Why Are Canadian Sports Broadcasters and Media Personalities Predominately White?

[Scott Hall]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I feel TSN has done a good job with having a diverse anchor crew. Also, you have to consider the fact when discussing multiculturalism, particularly Toronto, is that part of the cultural diversity is a wide array of various different Caucasians. For example, there's Italians, Greeks, Portuguese, Ukrainians, Slavic, Spanish, Polish, etc. Depending on how you look at it, one might say 'Oh look, they hired another White person'. Comparatively, others will say they're not "White-white" and be like this person is Italian (Matthew Scianitti), Polish/Eastern Euro (Evanka Osmak, Natasha from TSN), Portuguese (Sid Seixeiro), etc. I really started noticing it with the female anchors, because they weren't getting a generic blonde/brunette white girl to tick off the woman anchor category - they were all various backgrounds.

With that said, there are still many more white anchors. Hockey it's mainly white, although they do have reporters like John Lu and Farhan Lalji. I remember CBC hiring Kevin Weekes was a huge deal, when he was the first black hockey analyst. I can forsee PK Subban getting a job when he retires too. More diversity is really needed in hockey.

Yeah TSNs Hockey Reporters...

BC - Farhan Lalji (Indian guy)
Alberta - Jamal Franklin (Black guy)
Quebec - John Lu (Asian guy)

Ottawa Senators longtime reporter Ian Mednes is a brown guy. CBC has Kevin Weeks and Anthony Stewart plus
Punjabi night in Canada.

White guys like Don Cherry, Ron McLean, Bob McKenzie etc have been around for a thousand years.

[rapsdontlie]

Dude, you trying to get Jack, Leo, or Matty D fired?!?

[zilby]

I don't disagree one bit that there's more these companies could do to champion diversity and have some more representation of people of color or people of First Nations/Indigenous descent. A lot of the prevailing issues about barriers to education definitely ring true here as well, with more opportunities coming in higher class folk.

One thing I think is pretty clear from the employee list shown is the average age and time served of these employees, a lot of them are lifers (Jack Armstrong, Bob McKenzie, almost every other hockey analyst lol). I think a lot of these guys have been grandfathered into the media industry, and given that it's so heavily reliant on industry connections too, I think systemically there's an issue where people naturally gravitate towards that. There really hasn't been a whole lot of turnover with the on-air personalities, but I think you'll see as they get a little closer to retirement (which they're not far off from now), there will be a lot more opportunities for POC to break in as the roles open up.

I would also say that it comes down to the sports that are played that need more diversity within them too (hockey, curling, baseball). People can be inspired by seeing someone that looks like them on TV doing something fun that they want to do, I think there's a lot of opportunities in a lot of different places. Basketball has generally been more progressive with this, the other sports need to catch up and I hope they will.

[SpaceCenter]

I just wrote an angry letter to the South African Government complaining about the lack of white representation in public sector jobs. 8.9% of the population is white so why don't they have 50% of the jobs! #disgusting

Make sure to write them about the 8.9% population owning 70% of the wealth as well

42% of the wealth is owned by .23% (140,000/59,300,000) of the people. There's 5,277,700 white people in South Africa . Do you see the flaw in what you said? Even if all 140k were white they would only represent 2.65% of the white pop in South Africa so clearly there are some poor white people there.

[Matty]

I just wrote an angry letter to the South African Government complaining about the lack of white representation in public sector jobs. 8.9% of the population is white so why don't they have 50% of the jobs! #disgusting

Make sure to write them about the 8.9% population owning 70% of the wealth as well

42% of the wealth is owned by .23% (140,000/59,300,000) of the people. There's 5,277,700 white people in South Africa . Do you see the flaw in what you said? Even if all 140k were white they would only represent 2.65% of the white pop in South Africa so clearly there are some poor white people there.

Just a poor example tbh. It's like you didn't read his statement at all.

Would you not be pissed off if a black minority came to whatever European country you came from and owned 70% of the wealth while they don't make up 10% of the population? Anyway you slice it your argument comes out poor. The ratio of rich white to poor white is irrelevant to the discussion.

[Morse Code]

Perpetuating division in the disguise of social injustice lol I’ve seen it all.

