Why Kai Nagata quit his job
I was simply going to retweet a link to Kai Nagata’s blog post . But I think it deserves more attention than that. I will admit I had never heard of him before – he was a journalist at CTV in Quebec, covering the National Assembly. I do not even know why I clicked on the link to read it at first. Just that it grabbed me and held me captive. He is – there is no doubt at all – very brave. And also very honest. And he gives a very clear, succinct and credible analysis of what is wrong with tv news in Canada. Which, by extension, tells us a lot about ourselves.
I strongly recommend to my readership that they set aside a few moments to read it from beginning to end.
I have no idea where Kai Nagata’s quest will take him but I suspect this is not the last we shall hear from him. And I suspect we will all benefit from his decision to leave CTV News and go and do something more worthwhile. I wish him the best of good fortune.
Stephen Rees's blog 
Wow. Thank you for sharing this. I am sharing this within my social network as well.
Julia
July 9, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Stephen. Thank you very much for sharing. That was an amazing post to read. I am also definitely forwarding this one on.
metrobabel
July 9, 2011 at 9:01 pm
An excellent commentary on the state of journalism and the political economy … and why information became a “commodity.”
We do watch a fair amount of TV, but mostly DVDs. After an evening with bback-to-back documentaries or well-acted British mysteries, it’s a little unnerving to drift back to Global. The public library is an excellent resource for foreign films and documentaries, and the loans are usually from one to three weeks, not just a day as found with the fast-disappearing video rental outlets.
One of the most hard-hitting docs we’ve seen recently is Inside Job, an excellent analysis of the Great Recession of 2008. The same characters who caused it are still there, either in the US government or back with the institutions they drove into the ground in order to vastly increase their personal wealth. Very sad and disappointing. Inside Job — highly recommended.
MB
July 11, 2011 at 10:12 am
Nagata’s post is burning with the brightness and idealism of youth. More power to him! unfortunately life is a succession of compromises, even for “independent” artists and creators..
I watch foreign news, including those from France, Belgium, Switzerland…their government owned channels are like CBC…some freedom but let’s not ruffle the (Conservative) government too much.
I am old enough to remember May 68 in France. Afterwards the respected news anchors on the public TV “came out” and confessed that the news and opinions they had delivered for years with such obvious honesty and sincerity was– literally– only an act. They were actors reading texts written and censored by unknown people.
Soon after private channels were allowed and the dumbing down of TV came like a Tsunami.
The Roman Emperors kept people quiet with bread and circuses. Nothing much has changed…B.C. just roofed over their circus. At least the Romans were smart enough to kill their defeated gladiators instead of paying them tons of gold.
By the way Quebec City looks old (to the Canadians that believe that a building 50-75 years old is too old to keep) but most of Quebec City buildings were built in the 19th century in English style, after England took over (much to the relief of the Government of France).
see http://www.lactualite.com/20071122_112152_5496 “Quebec Ville Anglaise” published in L’ Actualite on November 22, 2007
Red frog
July 11, 2011 at 12:15 pm
How apropos. George Monbiot posted a column today on developing a Journalistic Hippocratic Oath.
http://www.monbiot.com/2011/07/11/a-hippocratic-oath-for-journalists/
MB
July 12, 2011 at 9:22 am