John Derringer (commentator)

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John Derringer (born John Hayes[citation needed]) is a radio host, columnist and philanthropist living in Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario, Canada. Derringer is also the younger brother of radio host and voice talent Bill Hayes. John hosts CILQ-FM (Q107)'s weekday morning show, Derringer In The Morning, featuring a Tool of the Day segment. The short segment includes Derringer's observations of recent events, culminating in one of the involved parties being labelled the "Tool of the Day"—a derogatory term equivalent to "idiot" or "moron". Derringer's opinions also appear in the form of a regular column in the Toronto Sun. Derringer has been named "Radio Personality of the Year" by Canada Music Week a record-setting nine times, and has been named "Favourite Toronto Radio Personality" by the Sun, Eye Weekly and Top Choice Awards.[1]

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[edit] History

Derringer started as an operator at 680 CFTR Toronto in 1979, followed by on-air work at CKJD Sarnia, CFGO Ottawa and K97 Edmonton. He joined Q107 Toronto in 1984, staying until 1994. He spent the next 2 years as morning host at CHOM FM Montreal. He went on to host Jock and Roll, a 90-second segment which featured a pre-recorded interview with an athlete or a rock musician. It was syndicated to more than 20 radio stations across Canada. In 1995, he took over Bob McCown's morning show at Toronto's sports radio station The Fan 590. Derringer returned to CILQ-FM in 2001, replacing Howard Stern as the morning host.[1] For a short time he supplemented his duties with an afternoon show for brother station CFMJ (Mojo Radio) alongside Scruff Connors.John also has unusual tattoos that belie his on-air demeanor - Disney Characters and the like scattered all over his body. [2]

[edit] Philanthropy

Derringer has made use of his status as a radio personality to raise money for various causes. In 2004, he launched an all-day fundraising drive to benefit the family of Louise Russo, a 45-year-old woman who was hit by a stray bullet while ordering a sandwich at a Toronto restaurant on April 21 2003. The bullet shattered her spine, rendering the mother of three paralyzed. The station raised $218,000 (CAD) for the family.[3]

Every year Derringer, a motorcycle enthusiast, leads "The B.A.D. Ride", a charity ride for the benefit of the Distress Centres of Toronto.[4] Derringer spearheads the "13 Days of Christmas" fundraising campaign, which has raised over $1.3 million for The Martin Kruze Memorial Fund and the Canadian Centre For Abuse Awareness, on whose Board of Directors he sits.[5]

[edit] Controversy

In 2007, former Toronto Maple Leafs player Tie Domi filed a defamation lawsuit against Derringer and Q107, seeking $950,000 (CAD) in damages.[6] In the suit, Domi alleges that Derringer falsely stated in a broadcast on Oct. 2, 2006, that Domi charges fees to appear for charities. Derringer denies making the statement attributed to him in the suit. The allegations have yet to be proven in court.

In 2003, Justice Richard Schneider of the Ontario Court of Justice filed a lawsuit against Derringer seeking $3 million (CAD) in damages for libel.[7] On the May 29, 2003 episode of Tool of the Day, Derringer criticized the Judge's ruling in a child pornography case involving a 20-year-old man. Justice Schneider sentenced the man to 9 months house arrest, with no jail time, a sentence deemed far too lenient by Derringer. Derringer called Justice Schneider a "supposed Judge", and a "disgrace to our justice system".[8] He went on to say that something had to happen to provoke sterner penalties for child pornography, namely that "a Justice like [Judge Schneider] is gonna have evidence brought into court in a case like that of Yong Jun Kim, and it’s gonna be his kid being forced to perform fellatio on a man and sent around the world on the Internet."[8] The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) ruled that Derringer "made improper personal attacks on the judge," and that "[the] Derringer commentary also sanctioned or promoted possible personal attacks on the children of the judge." [8]

In response to the lawsuit and a complaint lodged with the CBSC by Justice Schneider's ex-wife, the radio station acknowledged the complainant's concerns while defending Derringer's actions as "without actual malice"[7]. In a letter to the complainant, CILQ-FM stated that "the Program, like many radio shows, can sometimes be controversial in nature and not for everyone's taste. However, many of Q107's core audience, which is mainly adults in the 25-54 year old age group, in particular, men, find the Program humorous [sic]."[8] Derringer issued an on-air apology and, following the CBSC's ruling, the station broadcasted a series of mandated announcements regarding the contentious statements.

Derringer has also been criticised for supporting the Ontario chapters of the Hells Angels in an August 31, 2005 column for The Toronto Sun. In it, he dismissed recent media reports about the Hell's Angels as "filled with innuendo, lies, half-truths and complete fabrications."[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Wake up Toronto! Derringer takes on the mornings on Q107", Canada NewsWire, 2001-23-11. 
  2. ^ Eckler, Rebecca. "It's radio for men: cars, chicks, sport, chicks, beer, chicks: AM 640's new format is a guy thing", The National Post, 2001-26-04, pp. A20. 
  3. ^ Ballantyne, Robert. "$218K raised for shot mom", The Toronto Star, 2004-06-05, pp. B07. 
  4. ^ Bond, Steve. "Motorcycle charity runs this weekend", The Toronto Star, 2005-05-28, pp. G31. 
  5. ^ Burrill, William. "Radio's shining moment; The airwaves proved worth during blackout CHFI's dumping of Erin Davis was major low point", The Toronto Star, 2003-12-29, pp. E01. 
  6. ^ "Domi files defamation suit against radio personality", CBC Sports, 2007-02-22. 
  7. ^ a b Powell, Betsy. "Judge sues radio host for $3M", The Toronto Star, 2003-09-25, pp. A03. 
  8. ^ a b c d Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, Ontario Regional Panel; R. Stanbury (Chair), M. Ziniak (Vice Chair), H. Hassan, M. Maheu, M. Oldfield and J. Pungente (2004-10-02). CILQ-FM re John Derringer’s "Tool of the Day" (HTML). CBSC. Retrieved on 2006-16-08.
  9. ^ Reinhart, Anthony. "Derringer under the gun for too many friends? Hells Angel arrest in Russo shooting may put Q107's straight-talking morning man in a bit of a bind", The Globe and Mail, 2005-05-03, pp. A13. 

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