Last month, CBC journalist Tara Henley resigned from the Canadian broadcaster. On Monday, she published a post on Substack, explaining why she resigned.
In the Substack post, Henley said that when she started working at CBC, “the network produced some of the best journalism in the country.” But now the network “embodied some of the worst trends in mainstream media.”
She added: “In a short period of time, the CBC went from being a trusted source of news to churning out clickbait that reads like a parody of the student press.”
According to Henley, CBC is failing to report on issues that are important to people and focusing on the wrong things.
“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.’”
Henley also described how the CBC, like most mainstream media, has drastically veered.
“It used to be that I was the one furthest to the left in any newsroom,” she said. “I am now easily the most conservative, frequently sparking tension by questioning identity politics.”
She also described the network’s focus on race.
“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.”
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