A nationwide CBC host introduced his resignation from the general public broadcaster Monday in a letter alleging he couldn’t proceed to work there “with integrity.”
Travis Dhanraj describes leaving the community the place the veteran journalist as soon as hosted his personal present.
“I’m stepping down not by selection, however as a result of the Canadian Broadcasting Company has made it inconceivable for me to proceed my work with integrity,” he wrote.
“After years of service — most not too long ago because the host of Canada Tonight: With Travis Dhanraj — I’ve been systematically sidelined, retaliated towards, and denied the editorial entry and institutional help crucial to meet my public service position.”
Dhanraj has spent 20 years in broadcasting, with stints at International and Bell Media.
“After I joined CBC, I did so with a transparent understanding of its mandate and a perception in its significance to Canadian democracy,” he wrote.
“I used to be instructed I’d be ‘a daring voice in journalism.’ I took that position severely. I labored to raise underrepresented tales, develop political stability, and uphold the journalistic values Canadians anticipate from their public broadcaster.”
However, in accordance with Dhanraj, “what occurs behind the scenes at CBC too usually contradicts what’s proven to the general public.”
He accused the general public broadcaster of “performative variety, tokenism, a system designed to raise sure voices and diminish others.”
Dhanraj’s lawyer, Kathryn Marshall, mentioned Monday that the CBC didn’t need him reserving “Conservative voices” on his present.
“It turned out, to Travis’ shock, there was a powerful editorial course that he was supposed to advertise,” Marshall mentioned.
Dhanraj is of Caribbean heritage.
“CBC, after they employed him, thought that they had been getting somebody who would espouse a sure world view,” Marshall mentioned. “I believe they checked out him and so they seemed on the color of his pores and skin and so they made some assumptions.”
Marshall is weighing making a grievance to the Canadian Human Rights Fee about her shopper’s remedy on the CBC.
His allegations would come with discrimination, reprisal and harassment, she mentioned.
Dhanraj mentioned he “was repeatedly denied entry to key newsmakers. Inside reserving and editorial protocols had been weaponized to create structural boundaries for some whereas empowering others—notably a small circle of senior Ottawa-based journalists.”
Dhanraj mentioned when he “questioned these imbalances,” he was “met with silence, resistance, and ultimately, retaliation. I used to be combating for stability and accused of being on a ‘campaign.’”
His present, in accordance with Dhanraj, was rebranded. “My title eliminated. My entry curtailed. My medical depart was whispered about within the newsroom.”
Dhanraj claims he obtained in scorching water over his April 2024 submit on the social media platform now dubbed X about how the highest CBC honcho on the time declined an interview request to debate new finances funding for the general public broadcaster.
Dhanraj mentioned he “was introduced with (a non-disclosure settlement) tied to an investigation a few tweet about then CBC President Catherine Tait. It was designed to not shield privateness, however to signal away my voice. After I refused, I used to be additional marginalized.”
Marshall mentioned that “CBC needed him to signal an NDA in change for his job.”
Dhanraj went on depart in July 2024 and returned to full-time hours final December, she mentioned.
“Inside mainly the primary week of his return he was instantly retaliated towards by CBC for not signing the NDA,” Marshall mentioned.
“He was, at that time, completely eliminated because the host of Canada Tonight, and his wage obtained slashed, and it was evident at that time that he had no future or profession on the CBC.”
In response to Dhanraj, “these weren’t remoted actions. They had been a part of a sample that despatched a transparent message: fall in line or be eliminated. I stayed so long as I might, however CBC management left me with no cheap path ahead.”
That’s “taken an actual toll — on my well being, my profession, and my belief in an establishment I as soon as believed I might assist reform from inside,” Dhanraj wrote. “However the higher hurt is to the general public: a broadcaster that now not lives as much as its mandate, a tradition that resists accountability, and a system that punishes those that dare to problem it.”
The CBC rejected Dhanraj’s claims.
“This morning Travis Dhanraj, a unionized worker of CBC/Radio-Canada who’s at present on depart, despatched inside notes making critical allegations. Whereas we’re restricted in what we are able to say in response because of privateness and confidentiality concerns, CBC categorically rejects the accusations made about CBC Information, our employees and administration,” Kerry Kelly, who speaks for the general public broadcaster, mentioned in an e mail.
Dhanraj’s present was introduced in late 2023, hit the airwaves in early 2024 and was performed throughout the yr.
“Travis’s participating curiosity and unbelievable vary of expertise permits him to translate complicated tales into private phrases and assist audiences make sense of the information, which can be key as Canada Tonight sharpens its deal with tales that matter at residence and make a distinction on this nation,” CBC government Andree Lau mentioned in a press release on the time.
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