Linden MacIntyre retiring to save jobs for young journalists at CBC

TORONTO – Veteran CBC television host Linden MacIntyre says he will retire at the end of the summer, in part to save the jobs of young journalists at the struggling public broadcaster.

The CBC announced in April it would cut $130 million from its annual budget and slash 657 full-time jobs amid federal budget cuts and poor television ratings.

MacIntyre has co-hosted “The Fifth Estate” on CBC for 24 years. He said the recent budget cuts are hitting young journalists the hardest and that the future of the broadcaster depends on them.

He said he is taking a stand against the cuts and hopes that his departure brings public attention to the turmoil at the CBC.

MacIntyre said the public broadcaster can still deliver high-quality journalism but it must figure out what Canadians want. CBC president Hubert Lacroix said Monday that it was time for a “national conversation” about the broadcaster’s role.

MacIntyre said his decision to leave was difficult but the hopes to return to writing fiction when he retires at the end of August. He won the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2009 for his novel “The Bishop’s Man.”