Fueling extreme fear, division and anger in our youth to gather in protest (or riot) in the streets is nothing new at US election year. But for these political groups and a health organizations to even promote it during the heart of a pandemic that shut down the economy....

That is peak racism. All time high

Every US election one ups the next in the levels they go to ruin lives

Agreed. If I was black I’d be so upset that so few people understand what kind of victim mentality this thing is breeding. They’ve figured out how to present it in a manner that draws people in and disguises it as unity when really all it’s doing is creating more division, racism, and hate.

[SpaceCenter]

Make sure to write them about the 8.9% population owning 70% of the wealth as well

42% of the wealth is owned by .23% (140,000/59,300,000) of the people. There's 5,277,700 white people in South Africa . Do you see the flaw in what you said? Even if all 140k were white they would only represent 2.65% of the white pop in South Africa so clearly there are some poor white people there.

Just a poor example tbh. It's like you didn't read his statement at all.

Would you not be pissed off if a black minority came to whatever European country you came from and owned 70% of the wealth while they don't make up 10% of the population? Anyway you slice it your argument comes out poor. The ratio of rich white to poor white is irrelevant to the discussion.

Its completely relevant. We don't even know that those 140k are white for one, the person who replied to me claimed that the 70% of the wealth was owned by whites which is clearly BS considering that .23% of the entire population own 42% of the wealth and white ppl make up 8.9%. And on top of that if the 140k are white they would be a very small fraction of the white population and are clearly in a group of there own since the majority of the white population aren't that wealthy.That would be like if you lived in a trailer park and one guy built a mansion in the middle of it and you called anyone who was the same race as the mansion owner rich.

Also, I can tell you that there are at-least 6 black billionaires in South Africa so clearly that 140k is not all white.

https://topempowerment.co.za/top-10-richest-black-south-africans/

[maternal85]

Perpetuating division in the disguise of social injustice lol I’ve seen it all.

Fueling extreme fear, division and anger in our youth to gather in protest (or riot) in the streets is nothing new at US election year. But for these political groups and a health organizations to even promote it during the heart of a pandemic that shut down the economy....

That is peak racism. All time high

Every US election one ups the next in the levels they go to ruin lives

Agreed. If I was black I’d be so upset that so few people understand what kind of victim mentality this thing is breeding. They’ve figured out how to present it in a manner that draws people in and disguises it as unity when really all it’s doing is creating more division, racism, and hate.

If you were black you'd actually understand what's going on.

[Morse Code]

Fueling extreme fear, division and anger in our youth to gather in protest (or riot) in the streets is nothing new at US election year. But for these political groups and a health organizations to even promote it during the heart of a pandemic that shut down the economy....

That is peak racism. All time high

Every US election one ups the next in the levels they go to ruin lives

Agreed. If I was black I’d be so upset that so few people understand what kind of victim mentality this thing is breeding. They’ve figured out how to present it in a manner that draws people in and disguises it as unity when really all it’s doing is creating more division, racism, and hate.

If you were black you'd actually understand what's going on.

You’re ignorant. My brain works the same as everyone else’s and many black people feel the same way I do. Want evidence? I’ll show you lots. My opinions on this weren’t formed without hearing mountains of opinions from all kinds of people from all walks of life.

[TheAlchemist]

Agreed. If I was black I’d be so upset that so few people understand what kind of victim mentality this thing is breeding. They’ve figured out how to present it in a manner that draws people in and disguises it as unity when really all it’s doing is creating more division, racism, and hate.

If you were black you'd actually understand what's going on.

You’re ignorant. My brain works the same as everyone else’s and many black people feel the same way I do. Want evidence? I’ll show you lots. My opinions on this weren’t formed without hearing mountains of opinions from all kinds of people from all walks of life.

Oh, so the multiple police killings of innocent black people doesn't cause more division, racism, and hate?

Or the fact the majority of incarcerated Americans are black, disproportionately?

But what causes the division , racism, and hate, or furthering it, is when people of color stand up for each other and their rights!

Yeah! Let institutional racism kill, destroy, and oppress people of color! Don't say anything! It'll cause more hate!!!

I don't think anyone should speak on behalf of the race that has been historically disenfranchised, unless it is said disenfranchised race.

[TheAlchemist]

I honestly don't even think Racism is being tackled in the hockey leagues, let alone the Media.

