Embattled Channel 7 manager resigns

In court, admits to drunken tirade at Logan Airport

Randi Goldklank had been on administrative leave.

The general manager of Channel 7 resigned yesterday after she admitted in a Boston court that she went on an alcohol- and prescription drug-fueled tirade at Logan International Airport in April.

Randi Goldklank did not speak to reporters after her brief appearance in East Boston Municipal Court, where she personally apologized to state troopers and agreed to refrain from abusing alcohol or drugs for a year.

David Eisenstadt, her Boston lawyer, read a three-sentence statement on behalf of his client to reporters outside the court.

"I've decided to resign my position at WHDH and WLVI to continue focusing on getting help," Eisenstadt said, reading from the statement. "I appreciate the support I have received from [Channel 7 owner] Ed Ansin and my friends and colleagues at WHDH and WLVI. I look forward to returning to work in the broadcasting industry in the near future."

Ansin, president of Sunbeam Television Corp., later issued a brief statement: "This has been an unfortunate circumstance. Randi Goldklank is a talented executive. We wish her great success."

Neither Goldklank nor Mike Carson, who was appointed interim general manager at Channel 7 after Goldklank was placed on administrative leave, returned calls from the Globe yesterday.

Station publicist Maria Panagopoulos said there would be no comment from Channel 7 beyond the statement from Ansin.

Goldklank's high-ranking news position greatly intensified the public focus on her own behavior, according to Stephen Burgard, director of the Northeastern University School of Journalism.

"It would have been extraordinarily difficult for her to continue," he said. "This is probably the best outcome for both parties, and it gives the station an opportunity to get a fresh start."

He added, "One of the givens that goes with being a senior news executive, or a journalist of any kind, is that you do have a higher standard of behavior and accountability than you might in some other walks of life, because news organizations spend so much time holding others up to scrutiny."

It has been a grim couple of months for Channel 7, a news operation that had grown accustomed to putting other Boston television stations on the defensive with its razzle-dazzle style. The station did not win a single newscast in the important May ratings "sweeps," not even the 11 p.m. newscast, its longtime stronghold.

Burgard, of Northeastern, said it is unlikely the Goldklank episode damaged Channel 7's ratings, but added that the situation was a major embarrassment for the station. "I'm having a hard time remembering anything in the news business that parallels this on a local level," he said.

As part of a plea deal, the cases against Goldklank were continued without a finding. If she stays out of trouble for a year, the charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest will be dismissed.

A third charge - assault and battery on a police officer - was dropped by Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley's office.

Goldklank wore a gray business suit and sunglasses and walked away from reporters in the company of Eisenstadt as they asked her questions.

Channel 7 had placed her on paid administrative leave after her April 20 arrest in which she threatened to call a news crew and put a state trooper "on TV and ruin [his] life," according to a police report.

She flailed her arms and screamed at State Police when they took her into custody after her Delta flight landed that Sunday night, according to the report. She had to be helped off the plane by two crew members, according to the report, and struck Trooper Gary Hodgdon in the chest, breaking the prescription glasses in his pocket.

Goldklank also wrote letters of apology to Hodgdon and Delta employees, but those letters were not made part of the public record.