CBC needs to serve Canadians regionally. Employ local journalists who cover municipal governments and highlight regional issues. Radio and audio streaming with local news is very valuable. TV is expensive and doesn’t capture the wide range of Canadian viewers. Defund TV. Maintain a national network of journalists who dig into regional issues. Please do something to maintain the only good part that is serving rural residents. (Written in the Okanagan).
Thanks for link to the committee session David, I watched it all. I'd been somewhat in the "burn the CBC" camp but I've definitely changed my mind, especially after listening to Heather Bakken. I was also impressed with Annick Forest, although I do have an issue with "covering both sides" (personally I don't believe in giving a platform to fringe ideology or activists). Bakken pointed out how a unified and trusted Canadian news source with local beat reporters, could potentially serve an increasingly important role, especially as a foil against the influence of toxic americanism. I also agree she's right that if the CBC were to disappear, it would create a news vacuum to be quickly filled by foreign influencers and other purveyors of disinformation and "fake news". There's more, and I would hope Poilievre or someone from his ranks would listen in. Hot heads and populist demands are bowing to the fringe IMO, the very thing the conservatives have (rightfully) accused the liberals of doing.
I found the friendly and open tone of the hearing refreshing. It was miles away from the circus atmosphere we see in clips from U.S. Senate committee meetings.
To be sure, "a unified and trusted Canadian news source with local beat reporters" would be a wonderful thing. The trick is building one. As my fellow witness Sue Gardner - herself a former CBC executive - noted, there is right now both the perception and reality of bias in the CBC. That's not by any means a new thing and I'm aware of no internal initiatives or even plans to fight it.
I'm not sure there's much of a distance between "bias" and "disinformation". Before CBC could offer itself as unified and trusted, they'll first have to address their own mess.
Yep. And thanks for mentioning the responsibility of the editorial board for that biased decision-making. Well, let's hope the good ideas from the session go somewhere beyond just talk.
Going somewhere beyond just talk is something I'm really not sure about. My session was the sixth of at least seven on that topic, and I saw no evidence of a mechanism for summing up and proceeding to any "next steps". I hope someone over there at the Senate has thought through this stuff.
Defund the CBC is right. Let the decent writers enter the digital market, as many of the best have already done. Bloated bureaucrats, whose salaries, perks and bonuses already take up the lion’s share of the budget, can stop buzzing around the honey pot.
CBC needs to serve Canadians regionally. Employ local journalists who cover municipal governments and highlight regional issues. Radio and audio streaming with local news is very valuable. TV is expensive and doesn’t capture the wide range of Canadian viewers. Defund TV. Maintain a national network of journalists who dig into regional issues. Please do something to maintain the only good part that is serving rural residents. (Written in the Okanagan).
Defund the CBC! In the past 30 + years I have not found anything on CBC radio that I’m interested in listening to.
Thanks for link to the committee session David, I watched it all. I'd been somewhat in the "burn the CBC" camp but I've definitely changed my mind, especially after listening to Heather Bakken. I was also impressed with Annick Forest, although I do have an issue with "covering both sides" (personally I don't believe in giving a platform to fringe ideology or activists). Bakken pointed out how a unified and trusted Canadian news source with local beat reporters, could potentially serve an increasingly important role, especially as a foil against the influence of toxic americanism. I also agree she's right that if the CBC were to disappear, it would create a news vacuum to be quickly filled by foreign influencers and other purveyors of disinformation and "fake news". There's more, and I would hope Poilievre or someone from his ranks would listen in. Hot heads and populist demands are bowing to the fringe IMO, the very thing the conservatives have (rightfully) accused the liberals of doing.
I found the friendly and open tone of the hearing refreshing. It was miles away from the circus atmosphere we see in clips from U.S. Senate committee meetings.
To be sure, "a unified and trusted Canadian news source with local beat reporters" would be a wonderful thing. The trick is building one. As my fellow witness Sue Gardner - herself a former CBC executive - noted, there is right now both the perception and reality of bias in the CBC. That's not by any means a new thing and I'm aware of no internal initiatives or even plans to fight it.
I'm not sure there's much of a distance between "bias" and "disinformation". Before CBC could offer itself as unified and trusted, they'll first have to address their own mess.
Yep. And thanks for mentioning the responsibility of the editorial board for that biased decision-making. Well, let's hope the good ideas from the session go somewhere beyond just talk.
Going somewhere beyond just talk is something I'm really not sure about. My session was the sixth of at least seven on that topic, and I saw no evidence of a mechanism for summing up and proceeding to any "next steps". I hope someone over there at the Senate has thought through this stuff.
The inertia of this government. Unbelievable.
Kind of feel it’s a bit like catholic schools. But yeah, enough becomes enough if we don’t see a Jesus of Montreal in all of that.
Defund the CBC is right. Let the decent writers enter the digital market, as many of the best have already done. Bloated bureaucrats, whose salaries, perks and bonuses already take up the lion’s share of the budget, can stop buzzing around the honey pot.