CFNY's Dean Blundell Show Suspended By Corus In Wake Of Comments By Producer/Juror About Criminal Trial

Welsman

The controversy over CORUS Alternative CFNY (102.1 THE EDGE)/TORONTO DEAN BLUNDELL SHOW producer DEREK WELSMAN's on-air discussion of a court case on which he served on the jury has resulted in the station suspending the show.  On THURSDAY (12/12), CORUS issued a statement reading, "Effective immediately, we are suspending THE DEAN BLUNDELL SHOW.  This will allow us to review our internal practices to ensure that our programming is compliant with our station’s policies, as well as community and broadcast standards."

WELSMAN, who served as foreman of the jury, and BLUNDELL discussed the case, in which a man was convicted of three counts of sexual assault and two of unlawful confinement in an incident at a TORONTO bathhouse, on the air, drawing fire from THE TORONTO STAR, which ran excerpts from the broadcast and described the segments as "giggles and guffaws filled the airwaves as the host and his sidekicks ridiculed several gay men involved in a criminal trial," followed by criticism from NATIONAL POST columnist CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD in TUESDAY's paper.  While discussion of a case by jurors is common in the U.S., the media is prohibited in CANADA from interviewing jurors about anything that was not aired in open court, such as information about deliberations.

« see more Net News