Canada’s media diversity is a farce

Media diversity hires are replacing talent, leaving the public with less informed commentary and analysis

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This is a column that should have been written a long time ago.

It didn’t have to be written by me, either.

I decided to take on this task because no one else has stepped forward. Maybe they didn’t want to rock the boat. Maybe they felt uncomfortable discussing this matter publicly. Maybe they were worried about their reputations and future endeavours.

Whatever the reason(s), it’s time to put it out there and let it breathe. It’s long overdue.

What am I referring to?

There have been thorny issues bubbling under the surface in the Canadian media industry for years. They’ve affected political pundits and commentators on radio and TV of a certain age, gender, ideology and more.

How do I know this? I’m one of those affected, albeit in a lighter fashion than most.

Let me shed a bit of light on what I’ve witnessed. No names have been mentioned. No confidence has been betrayed. No fingers have been pointed. No specific individual or group has been blamed.

These are personal observations, plain and simple.

I’m not struggling when it comes to media exposure. I have three regular columns, and frequently contribute to various publications in Canada, the U.S. and the UK. I appear weekly with national talk radio host Rob Snow, and have made appearances on TVO’s The Agenda, GB News and Spectator TV in recent months, too.

There’s more I could do. I’m often invited to appear on political panels and participate in one-on-one interviews. I turn down the majority of them. Why? Most Canadian media organizations can’t or don’t offer remuneration. While this doesn’t bother some pundits and commentators, it’s unacceptable to me.

I started writing columns and making media appearances in 1996. Virtually every appearance I’ve ever made in print and on TV has been on a paid basis. Most of my work is commissioned. While there have been a few exceptions to the rule, they happened early in my career when I had no name or reputation. That hasn’t been the case in a long time.

Talk radio was different. I was a bit more lenient with this medium due to its historical lack of proper funding to pay guests. Slightly over fifty per cent of the stations I’ve appeared on as a pundit and commentator paid appearance fees, including regular roles at Newstalk 1010 and 640 Toronto. That’s a pretty good figure for someone who has never been a talk radio host. (I did host an online show, Cultural Tsunami, on the defunct Essential Talk Network from 1999 to 2000.)

My policy for talk radio has changed. It’s now the same as print and TV: if you want me to contribute to public discourse, then you’ll have to pay for it. Snow’s program is the one exception. When that grandfathered agreement ends, there will be nothing further.

I wish that other right-leaning pundits and commentators would follow suit. If they truly believe in capitalism, they would accept the fact that offering their services as free labour hurts them and the entire industry. Alas, their obsessive interests in self-promotion and self-gratification seem to be much stronger.

What about Canada’s main TV networks? A relatively small number of pundits and commentators are paid. I was in that category, including multiple appearances on CBC Newsworld (now CBC News Network) and as a political commentator for CTV News Channel between 2012 and 2015.

I’ve spoken to both networks about returning in some fashion. Several discussions went further than others. Nothing has ever materialized.

Why? Some producers probably didn’t want to use me, which is perfectly fine. Private conversations that I’ve had with individuals who are (or were) employed with the networks have led me to believe that those instances were few and far between.

Sadly, it appears that I’ve been lumped in with other “undesirables.” This largely refers to white, male, middle-aged and Conservative pundits and commentators. We’ve been systematically replaced by a growing number of Conservatives who are female, ethnically diverse, have different sexual orientations and so forth.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t intelligent and talented pundits and commentators in this latter group. Jenni Byrne, Amanda Galbraith, Kate Harrison, Tasha Kheiriddin, Melanie Paradis and Laryssa Waler immediately come to mind. While they represent the gold standard, the vast majority are mediocrities who shouldn’t be on TV. They check certain boxes and little else.

Is this also happening to progressive pundits and commentators? I’m sure it is to some degree. Since most of Canada’s TV networks and senior producers are left-of-centre, these like-minded individuals don’t have an obvious target on their backs.

This massive upheaval on Canada’s main TV networks has almost nothing to do with ability, knowledge and experience. It’s an overriding desire by left-wing producers (many of them female) to build a model of pseudo-diversity on TV screens. In reality, it’s only helped create an undesirable atmosphere of DEI-style hires. That’s hardly the desired effect that any rational-thinking Canadian should find acceptable.

Can these thorny issues in Canada’s media landscape be wiped out? Yes, but only if we reach a point of having serious discussions and a willingness to reverse poorly thought-out policies. I hope that my column will get the ball rolling, if nothing else.

Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.