Angry RANT:
Since it was confirmed that @ryanjespersen was fired by @630CHED, I've taken a couple days to stew over it. I was angry, and I didn't want to say the wrong thing. I realize though, it's important to stand up and say something regardless.

And I am STILL angry
Thread:

Silence and neutrality only uphold the oppressor. Integrity matters. This is something Jespersen clearly believed in himself: He has the kind of Integrity that I've seen in few people. Which makes his firing all the more bizarre, and inspires me to stand up for what's right.

Is @ryanjespersen perfect?
Nobody is. (including me, and those railroading him). We didn't agree on everything, but I approved of *how* he did it: What I disagreed with, I still understood, and heard differing points of view on the subject to consider. That's a good thing.

I found the show fair, balanced, and factual. Some don't like that. They're most comfortable in a tribalistic echo chamber and fixate on what is not. He could have pandered to this but didn't. Often the guest did the talking, not him, but when it mattered, he stood his ground.

@Ryanjespersen had racialized voices on-air discussing their own issues: He had Bashir Mohamed, a well known Edmonton Racial Activist, on for an interview and at the last minute was threatened with a lawsuit to prevent it.
He did it anyway.
Listen here:

He previously had him on when Mr. Mohamed was facing a lawsuit from Edmonton MP Kerry Diotte over his apparent support of white nationalist, Faith Goldy, who has appeared on a neo-nazi podcast and was seemingly too much of an extremist for even Ezra Levant and rebel "media".

He put a spotlight on racialized people & issues like @blmyeg, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and would likely be talking about #OrangeShirtDay2020 today if he could. For that, he drew criticism, and had calls for his removal from people who "didn't listen" to his show

Where I fall on 'political correctness' and 'cancel culture' is they are generally euphemisms for 'correctness' and 'consequences'.
If someone does something wrong, we have every right to make decisions in our own lives, with it in mind. Some would call it voting with our feet.

But the problem with "cancel culture" is good people end up cancelled, often for the slightest mistake, or in this case, spindoctoring of something out of context, and we are worse off for it than we were before, while some truly horrible people get off.

So if he deserved it I'd have no issue with his removal, but @ryanjespersen
Isn't being punished for doing something wrong. He is being railroaded for calling out someone elses wrongs.
Isn't that what we want from the media? Someone to hold politicians accountable?

Mike Nickel, who is throwing as much mud as he can in his lead up to running for mayor, Violated #YEGcc's code of conduct multiple times on social media according to Jamie Pytel, YEG's Integrity Commissioner's report: https://pub-edmonton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=2254 and needed a sanctions hearing.

Jespersen comments on these bone-headed tweets, and HE is the one held accountable?! For what? Making reference to the 'Infinite monkey theorem'? Go ahead, google search it in images. How did so many get away with using this image?
Because
It's.
Not.
Racist.

Note: #YEGcc voted 8-4 against Nickel, but that's all he needed to not be held accountable for spreading defamatory disinformation, among other things, and he then quickly did it again to Jespersen. Kerry Diotte or even Faith Goldy haven't really been held accountable either.

Actual racists get away with it unscathed, and here we have the same people who call Jespersen a "snowflake" and decry cancel culture, acting all offended?
They're not offended. They are opportunistic.

I think I made a mistake: 7* on YEGcc voted for the recommended reprimand from the report that would've only amounted to a slap on the wrist:
@doniveson
@andrewknack
@bevesslinger
@Ward4Aaron
@MichaelWalters
@ben_hen
@sjlhamilton

The 4 Councilors who voted against, and probably owe Jespersen an apology for emboldening Nickel:
@tony_caterina
@JonDziadyk
@_TimCartmell
@MoeBangaWard12

All should be speaking out against what he has done, and imo Nickel and @630CHED also owe a huge apology.

Also, I wonder if this cartoon would've made things more clear for those who were mislead by Nickel and rabel news