But it's down right apparent systemic racism in Canada is symbolized within hockey culture. Was trying to avoid talking about it, but the proverbial elephant in the room is there.

No, with only a reported 43 players of color in a league of over 700, they cannot create change by themselves. And again, it’s not their job.

In the six-plus months since Aliu revealed on Twitter that his then-coach Bill Peters directed the N-word at him repeatedly in 2009 over Aliu’s taste in music, he hasn’t gotten a lot of support from those within the sport. We’re hard pressed to find any of the NHL’s stars who have gone on the record, whether with reporters or on social media, to condemn racism within hockey.

It’s not for lack of trying, at least by some media members. Salim Valji, a Canadian sports writer, tweeted on Wednesday that he’s reached out to no fewer than six players, including superstars Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, to ask about race and has been rejected every time.

On Wednesday afternoon, Dallas defenseman Stephen Johns quoted Aliu’s tweet and wrote, “We have to do more as a hockey community,” and a short time later Anaheim goalie Ryan Miller tweeted the link to Aliu’s story and wrote, “I hope that we can all listen and be active participants in the change that is needed.”

The bar is low, but it was meaningful to see two current players acknowledge the problem. Johns and Miller can’t be the only ones, however.

Aliu wrote that he’s met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to discuss inclusivity, and that their discussion is ongoing. At the Board of Governor’s meeting last December, Bettman reportedly unveiled new league policies and training programs, including mandatory counseling on racism and bullying for NHL personnel. He also said there would be an anonymous hotline to report such incidents.

On Thursday morning, an NHL spokesman responded to a Yahoo email and relayed comments Bettman made during All-Star weekend earlier this year in which he said that the hotline was still in development as the effort is being made for a platform that allows for anonymous reports to be made by phone or digitally and is accessible in multiple languages. Bettman also said that the league has retained an outside firm to investigate other “issues that have already been brought to light,” and that there’s plans for an executive inclusion council that will work at the league and club levels.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/nhl-akim-aliu-racism-hockey-212831790.html

the “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcaster Don Cherry was fired over xenophobic comments, which attacked the patriotism of the country’s immigrants. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Aliu revealed that in 2011 the equipment manager of the Colorado Eagles, the East Coast Hockey League he was with at the time, wore blackface and dressed in Aliu’s jersey at a team Halloween party. The manager, Tony Deynzer, was placed on administrative leave by the team last week. Peters resigned as the Flames’ coach days after Aliu made his accusation about him on Twitter.

The N.H.L. continues to be almost exclusively white: Of the 999 players who played in at least one game last season, 5 percent were members of minority groups. According to Statistics Canada, 22.3 percent of the country’s population in 2016 were people of color.

“Newcomers to Canada are increasingly calling Toronto home and more than 50 percent of our population was born outside of the country,” the city said in a statement. “People wish to play the sports that they are most familiar with and our plan responds to the diverse cultural needs of our residents.”

Wayne Simmonds of the Devils, one of 50 players of color who suited up in the N.H.L. last season, grew up in Scarborough, a section of Toronto where 60 percent of residents were first-generation immigrants and the median household income was roughly 63,000 Canadian dollars (about $48,000) in 2015, according to city data.

“I think that if you get a lot of kids of other ethnicities playing hockey, they’ll become stars,” Simmonds said. “And I think that would relate to a lot of the population, and that’s where you see the growth.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/sports/hockey/akim-aliu-nhl-diversity.html

[TheAlchemist]

“I’d probably say, like, half of the games someone said something, but no one ever heard,” said Myles Douglas, a 16-year-old Black player from Georgetown, Ont.

“They always say it when the refs backs are turned, or when they know the refs or no one else will hear them.”

While the 40,000-player league said the data is tracked internally and players are penalized, it refused to disclose how often these incidents are occurring.

“We don’t publish stats about minors on an anonymized or aggregated basis, since that may damage the reputation of the vast majority of the young players in our league whose good sportsmanship is beyond question,” said the League’s executive director, Scott Oakman.

But professional hockey players, including active and retired NHL and AHL players, say the league’s position is unacceptable.

“If you’re not being honest and open then you’re essentially -- you’re sheltering it, you’re hiding … You can’t hide any more. This is out there. We need to be able to be open, transparent,” said J.T. Brown, a player in the American Hockey League.

