, it was the end of many broadcast newsrooms. For a good number of reporters, it was a golden opportunity for a career change.

By scalping, you actually provide a valuable service to the radio industry. More than ever, there's a strong demand for reporters who steal. Plagiarism plays a vital part in the healthy bottom line of a radio station, although I'm sure you won't see reference to that in any mission statement.

Hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of stories is stolen from newspapers each year. This is money newspapers have invested in salaries, travel, equipment, phone calls, rent, etc. Do the math: it takes a good radio hack only 30 minutes to steal half a dozen stories. Try and find a body shop worker who can spray paint half a dozen cars in an hour. Fat chance. Over a month, a radio radio plagiarist can steal news stories that far exceed the value of a Lexus.

Don't look for newspaper owners to take stations to court to help recoup their losses. Why this is, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's because newspapers and radio stations are involved in so many ‘cross-promotions' or that stations spend good coin on newspaper advertising. Money talks, and legal action is expensive. Embarrassing too: it would sure put a damper on media executive get-togethers on the golf course.

If you continue plagiarizing on a regular basis, take a tip from the mob and find some “moral cover”. Help a charitable foundation. Better yet, frequent a house of worship. If you plunk yourself down in church every week, who will suspect you're a thief?

If you are still bothered by all this, take comfort in knowing the practice has been going on for a long, long time. It's the original recycling program. Some editors think plagiarism should not be taught in journalism school because it's not applicable anymore. If you are still uneasy, ask yourself ... why would management allow the practice if it's underhanded? Part of a good con game is that you sometimes have to fool yourself.

Keep in mind you're providing a valuable service – not necessarily to the public, perhaps – but certainly to the broadcast owners. Remember, the bottom line here is not free-flow of information and healthy competition, but profits. Stealing saves money. That may sound crass, but it's true. Some people believe it's cheaper to steal than to buy or produce (that's the general idea behind, say, stealing cars). The more stories you “lift” from other news organizations, the fewer reporters that are needed.

Generally speaking, to work radio news and not plagiariaze is not a good career move, especially if you're doing a morning run.

Another tip: when you start your new job, not a word about “ethics”. Don't ask stupid, booby-trapped questions like “Hey, where is our code of ethics?" That's like working at Fox Television and suggesting a story on President Bush's conviction for drunk-driving, or asking if “regime change” violates the UN Charter. Again, not a good career move.

If you are applying for work in Canada, keep in mind there are two main journalist organizations up here ... the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) and the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA). After 20 years, both now have a code of ethics or a “statement of principles.” In the CAJ's statement of principles, we find this on plagiarism: “There is no copyright on news or ideas once a story is in the public domain, but if we can't match the story, we will credit the originating source.” Sounds serious, but relax. Some CAJ members regularly plagiarize. I bring this to your attention to again illustrate just how common the practice is. These organizations are not likely to audit the source of radio newscasts to make sure things are on the up and up.

Never point out in your application to a radio station you no longer plagiarize. That's the dumbest thing you could do. Your resume will hit the garbage before, well, a hack has had time to scalp another story.

In recent years, Jayson Blair has re-gained public acceptance as an advocate for the mentally ill.

Byron Christopher, who was employed by 630 CHED at the time the letter was written, continues to work as a free-lance journalist in Edmonton.

Vue reporter Ross Moroz died September 26th, 2007.

radio - edmonton radio news 2007 - where is that man?