Thread by @JesseBrown

So about this sordid CBC story... canadaland.com/cbc-fired-repo…

Rewinding to the start of it, think about how @AhmarSKhan worked for a public institution that glorified & normalized a bigot who routinely incited contempt for people who look like @AhmarSKhan. Don Cherry was at the top of the heap, a star, Khan at the very bottom...

Yet Khan spoke the truth about Cherry, succinctly and accurately. Saying true things in public is what journalists are supposed to do. The accuracy of his statement was affirmed by the CBC itself when, at long last, they shitcanned Don Cherry's racist ass.

As for what happened next – to state the obvious, it describes the CBC workplace as a hellscape of surveillance, snitching, petty conspiracy and rank hypocrisy...all of which we know. The only shocking thing here is that it was documented and exposed.

I don't find @AustinGrabish's account credible. And his boss Melanie Verhaeghe also behaved despicably.

But it's HER boss, Paul Hambleton (@hambletp ) the CBC's Director of Journalistic Standards, who is getting off easy...

Hambleton had ultimate authority on this. He issued a verdict on Khan that cost the young reporter his job. He issued a ruling from the mount that establishes how EVERYONE at the CBC is supposed to act. And this is what he said:

According to Hambleton, this was, and remains, CBC policy:

When a racialized journalist identifies racism they are engaging in activism, which is incompatible with journalism. They should resign from the CBC and presumably, exit the profession.

So that's where this is left.

CORRECTION: it was of course Sportsnet and not CBC who fired Cherry. Apologies for the error.