Anson Carter, a former NHL player in Los Angeles, agrees.

“I always tell people that Toronto is the most diverse city in North America. Without a doubt. And by not releasing those numbers and by not being transparent, they are covering something up,” he said.

NHL star Evander Kane of the San Jose Sharks says the same focus on racism in major league hockey needs to happen at the minor level as well. He recalled being targeted by the parents of players of an opposing team when he was only 10 years old.

"There are probably four to five parents banging on the glass behind me, screaming at me: ‘We should cut your f-ing legs off. You monkey. Somebody should kill you,’" he said.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/racial-slurs-are-common-in-toronto-area-minor-hockey-league-players-say-1.4972991


It's truly truly disgusting and devastating, with the amount of racism in hockey.

My observation and insight after reading a lot of this thread is that A. Canada DOES have a racism issue and B. The overtly Caucasian media broadcasters are disproportionately covering hockey.

It's time to be transparent and honest folks, we've got a problem in our country.

[lobosloboslobos]

Yep. I'd probably argue that hockey is the nerve centre of racism in this country, and probably correlates pretty damn highly with sexual violence as well. I've posted in the past here about the truly toxic masculinity of hockey's hazing culture and how common sexual abuse is within junior hockey. like the racism problem which is huge, these things are taboo in the canadian sports and mainstream media. but they are extremely common. totally f'ed up situation that definitely needs to be exploded. the fact that the NHL did NOTHING regarding the BLM movement speaks for itself.

[GQStylin]

Oh, so the multiple police killings of innocent black people doesn't cause more division, racism, and hate?

Serious question. How many black people are unjustly killed annually in Canada by police? Seems like people who always believe police kill blacks at a high rate in Canada never look up the actual numbers.

Or the fact the majority of incarcerated Americans are black, disproportionately?

Do they not commit the vast majority of violent crime and murder in the US? Are we suppose to just let these violent people roam the streets and not pay for their crimes? Would you be happy if they came to your neighborhood and caused you or your family harm? Wouldn't you then complain and ask why the police and the justice system didn't get these people off the streets and protect your family and other innocent people from getting hurt by these criminals?

I don't think anyone should speak on behalf of the race that has been historically disenfranchised, unless it is said disenfranchised race.

How have black people been 'disenfranchised' in Canada? Seems like the only ones holding back black people in Canada is themselves most of the time.

[maternal85]

Agreed. If I was black I’d be so upset that so few people understand what kind of victim mentality this thing is breeding. They’ve figured out how to present it in a manner that draws people in and disguises it as unity when really all it’s doing is creating more division, racism, and hate.

If you were black you'd actually understand what's going on.

You’re ignorant. My brain works the same as everyone else’s and many black people feel the same way I do. Want evidence? I’ll show you lots. My opinions on this weren’t formed without hearing mountains of opinions from all kinds of people from all walks of life.

Well everyone's brain works the same way, yet a certain race felt it was acceptable to kill, rape, and enslave a certain race for hundreds of years. I don't trust a certain group of people way of thinking. "All kinds of people" opinions doesn't really matter unless they're living it. Plus your few black friends isn't really evidence.

[GQStylin]

I don't disagree one bit that there's more these companies could do to champion diversity and have some more representation of people of color or people of First Nations/Indigenous descent. A lot of the prevailing issues about barriers to education definitely ring true here as well, with more opportunities coming in higher class folk.

Why do we need to force diversity instead of hiring the most qualified people for the job? And if we need more diversity then why aren't we promoting more asian Canadians who are a hugely larger population in Canada than black or native people? Why push diversity for only some people and not all?

One thing I think is pretty clear from the employee list shown is the average age and time served of these employees, a lot of them are lifers (Jack Armstrong, Bob McKenzie, almost every other hockey analyst lol). I think a lot of these guys have been grandfathered into the media industry, and given that it's so heavily reliant on industry connections too, I think systemically there's an issue where people naturally gravitate towards that. There really hasn't been a whole lot of turnover with the on-air personalities, but I think you'll see as they get a little closer to retirement (which they're not far off from now), there will be a lot more opportunities for POC to break in as the roles open up.

