CBC Cuts: A Good Start?

March 26, 2009 · Posted in News, Policy 

Sad Times at CBCThe CBC has cut 800 jobs. I know what it’s like to lose a job, and empathize with anyone who loses theirs.

This post is not to celebrate the job loss aspect of the news. But it does reflect the continued diminishment of the CBC. The reality is that the CBC has been diminishing for years.

While this stop-gap measure comes at an unfortunate time (job losses are rarely “welcome”, mind you), it is directly a result of inaction on the part of government in dealing with the CBC sooner.

Better late than never … now is prime time for the government to come up with an ACTUAL PLAN on what to do with the CBC.

There are lots of good ideas out there.  Macleans.ca had some great ideas.  You could split up the TV and Radio into a Canadian PBS and NPR, then lower public funding over the course of a decade.  You could just shut down the unprofitable TV operations all together, and continue to fund radio only.  I even had a few ideas submitted on my Privatize.ca site a few years back.  In better times, you could’ve privatized parts of it (sadly, that option is off the table for now).

Fact is, there are dozens of possible solutions, but successive governments have chosen the lamest option of all: do nothing and hope for the best.

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Comments

  • gary

    Extinguish the CBC in all its forms, in all places forever.
    its market share is minuscule. Let it die!

  • Tim

    You know, I realize, as a confirmed liberal (not the political party) that I’m among philosophical friends here. I also think you’re right, it is time to have a conversation about re-enlivening the CBC.
    Where I think you are horribly horribly wrong is the off-the-cuff comment that you should sell anything that isn’t making money. Making money was never the point…The point is to have an information source that is independent of, or not beholding to, commercial interests. It would be fantastic if they were also not beholding to political interests or parties (yes, even the liberal ones). I’m realistic about the fact that one’s head tends to turn in the direction of whoever is holding the paycheque.
    Look at the recent brouha over the Daily Show in the US and CNBC appaling business coverage. No matter what side of the fence you land on, CNBC’s coverage was laughably short-sighted and, at the very least, naive. If we tie the CBC to profitability in this way, that is exactly the kind of quality reporting we will get in return.
    What if the government gave the CBC $XXXX dollars per year, and said “These are ten areas of critical importance to the Canadian People. Business, Health, Art, World Affairs, Multi-culturalism, Economic issues, Religions…etc. We don’t care how you tell people, through drama, straight news reporting, radio, tv, or twitter but make sure XX percent of people are test-ably educated in these issues. They don’t need to hold specific opinions, they need to be knowledgeable on all the issues surrounding those issues.
    Then tie funding to the success of their efforts. No success in an area? Then cut the funding for that area for a year. Take that issue off the table and let them re-strategize how they’ll inform the public next year.
    You’re right – the CBC is a stogy, entrenched bureaucracy that has a hard time telling its ass from its elbow. But I think part of that is that they Shouldn’t be focused on the bottom line, and they are trying to. Give them a real mission and see how they make it work.

  • http://www.paulholmes.ca/ Paul Holmes

    Tim – your comments are well thought out and appreciated. They do, however, begin from the premise that it is good for the Government to fund a media organization. I just don’t believe that’s necessary in 2009, especially considering all the other (growing) funding concerns of government.

    You can point to CNBC (or Fox News) and find numerous flaws, and suggest that a strong public broadcaster has value. But you can just as easily point to the Chinese or North Korean government to see what happens when the government interferes too much in the media.

    Here’s an interesting twist that I just thought of: without the advertiser competition from the CBC, perhaps the financial health of some of our other large Canadian media companies would be better off, and the state of media (in Canada, at least), might not be in such dire straits.