Angry in the Great White North

Most of us are aware of the Heather Mallick column that has become the centre of attention on both sides of the border.  Here's a taste of what Heather Mallick passes off as professional writing, published by the publicly-funded CBC:

It's possible that Republican men, sexual inadequates that they are, really believe that women will vote for a woman just because she's a woman. They're unfamiliar with our true natures. Do they think vaginas call out to each other in the jungle night? I mean, I know men have their secret meetings at which they pledge to do manly things, like being irresponsible with their semen and postponing household repairs with glue and used matches. Guys will be guys, obviously.

It's repellant.  The ombudsman, Vince Carlin, agrees:

Portions of Ms Mallick's column do not meet the standards set out in policy for a point-of-view piece since some her "facts" are unsupportable.

CBCNews.ca should address its editing standards to ensure that vigorous opinion thrives while ensuring that journalistic and quality standards are met.

CBCNews.ca should have appropriate resources to ensure that a wide range of opinion and analysis is available.

The full report is available on Stephen Taylor's blog.  Taylor also has the response by John Cruikshank, who is in charge of CBC News:

Ombudsman Carlin makes another significant observation in his response to complainants: when it does choose to print opinion, CBCNews.ca displays a very narrow range on its pages.

In this, Mr. Carlin is also correct.

This, too, is being immediately addressed. CBCNews.ca will soon expand the diversity of voices and opinions and be home to a diverse group of writers with many perspectives. In this, we will better reflect the depth and texture of this country.

Like I said in my opening, I'm not surprised by this.  Heather Mallick's column was so grotesque that I knew the CBC would have no choice but to take action.  Moreover, her column was so disgusting that the fact it passed through whatever editorial controls exist at the CBC would act as a wake-up call for the CBC of the problems that exist inside Canada's public broadcaster.

So the CBC is going to expand the diversity of opinions?  Immediately?  This is excellent news. 

But imagine what faces a conservative columnist starting work at the CBC.  There is Heather Mallick, at once humiliated and infuriated, and now forced to share space, both in the office and editorially, with one of those "sexual inadequates".

She might smile.  She might shake the new columnist's hand.  But if that columnist is both a male and a conservative, he'll know exactly what she thinks of him.

If the CBC is serious about creating an atmosphere in which a diversity of opinion is allowed to flourish, Heather Mallick must go.  She is pure poison in the workplace.  No writer could honestly feel welcome in an office where Heather Mallick is a senior presence.  Not if that writer is the wrong gender or is on the wrong side of the political spectrum.

Worse yet if that writer was hired precisely because he has the wrong politics (from Heather Mallick's point of view).

Language like the kind in Heather Mallick's column would be cause for termination if expressed in the workplace.  Of course, it was an opinion column, so Mallick has kept her job.  But if the CBC tries to hire exactly the sort of person that Mallick targeted in her column, then it is as if she spoke those words to him personally.

So let me make it clear.  I'm up for the job.  Just send me an email and we'll talk.  But I won't feel comfortable, or even safe, working at the CBC as long as Heather Mallick is still on the payroll.  She's said some very nasty things about me, and I'm not satisfied that the CBC has taken the situation seriously enough.  Not if Heather Mallick is still drawing a paycheque.