Journalist quits Canadian state broadcaster because it's too woke

"To work at the CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation] in the current climate is to embrace cognitive dissonance and to abandon journalistic integrity. It is to sign on, enthusiastically, to a radical political agenda that originated on Ivy League campuses in the United States and spread through American social media platforms that monetize outrage and stoke societal divisions. 

"It is to pretend that the 'woke' worldview is near universal -- even if it is far from popular with those you know, and speak to, and interview, and read."

So says Tara Henley, a Toronto journalist who resigned today after over eight years with Canada's state-owned broadcaster.

Writing on the Substack platform, Ms Henley opened her piece on the Substack platform by revealing that she's been hearing more and more complaints about the house organ of Canada's governing Liberal Party. 

"People want to know why, for example, non-binary Filipinos concerned about a lack of LGBT terms in Tagalog is an editorial priority for the CBC, when local issues of broad concern go unreported. Or why our pop culture radio show’s coverage of the Dave Chappelle Netflix special failed to include any of the legions of fans, or comics, that did not find it offensive. Or why, exactly, taxpayers should be funding articles that scold Canadians for using words such as 'brainstorm' and 'lame'.

"Everyone asks the same thing: What is going on at the CBC?"

Ms Henley goes on to answer her own question. 

"To work at the CBC now is to accept the idea that race is the most significant thing about a person, and that some races are more relevant to the public conversation than others. It is, in my newsroom, to fill out racial profile forms for every guest you book; to actively book more people of some races and less of others. [Ahem. Less sugar, fewer people. Back to English class for you, young lady! Ed.] 

Ms Henley suggests that the focus on racial issues is resulting in less scrutiny of other issues that affect large numbers of people, such as the housing crisis, lockdowns, vaccine mandates, accumulation of wealth by billionaires and power by bureaucrats, and the rising total of overdose deaths. 

"It used to be that I was the one furthest to the left in any newsroom, occasionally causing strain in story meetings with my views on issues like the housing crisis. I am now easily the most conservative, frequently sparking tension by questioning identity politics. This happened in the span of about 18 months. My own politics did not change."

If working for a propaganda machine where newsreaders now must include not only vizmins but some who display their religious identity through their choice of headgear is too much for the not-quite-that-woke Tara Henley, Walt suggests she apply to CTV or Global, where things haven't gone quite that far... yet.

Further reading (added 4/1/22): Turns out Ms Henley landed softly at the new woke Globe & Mail, the Toronto elite paper that pretends to be Canada's national newspaper. Click here to read her reviews of six new books, including Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy, by Batya Ungar-Sargon (Encounter Books, 2021), which Ms Henley calls a must-read. I'll add that to my shopping list, but not from Amazon!

A fond look back at Fred C. Dobbs, scourge of the lamestream media

I'm still hot under the collar about the sorry state of the lamestream media in North America. See "Anus horribilis 2020: Noted in passing (media)", posted yesterday. The truth isn't out there. It's here, in the blogosphere.

Liberal group-think dominates the lamestream media of the Excited States of America, and Canada is just as bad -- worse, now, with the passing of Christie Blatchford and Allan Fotheringham. 

And there are those who say that, even at his best, Dr Foth was not really anti-establishment, but more of a court jester poking fun at the Powers That Be, from inside the charmed circle of the liberal elite.

His jibes were indeed tepid, compared with the vitriolic savagery of my favourite Canuck political commentator, Fred C. Dobbs, the Bard of Beamsville. Ole Freddy was the alter ego of the late Michael Magee, a part-time radio and TV personality and full-time fan of the sport of kings, based in Beamsville ON. And yes, there is such a place. You can look it up.

While we were writing yesterday's piece, Ed. looked through one of Fred's two published works, The Platinum Age of B.S. (Van Nostrand Reinhold 1981) and found some comments on the Canuck controlled media which are even more to the point now than they were 40 years ago.

It's a funny thing in this country, but nobody really wants to talk, nobody wants to get out there and tear strips off the government anymore. Everybody wants to suck up...everybody's just cowed into keeping their yaps shut....

In Canada, I think if we had a Watergate situation the fix would be in with the Toronto Star, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Maclean's magazine. These is the big three media knee-jerkers in the English language in this country. 

[They] would really not want the great, wonderful, golden image of the Liberal Party of Canada to be tarnished in any conceivable way. Because, after all, this image is as great, as bright and aas shiny as any kinda galaxy could ever be if it come along and upstaged the eclipse of the sun. I mean, the arrival of the Liberals for these poor bastards is like the Second Coming.

There's a climate of fear among broadcasters, there's a real fear of the CRTC [the Canadian equivalent of the FCC], that muddling, meddling government quasi-regulatory body that they see as a group of people really interfering with their right to do what it is they want to do. And it's kind of a valid argument against government interference in our lives; there's far too much of it.

This is what the Trudeau government gang really do stand for, cuz they passionately believe that unless they run, organize, regulate and produce everything that goes on, it ain't going to be up to some peculiar standards they imagine exists.

The Platinum Age of B.S. was the sequel to The Golden Age of B.S. (Gage, 1976), both long out of print. If you're a Canadian and want to see what Dr Foth called "the Natural Governing Party" get the disrespect it richly deserves, try to get your hands on Fred's books. Try your local library, but don't be surprised if they don't have them. As for his radio and TV broadcasts, those tapes have been erased, wiped clean. Wonder why....

If you're American and wonder what relevance this has to you, just reread that passage. Where Fred says "Liberals", substitute "Democrats". For Toronto Star, CBC and Maclean's magazine, substitute, New York Times/Wapo, CNN and Time magazine. They're all the same! Ask yourself, now that Dr Hunter S. Thompson and George Carlin are no longer with us, is there anyone left who's willing to stand up and say the liberal elites are full of BS?... Anyone?...

Footnote: The "Trudeau" to whom Fred refers is not Blackie McBlackface, the current Prime Minister of Canuckistan, but his father, Pierre, who began the destruction of Canada way back in 1968 and was still in power when Freddie was writing. That in itself tells you all you need to know about the Canaadian sheeple.