Most of the sports personalities who have been around for a long time have worked their way up the ladder for decades now and have tons of experience. They earned their positions and anyone new can do the same. If black people are interested in sports broadcasting then let them get into the field and work their way up so that they can be knowledgable and experienced in their sports as well.

I would also say that it comes down to the sports that are played that need more diversity within them too (hockey, curling, baseball). People can be inspired by seeing someone that looks like them on TV doing something fun that they want to do, I think there's a lot of opportunities in a lot of different places. Basketball has generally been more progressive with this, the other sports need to catch up and I hope they will.

Why do we need diversity in every sport especially when there are many sports that minorities aren't really interested in? When was the last time you saw any minorities be super interested in curling or lacross or something? You can promote diversity in these sports as much as you want, but relatively speaking minorities aren't going to care or suddenly get interested in it.

Also if we're talking diversity how come we're not pushing hard for more diversity in the NBA? Why is it ok for almost all the players in the NBA to be only black or white? Where are the asians, indians, arabs etc? NBA is trying to get big in China and yet they have almost no asians in the league?

[Westside Gunn]

Just because its bad in the states doesn't mean its as bad here. People need to stop reaching. I remember many colored tv personalities even in the 90s. Ian Mendes, Joshi, Saunders, Cabbie, Carter, PJ, Lalji, that really fat persian dude forgot his name

One q I have is whether or not there is actually a reversion in terms of hiring. I'm not sure these types of personalities exist now. We assume these things have a linear trend but it looks like things have fallen back a bit to me.

There's only 3 major players: Bell, Rogers, and CBC. Guess who else is looking that way, everyone else in your Canadian journalism program. In the US there's more choice.

You have ONE Canadian basketball team, you have SEVEN Canadian hockey teams, and ONE Canadian baseball team. If you had 15 basketball teams, 7 additional hockey teams, and 6 baseball teams, think of how many opportunities that open up in media/pr for those teams alone.

Eric Smith has been covering the raptors since I was a little kid. It was only recently he started appearing on TV. Look at Sherm as well. Not enough turnover and slow growth. Once you're at the middle or even at the top, you'd be an idiot to leave. With little to no competition in the Media industry, not enough sports teams, and thousands of journalism students, its just a better idea for guys like Smith, Grange, Sherm, PJ, Leo, Jack to stay where the **** they are. Hiring/turnover will always be minimal.

The two notables I can really think of are Lilly Singh and Steve Dangle. Lilly obviously worked her ass off on youtube before landing her own show. But she sucks at it, really terrible jokes, and doesn't miss any opportunity to **** on white people and let the world know she's a bisexual brown girl on tv. Steve Dangle made standard hockey content, but had a decent following, Sportsnet noticed and gave him a job. I haven't seen much from him to comment, but I'm sure he's better off in his own space.

Since the spots are limited and its very competitive, you either have to know the right people, or really stand out on the internet and be talented. Nobody will like you for diversity alone. People wanna be entertained.

[TheAlchemist]

Or the fact the majority of incarcerated Americans are black, disproportionately?

Do they not commit the vast majority of violent crime and murder in the US? Are we suppose to just let these violent people roam the streets and not pay for their crimes? Would you be happy if they came to your neighborhood and caused you or your family harm? Wouldn't you then complain and ask why the police and the justice system didn't get these people off the streets and protect your family and other innocent people from getting hurt by these criminals?

What in the f*** does let "these people roam" mean. Do you read what you even write? Like Holly s***. What statistic prove black people commit the vast majority of crimes in America?

You my friend sound as racist as they get. It's disgusting

[TheAlchemist]

Yep. I'd probably argue that hockey is the nerve centre of racism in this country, and probably correlates pretty damn highly with sexual violence as well. I've posted in the past here about the truly toxic masculinity of hockey's hazing culture and how common sexual abuse is within junior hockey. like the racism problem which is huge, these things are taboo in the canadian sports and mainstream media. but they are extremely common. totally f'ed up situation that definitely needs to be exploded. the fact that the NHL did NOTHING regarding the BLM movement speaks for itself.

Couldn't of said it better myself man. You're right about the sexual abuse as well.

Hockey culture is the underbelly of politically correct Canada. And it's ugly as hell.

[g.muresan]

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