Toronto: Well-known Indian-origin news anchor Travis Dhanraj has resigned from Canada's national broadcaster, CBC News, accusing the channel of sidelining and silencing him, and of editorial imbalance.
The 42-year-old plans to sue CBC, which has denied all the allegations. Dhanraj said he was left with no option but to resign after raising concerns about the limited diversity of viewpoints and editorial independence in the newsroom.
In an internal note to fellow CBC staff, Dhanraj said he decided to leave the broadcaster after his questioning of some of the CBC's editorial decisions and the "gap between CBC's stated values and its internal reality" was met with resistance.
Dhanraj most recently anchored "Canada Tonight with Travis Dhanraj" on CBC News Network. "When I pushed for honest conversations about systemic issues and editorial imbalance, I was shut out. Sidelined. Silenced. And ultimately, erased," he wrote in the internal note.
CBC spokesperson Kerry Kelly said the Crown corporation "categorically rejects" Dhanraj's allegations about what led to his departure, including the assertion in his e-mail to staff that he had been "forced to resign".
