ElectionLine’s View From Abroad: CBC News Correspondent Richard Madan Says “Pleasant” Canadians Have Edge Over “Divided” U.S. Networks

Jake Kanter
·4-min read

Welcome to ElectionLine’s A View From Abroad series, in which we speak with media figures who don’t live in America but keep a close eye on its politics. Every few weeks, these smart observers will provide a unique perspective on what promises to be a fraught and unpredictable campaign for the White House. This week, our interview is with Richard Madan, the award-winning Washington D.C. correspondent for Canada’s CBC News.

When Richard Madan and his crew get out of Washington D.C. to talk to American voters, they sometimes stick a tiny Canadian flag on the viewfinder of their camera. It’s a signal to contributors that they come in peace and Canadian pleasantries — and, by and large, it’s effective.

More from Deadline

“When you go into these unfriendly crowds, the second I say we’re Canadian television, any animosity instantly disappears. Generally speaking, Americans have positive views of Canadians,” the CBC News correspondent tells Deadline.

At a time when dividing lines between U.S. networks are etched so deeply and people are raging at the media, this perception of cordial impartiality can be a distinct advantage in interviews. Madan says he saw evidence of this in February during the Republican primary in South Carolina, where he enjoyed a “wonderful dialogue” with people who were being “a bit more guarded” with domestic network journalists.

Madan, who was born in Georgia but grew up in Alberta, has covered the past two American presidential elections up close for Canadian news. At CTV News, he endured a “trial by fire” reporting on Donald Trump’s White House run just months after moving to Washington in 2016. He now works for CBC News, Canada’s public service broadcaster, and thinks the challenges of chronicling U.S. politics have scarcely been so pronounced.

“This is going to be a very challenging election on so many levels,” he explains. “There really is an anger out there, there’s a resentment. All the polls indicate no one’s excited about this rematch between Biden and Trump. Then you pour in disinformation, divided media ecosystems, and AI — it’s just a toxic mix. It will be a very unpredictable and high-stakes election.”

CBC News has a duty to impartiality and Madan is scrupulously neutral during our Zoom interview, watching his words carefully when talking about Trump and Joe Biden’s respective regimes. It’s a commitment he wears with pride, even though it can sometimes weigh heavy. “I know anything I say or do is going to be under such scrutiny,” he adds. “The last thing you want to be is a target for somebody on a political team.”

A journalist for nearly a quarter of a century, Madan says he and his network are doing an “audit” ahead of the November vote, giving thought to covering the campaign fairly, while at the same time shielding viewers from lies. It’s a rubric all U.S. networks are wrestling with and Madan  — who makes clear he is not speaking on behalf of his CBC bosses — predicts some innovations on screen over the coming months. He forecasts that viewers will see equal time given to Trump and Biden, more rigorous fact-checking, policy deep dives, and a new wave of disinformation correspondents who interrogate conspiracy theories as they take root.

Although Madan left America as a kid, America never really left him. He grew up on a diet of U.S. news and dreamed of becoming a Washington correspondent from a young age. Madan says it is not unusual for Canadians to be absorbed by American culture, joking that there was a time when his friends could name more members of Trump’s cabinet than they could Justin Trudeau’s top team.

Madan suspects that the Canadian prime minister would favor a Biden victory, but he says Trump could be a useful foil for Trudeau as he looks to boost his poll numbers ahead of next year’s federal election. Trudeau was unafraid of upsetting the U.S. president: the leaders had a bust-up over the scrapped North American Free Trade Agreement and, at the 2018 G7 summit in Quebec, Trump accused his counterpart of being “dishonest” and “weak.”

Despite the political hostilities, Madan says he had good access to the Trump administration and enjoyed a constructive relationship with spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He says the Biden administration has been a little more tricky to penetrate, echoing the sentiments of France 24’s Kéthévane Gorjestani in a previous A View From Abroad column.

Not that Madan is making plans to shout louder than any of his White House press room colleagues. “I just try to be pleasant. We’re Canadians, right?” he smiles.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories