"I've never experienced this level of division in Canada before" — Tara Henley on leaving the CBC
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Oct 5, 2022 • 1HR 0M
"I've never experienced this level of division in Canada before" — Tara Henley on leaving the CBC
I spoke with journalist Tara Henley about her time at the CBC and what has gone wrong in Canada
Appears in this episode
Meghan Murphy
Meghan Murphy and guests embrace authenticity, and have real, honest discussions about culture, politics, relationships, internet wars, the media social justice, cancel culture, and more. Conversations outside the algorithm.
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Tara Henley is a writer and podcaster based in Toronto, and the author of, "Lean Out: A Meditation on the Madness of Modern Life." She worked for the CBC for the better part of a decade before resigning in January, penning an open letter saying the broadcaster "went from being a trusted source of news to churning out clickbait that reads like a parody of the student press," and that, "To work at the CBC in the current climate is to embrace cognitive dissonance and to abandon journalistic integrity."
I spoke with Tara about the problems with Canada's national broadcaster, the state of free speech in Canada, Justin Trudeau's impact on the country, what she learned from doing hip hop journalism, and how Canadian media has gone wrong.
"I've never experienced this level of division in Canada before" — Tara Henley on leaving the CBC
Tara's comments were illuminating because she discussed tensions over (the lack of) POV variety inside the CBC an outsider like me would never discover. Also, I found myself surprised at her orientation to hip-hop and the value she found there ("...universalist feel..."). I've never listened to hip-hop, but hearing her comments makes me interested.
One question: at the beginning of the interview (~8:00), Tara says that "...the whole woke ideology is something that I think has some useful elements to it as well." I'd be interested to hear her discuss those specific elements (no intent to corner her; I really would like to hear her point of view). I'm surprised you didn't follow-up. That's a heck of a statement coming from a well-thinking, articulate journalist who took much personal risk to resign from the CBC. Right now, my pavlovian repulsion to all things Woke is comprehensive, but if Tara is able to render some virtue in it having been through so much, then I can reconsider.
Another great discussion, Meghan. Thanks.
Thanks for this interesting interview. I wondered if there had been any discussion in Canada about Trudeau's links with the World Economic Forum and Klaus Schwab.