Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation • Hacker News Board

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#281

Post by lnxg33k1 » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:46 PM UTC

blueflow wrote: post #271

lnxg33k1 wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be, it could be, but the few times that you refer to a person with the wrong pronoun then you are likely to be offended and to be lectured about how you didn't understand that they were something else

You can use the "Shinigami Eyes" extension to warn you about people who might get offended by misgendering them. Saves you alot of trouble if you are spending time on Twitter or Reddit.

The day I install an extension in my browser perpetually loaded in order to accomodate and make an effort to satisfy the 0.% of the population while the 0.% of the population is not available to make an effort in order to let me know in a civilised way that they identify with another pronoun, then kill me, because also letting people know in a civil way that you prefer other ways to address you is a 0-cost action

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#282

Post by olivermarks » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:46 PM UTC

InTheArena wrote: post #259

olivermarks wrote: post #163

Strange thread here ignoring the very important points about the media Tara is making. 'Those of us on the inside know just how swiftly — and how dramatically — the politics of the public broadcaster have shifted. It used to be that I was the one furthest to the left in any newsroom, occasionally causing strain in story meetings with my views on issues like the housing crisis. I am now easily the most conservative, f…

This is the Overton window at work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window In the US, it goes far beyond broadcasting. Note how lin manuel miranda's Hamilton has gone from Obama era cultural gold to "cringe-worthy" - https://www.vox.com/22641501/hamilton-parks-rec-harry-potter... Or how JKR on Harry Potter went from being vilified by conservative voices to the modern "She who will not be named" of Lefty HBO.

(response to post that was just deleted)

'critical to note that she is just recounting of her own perception of herself.'

Tara is outlining why she quit a job she couldn't do anymore because the CBC were ignoring important local stories to focus on CRT, identity politics and racialization of everything, biased reporting and click bait.

'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.”'

Most journalists know if they get paid they are expected to promote the owner's views - the line between pr and journalism is a fine one - but that they will be promoting wholesome, useful values and information. When the owners lurch too far people leave, both writers and readers/viewers, leaving a weak core.

Once you've lied and/or lost your audience's trust it is a very hard road back. It was smart of her to get out while she still had her integrity imo

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#283

Post by ineptech » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:47 PM UTC

olivermarks wrote: post #163

Strange thread here ignoring the very important points about the media Tara is making. 'Those of us on the inside know just how swiftly — and how dramatically — the politics of the public broadcaster have shifted. It used to be that I was the one furthest to the left in any newsroom, occasionally causing strain in story meetings with my views on issues like the housing crisis. I am now easily the most conservative, f…

The main points of this article (roughly, that the supposedly-centrist-but-actually-left-wing media now cares more about wokeness than real news) have been made prominently and continuously since the days of Rush Limbaugh. The old joke about liberal media coverage of the apocalypse ("WORLD ENDS, WOMEN AND MINORITIES HIT HARDEST") dates from 1988.

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#284

Post by HWR_14 » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:47 PM UTC

laszlojamf wrote: post #174

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the United States the Overton Window is so far right even the Democratic Party is center-right. In a Scandinavian Country I'd be a fairly moderate, conservative social democrat. Here, if people knew my thoughts, I'd be seen as a Wild-Eyed Radical. But given the politics in my country, I've given up compromise and actually moved further Left. And more militant, less quiet. Luckily, the organization I'm currently in…

I don't mean this as any kind kind of criticism, but being a swede with an American friend who was partially brought up in Sweden during the good ol days of Swedish social democracy I wonder if Americans really know what they mean when they talk about Scandinavian social democracy. These days they're a lot more conservative than they used to be. Mostly I imagine their stance on immigration control, and crime wouldn't…

Almost exclusively when Americans talk about Sweden being "left" they are talking about economic issues. Parental leave (480 days!) mandated by the state, single-payer healthcare, free college, huge amounts of vacation time (8+ weeks on average, 34 days by law!), assistance with childcare, etc.

Compare that to the US with a mandatory rehiring after taking unpaid maternity (only) leave of up to 12 weeks, a complex healthcare system which causes people to go into debt, expensive college costing tens of thousands a semester, 0 (yes zero) vacation time by law, etc.

(I should note that some states goes further than that, but it's very dependent on the state and the most liberal example might be California's generous 6-week paternity policy.)

Anyone advocating any of the economic policies from Sweden I described in the US would be described in the same breath as Bernie Sanders and Fidel Castro.

