Ross Porter (Canadian broadcaster)

Ross Porter C.M. is a Canadian former broadcast executive and music writer.[1]

Career

Porter was a producer and host for CBC Radio 2, where he was associated with programs including Night Lines, Latenight and After Hours,[2] from 2004 to 2018 he was president and CEO of the Toronto non-profit jazz radio station CJRT-FM (JAZZ.FM91).[3] Porter was a pop culture reporter for CBC Television's The National and CBC Newsworld's On the Arts.[4] He was named vice-president of the jazz television channel CoolTV in 2003.[4]

Porter published a consumer guide to jazz recordings, The Essential Jazz Recordings: 101 CDs, in 2006.[5] He is a two-time winner for Broadcaster of the Year at Canada's National Jazz Awards, in 2002[6] and 2004.[7] In 2009, the Jazz Journalists Association nominated Porter for the Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award for Broadcasting.[8]

In June 2014, Porter was made a member of the Order of Canada for his contributions to broadcasting and developing Canadian talent over a forty-year career.[9]

Allegations

In 2018, after a group of employees, past employees, and contractors made allegations of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment against Porter, who denied these allegations but stepped down as President and CEO of JAZZ.FM.[10] The board of directors was overthrown the following year.[11] While donors expressed strong support of the station, some were reportedly "angry" Porter was still employed at JAZZ.FM.;[12] Porter made his final broadcast on April 27, 2019.

References

1. "Variety key to new show covering all forms of popular music". Ottawa Citizen, March 29, 1992.
2. "CBC radio must renew itself or stagnate, top official says". Montreal Gazette, June 17, 1993.
3. "Porter to head CJRT-FM". National Post, June 8, 2004.
4. "Ross Porter joins CanWest: CBC jazz expert". National Post, May 27, 2003.
5. "The essential 101 for jazz lovers; A starting point for collections". Toronto Star, November 2, 2006.
6. "Hogtown grabs the spotlight". The Globe and Mail, February 26, 2002.
7. "Porter picked for jazz award". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, February 26, 2004.
8. "Top Honours". Jazz Journalists Association. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
9. "Ross Porter named to Order of Canada". JAZZ.FM91.
10. Houpt, Simon (June 7, 2018). "Toronto's JAZZ.FM91 CEO steps down in wake of probe into sexual-harassment allegations". Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
11. Houpt, Simon (February 15, 2019). "JAZZ.FM91 board overthrown by dissident member group". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
12. Vincent, Donovan (August 31, 2018). "Angry donors pack Jazz.FM meeting amid corporate interest in deal with station". thestar.com. Retrieved November 22, 2019.

External links

• JAZZ.FM91 Website