Kai Nagata: I Respect This Man

You don't often see people quit their jobs voluntarily in this economy. Especially if they are high-paying jobs with prestige and perks. But Kai Nagata did quit his job as a Quebec City-based television journalists, and the reasons he gave are eloquent and compelling. His essay is very much worth the read. I have the same issues with news in general, which is a very big reason why I have never pursued a career in it.

"TV news is a curious medium", he writes. "You don't always know whose interests are being served--or ignored." We have come a long way from the days of Walter Cronkite...a long way downhill. Once upon a time, and it really does seem a fairytale to say so, TV news anchors were amongst the most trusted individuals in the country. Canadian TV has lost several such individuals to retirement recently, among them Kevin Newman and Lloyd Robertson. Peter Mansbridge at the CBC soldiers on, practising his craft in an atmosphere that has rapidly degenerated. The set of The National looks like nothing so much as a game show. A Canadian game show, where five-time winners get a camera.

Nagata writes he "felt a profound discomfort working in an industry that so casually sexualizes its workforce. Every hiring decision is scrutinized using a skewed, unspoken ratio of talent to attractiveness, where attractiveness often compensates for a glaring lack of other qualifications..The idea has taken root that if the people reporting the news look like your family and neighbours, instead of Barbie and Ken, the station will lose viewers."

Bingo. This even extends so far as to cover your voice. An example: NTV, in Newfoundland. None of their news anchors, to my knowledge, have any more than the barest hint of a Newfie accent. Almost every viewer has a Newfie accent. Rightly or wrongly, I'd trust the news a titch more coming from somebody that sounded like me, but what do I know?

And of course, this sexualization extends to the stories covered.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge just wrapped up their honeymoon here in Canada. They were, of course, beset by packs of slavering journos everywhere they went. Republicans--which up here means anti-monarchists--among us were quick to say "this is not news!". I disagree to an extent--Wills and Kate really did serve themselves and the monarchy very well here: ask anyone in Slave Lake. The town was gutted by a raging wildfire a few months ago. It was not on their itinerary, but they cancelled a day off to go there and raise morale. They were spectacularly successful. I admired both of them for that and a host of other gestures, large and small, that they made while in this country.

But who gives a flying fart in a windstorm what Catherine Middleton wears? Is that important? Is it necessary to know who designed each outfit, how much it costs, and where you can get something similar? Judging by the tone of the coverage, this fashion bullshit is absolutely crucial and must be reported. Every day, every outfit. Meanwhile, important news is happening all over the country and it's ignored by directorial fiat. "William is young and Kate is pretty, let's lead with that."

He gets into politics a little further on in his essay, and suggests that there, too, he felt stifled, unable to report what he saw as serious, even critical issues facing the country. It is his belief that there is a "war on science" in this country. Actually, that's not so much a belief as it is a fact, and every action of the Harper government bears witness to it: the hamstrung census, the massive cuts to Environment Canada, the bullheaded opposition to InSite in Vancouver despite numerous studies showing how many lives it saves. If you want to get Harper to do something, anything, all you need to is produce a study showing the opposite.

Regardless of your political beliefs, a government that ignores and ridicules research at every turn is news. Important news.

But Wills is young and Kate is pretty.

I would like to see TV news modeled on newspapers. Report the news, factually and as objectively as possible. Take as long as necessary to cover each side of the story. Then, after a commercial break, editorialize in a segment clearly marked "opinion". Have people square off in a debate...not a trash talk, an actual debate...on public policy. Done properly, that would actually be informative entertainment, not the fluff that currently dominates TV news.

Nagata closes with a statement I frankly find inspirational:

I’m broke, and yet I know I’m rich in love. I’m unemployed and homeless, but I’ve never been more free.

Everything is possible."

Indeed.