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#285

Post by VictorPath » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:47 PM UTC

CoastalCoder wrote: post #76

badRNG wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strong opposition to diversity efforts has been a pretty common trait associated with the tech community/silicon valley. It seems reasonable that a subset of the culture that produced the work environment at Blizzard [1] or has historically rallied behind alt-right thought leaders would also be here on HN. Talk to any woman software engineer, I 100% guarantee they have multiple stories about dealing with a...spec…

> The strong opposition to diversity efforts has been a pretty common trait associated with the tech community/silicon valley. I'm surprised to hear that. My impression was that D&I initiatives are far more prevalent in tech/SV companies than elsewhere. I probably got that from personal experience + news about Google (Damore), Facebook, etc. But maybe in reality D&I has become commonplace in many U.S. companies, and…

> My impression was that D&I initiatives are far more prevalent in tech/SV companies than elsewhere

Well of course, blacks in the US are over 12% of the population and are 12% of the L5s in FAANG companies.

Which of course is not the case - less than 2% of Facebook's technical workers in the US are black, 3% of Google overall is black etc.

It's clear that diversity is not prevalent at all in Google, Facebook etc.

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#286

Post by ameminator » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:47 PM UTC

ninkendo wrote: post #146

elevenoh wrote: post #46

Quoted post unavailable.

"Wokeism" is a pejorative catch-all term for all the negative aspects of trying to be against racism, so it's kind of true by definition, isn't it? Literally no one is defending "wokeism" any more than people are defending "racism", because the terms themselves are intended to convey something negative. It makes the term kind of useless, wouldn't you think? It's a placeholder term for whatever you don't like.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of people implicitly or explicitly defend "wokeism" as interpreted in the most severe and uncharitable way.

I try to be charitable in my assumptions, but even then, it's hard to argue that it's safe to criticize any DIE or "woke" initiative. There always seems to be some risk in being fired/blacklisted or otherwise attacked for even modest criticism of the DIE movement.

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#287

Post by pessimizer » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:49 PM UTC

pyuser583 wrote: post #16

“The last 18 months” coincides perfectly with start of the BLM protests. I’ve been involved with an arts-based non-profit for a long time. They do very specific type of older art. They produce it, exhibit it, encourage others to produce it, etc. The art form is Eurocentric, with a political history that contains some small instances racism, and vast oceans of mainstream liberalism. Every since BLM protests happened (…

> Most of all, they’re scared.

Scared of criticism. Why shouldn't they be? They've created an exclusively white environment, possibly subsidized by public funds.

A lot of people in the US grew up in sundown towns, but think that the reason that there are no black people where they live is because black people didn't want to live there. They see racism how a fish sees water.

They should be relieved that it's almost over. They were victims of media trying to get the anti-Trump clicks while also being anti-Sanders, leaving them with Russian conspiracy theories (are you spreading them?) and talk about race and gender (are you a bigot and don't know it?). It'll be over once Trump fully eclipses along with public anxiety about helping him, and they'll only have had to deal with one black family.

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#288

Post by jabej » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:49 PM UTC

blueflow wrote: post #271

lnxg33k1 wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be, it could be, but the few times that you refer to a person with the wrong pronoun then you are likely to be offended and to be lectured about how you didn't understand that they were something else

You can use the "Shinigami Eyes" extension to warn you about people who might get offended by misgendering them. Saves you alot of trouble if you are spending time on Twitter or Reddit.

That’s absolutely insane.

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#289

Post by mikepurvis » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:49 PM UTC

coolso wrote: post #71

mikepurvis wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't preferred pronouns kind of orthogonal to the rest of the stuff? It has nothing to do with attempting to ensure representation and is instead about addressing a person in the manner of their choosing, akin to asking a woman if she prefers Ms, Miss, Mme, Mrs, etc. I expect it's probably way more appropriate in most contexts to directly ask a person what their preferred pronouns are than to ask what their gender i…

Pronouns are merely virtue signaling acts of control. By specifying pronouns if they are obvious (99% of the time) you are signaling you are part of a non-bigoted, non-hateful club. Surely you don’t hate people right? So why don’t you have your pronouns visible, fellow citizen? It’s also a form of control in redefining the obvious. You want to just live your life? Nope, sorry, you need to consciously be aware of my p…

Being asked them on a form alongside other obviously-related info is a very different thing from being pressured to make them part of your Slack username or Twitter bio.

Yes, there's arguments both ways that broadcasting them may be virtue-signalling, but I don't think it ever is to ask someone what theirs are, especially on something like a form.

Re: Speaking Freely: Why I resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

#290

Post by lnxg33k1 » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 8:49 PM UTC

tomp wrote: post #276

lnxg33k1 wrote: post #248

Quoted post unavailable.

I agree 100%. But then I was recently informed that I spent almost 2 years working with a trans person (m2f) without noticing. So your mileage might vary.

That's awesome, yeah I guess it was quite bad from me to say that, mostly because I was defining a set of people based on a few bad experience, but yeah the mileage varies and I made my point in a rushed way