MEMBER PRESS RELEASE

Catherine Tait reappointed President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada

1 June 2023

Catherine Tait, President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, is pleased to continue in her role at the national public broadcaster for an additional 18-month term. The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage, made the announcement earlier today.

This press release was originally published by CBC/Radio-Canada and is republished with permission.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am delighted that our CEO has agreed to extend her time at CBC/Radio-Canada, in order to complete several important initiatives,” said Michael Goldbloom, Chair of the Board of Directors. “Her leadership over the past five years has been critical to positioning the public broadcaster for the future at a time of accelerated change in the news and media sectors in Canada.”

Under Catherine Tait’s leadership, CBC/Radio-Canada has advanced its transformation into a modern public service media organization, in order to better serve Canadians, on every platform they now access. Around 22 million Canadians now use its digital sites each month for trusted news, podcasts, music, and the best of Canadian programs on CBC Gem and ICI TOU.TV.

In an effort to better reflect the audiences served, Ms. Tait has been a champion in advancing the public broadcaster’s commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility. She continues to lead initiatives to deepen the public broadcaster’s local presence, including expanding regional programming produced for national distribution; establishing partnerships with public library systems across the country; and hiring more journalists to serve underrepresented communities, such as Lethbridge, Alberta, Nanaimo and Cranbrook, B.C., and Kingston, Ontario. In her roles as President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada and Chair of the Global Task Force for public media, Tait is spearheading efforts with other media in Canada and around the world to improve the safety of all journalists and, in particular, to combat online harm targeting female and equity-seeking news professionals.

“In this second term I also want to focus on the work we have undertaken with other media and stakeholders to address the urgent issues of polarization and distrust, which are undermining democratic and open societies,” Tait said. “It’s a critical issue that all Western democracies are grappling with. I believe Canada’s public broadcaster has a unique role to play to address disinformation, build trust in verified and trusted news, and, most importantly, to foster Canadian conversations in English, French and Indigenous languages.”

“I believe Canada’s public broadcaster has a unique role to play to address disinformation, build trust in verified and trusted news, and, most importantly, to foster Canadian conversations in English, French and Indigenous languages” – Catherine Tait, President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada

Ms. Tait’s first appointment was announced on April 3, 2018. She assumed her duties on July 3, 2018, becoming the first woman in this role. Since then, CBC/Radio-Canada has made enormous progress in realizing the objectives of its 2019–2024 strategic plan, Your Stories, Taken to Heart.

With today’s announcement, Ms. Tait will continue to lead CBC/Radio-Canada until January 3, 2025. She will also remain chair of the Global Task Force for public media, the group of eight of the world’s leading public broadcasters.

CBC/Radio-Canada

“The Public Media Alliance welcomes the reappointment of Catherine Tait as President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada. Catherine has been a passionate and steadfast leader in her support for public service media, media freedom, journalist safety, and the interests of diverse audiences. I thoroughly look forward to continuing our work in these critical areas with Catherine and CBC/Radio-Canada both nationally and internationally” – Kristian Porter, PMA CEO.