1) Introduction - Describe the case. What happened? When did that happen? Who got involved?

2) Identify the link between the case and global market changes?

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IVEY Publishing W16165 SOMEBODY STOP THE RADIO STAR: JIAN GHOMESHI AT THE CBC1 Karen MacMillan and Meredith Woodwark wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G ON1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com. Copyright 2016, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2016-03-28 A burning heat wave had been hammering much of North America in July of 2012, but it was not the sun that was making two particular managers feel the heat in a meeting room at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in downtown Toronto. Six employees of the radio show Q had requested a meeting with Arif Noorani, executive producer, and Linda Groen, the director of network talk radio, to discuss their unhappiness with their work situation. The employees had prepared for this session by holding a series of secret meetings at a restaurant far from their workplace so they could document their concerns about working on the CBC arts and culture radio show Q, a broadcast that had become almost synonymous with its 45-year-old on-air host, Jian Ghomeshi. The clandestine meetings to document their complaints and plan how to present them to management had been code-named Red Sky, a dab of dark humour that riffed on another type of CBC meeting in which participants were asked to engage in "blue- sky thinking," by generating big ideas and offering their free-flowing opinions. O staffers characterized the sky as red when they built this presentation because they intended to tackle the problem of how stifled and difficult the Q work environment had become. They were finally going to let people know that in this workplace, the sky was anything but blue." THE CBC The CBC was Canada's national public broadcaster, responsible for delivering radio and television services, including news and entertainment programming across the country in both official languages, and through its website. According to CBC's president and chief executive officer, Hubert Lacroix, the CBC's mission was "to express Canadian culture and enrich the democratic life of [the] country" and to be a "socially minded organization" in all its activities. The CBC projected a strong, positive reputation, 1 This case has been written on the basis of published sources only. Consequently, the interpretation and perspectives presented in this case are not necessarily those of the CBC or any of its employees. James Bradshaw and Greg McArthur, "Ghomeshi's Staff Complained About 'Culture of Fear'," The Globe and Mail, November 6, 2014, accessed May 17, 2015, www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ghomeshis-staff-complained-about- culture-of-fear/article21473254/. 3 lbid. 4 CBC/Radio-Canada, "Mandate," accessed February 26, 2016, www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/explore/mandate/. 5 CBC/Radio-Canada, "Social Responsibility and Public Value at CBC/Radio-Canada," accessed August 1, 2015, www.public-value.cbc.radio-canada.ca/. IVEY Publishing W16165 SOMEBODY STOP THE RADIO STAR: JIAN GHOMESHI AT THE CBC1 Karen MacMillan and Meredith Woodwark wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G ON1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com. Copyright 2016, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2016-03-28 A burning heat wave had been hammering much of North America in July of 2012, but it was not the sun that was making two particular managers feel the heat in a meeting room at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in downtown Toronto. Six employees of the radio show Q had requested a meeting with Arif Noorani, executive producer, and Linda Groen, the director of network talk radio, to discuss their unhappiness with their work situation. The employees had prepared for this session by holding a series of secret meetings at a restaurant far from their workplace so they could document their concerns about working on the CBC arts and culture radio show Q, a broadcast that had become almost synonymous with its 45-year-old on-air host, Jian Ghomeshi. The clandestine meetings to document their complaints and plan how to present them to management had been code-named Red Sky, a dab of dark humour that riffed on another type of CBC meeting in which participants were asked to engage in "blue- sky thinking," by generating big ideas and offering their free-flowing opinions. O staffers characterized the sky as red when they built this presentation because they intended to tackle the problem of how stifled and difficult the Q work environment had become. They were finally going to let people know that in this workplace, the sky was anything but blue." THE CBC The CBC was Canada's national public broadcaster, responsible for delivering radio and television services, including news and entertainment programming across the country in both official languages, and through its website. According to CBC's president and chief executive officer, Hubert Lacroix, the CBC's mission was "to express Canadian culture and enrich the democratic life of [the] country" and to be a "socially minded organization" in all its activities. The CBC projected a strong, positive reputation, 1 This case has been written on the basis of published sources only. Consequently, the interpretation and perspectives presented in this case are not necessarily those of the CBC or any of its employees. James Bradshaw and Greg McArthur, "Ghomeshi's Staff Complained About 'Culture of Fear'," The Globe and Mail, November 6, 2014, accessed May 17, 2015, www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ghomeshis-staff-complained-about- culture-of-fear/article21473254/. 3 lbid. 4 CBC/Radio-Canada, "Mandate," accessed February 26, 2016, www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/explore/mandate/. 5 CBC/Radio-Canada, "Social Responsibility and Public Value at CBC/Radio-Canada," accessed August 1, 2015, www.public-value.cbc.radio-canada.ca/.