And so the CBC appoints another committee to tell it what it wants to hear.That’s not quite how they put it of course. As the corporation reported upon itself earlier today, seven multimedia experts had “been selected to advise Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge as she renews the role of Canada's public broadcaster.”Two questions spring immediately to mind.First, what is the minister intending exactly?Second, if you were a Liberal cabinet minister looking for people to tell you how to fix up the CBC, what kind of people would you be wanting to find?First question, then. Do you think the minister might just be looking for a way to head off Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, whose consistent call for the CBC to be defunded has not prevented Canadians at large from giving him a massive polling advantage over the Liberals?Because the love's not there like it use to be for the CBC. Time was, when people watched it, even when it seemed to be nothing more than a semi-official news agency for the Liberal Party. But that sentimental goodwill has been much less in evidence since the CBC got rid of Don Cherry, lost the rights to Saturday night hockey in Canada and the late Rex Murphy decamped for more congenial pastures at the National Post.No surprise there. If you’re the kind of blue-collar guy who showers after work, not before, who the hell and what the hell is there for you at the CBC any more?Then there’s the entitled and oblivious CBC president Catherine Tait. Her salary is north of $500,000. (She also billed $120,000 in expenses over two years between 2021 and 2022.) Yet despite the fact the operation she’s responsible for lost $125 million last year, and laid off 800 people, there was — according to access to information reports obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation — still nearly $15 million handed out in staff bonuses.Even if you’re the ultimate liberal, a doctor’s wife who drives a Volvo, loves brie and thinks the Toronto Star is always fair and balanced journalism, it’s hard to accept that that’s just the way things are, and ought to be. And you start wondering if perhaps enough's enough, and that young fella Pierre wotsisname, you know the one who’s always talking about defunding the CBC, perhaps he has a point?So, you know what’s going on here. The Group of Seven multi-media experts are to present a thoughtful plan for the CBC’s future. They will probably recommend that the CBC stop taking advertising, as Pierre (it’s Poilievre) has made quite a fist over it, and recommend a handsome elevation of public funding to compensate for the revenue loss. The Trudeau Liberals will then respectfully accept it, thank the Group of Seven for their hard work and as my friend and colleague Peter Menzies puts it, “promise a new and improved CBC, in contrast to Pierre Poilievre’s burn approach.”And take that to the election next year. Friends, you read it here first.And so we come to the second matter, what kind of people would you look for if you wanted to receive that kind of advice?Well, speaking as an experienced cynic, I would say the CBC would certainly not want anybody committed to the profit motive. So, forget Kevin O’Leary or Gwyn Morgan.You would definitely make sure you’ve got Diversity, Equity and Inclusion covered off, not only for appearance’s sake but because that’s what your friends in government — the people who pay your bills — are all about these days. Better find somebody friendly from the new media side of things, too… a friendly academic as well, perhaps?Find people then, who are like yourselves and who could blend seamlessly into CBC after-hours drinkie-poohs.So, who did they actually get?For a start, the Chair of the Canada Council. It doesn't get much more Yorkville than that. Jesse Wente also happens to be the founding executive director of the Indigenous Screen Office. Also ploughing the DEI furrow, Jennifer McGuire, managing director of the Pink Triangle — ‘Our aim is to inspire LGBTQ2S+ communities’ — Press.That ticks a couple of boxes. So does Loc Da. As executive director of DigiBC, which supports ‘companies in the video games/interactive, animation, visual effects, VR and AR sectors,’ with multiple awards to his name, he clearly knows that business. However, Mr. Dao is an old CBC 3 hand. He is also swimming in the kind of pool that would be comfortable for a scared and defensive CBC; the person he replaced at DigiBC is now an NDP MLA in BC. And also for the comfort of the CBC, DigiBC is a non-profit organization… He'll get it.Academics... Mike Ananny is an associate professor of communications and journalism at a California university. Reviewing his book ‘Networked Press Freedom: Creating Infrastructures for a Public Right to Hear,’ the European Journal of Communication says, “Ananny’s reconceptualization of press freedom also inevitably leads to a reconceptualization of journalism — from ‘a profession fighting for cultural legitimacy or economic viability’ to ‘sociotechnical makers and defenders of networked publics’ and ‘creators of listening environments.’So ‘economic viability’ is something to reconceptualize away from… well, shouldn’t be hard. It never has been much of a priority for the CBC, anyway. I'd be interested to know what Ananny thinks about Bill C-18 or Bill C-63 but a search revealed nothing public. And so it goes on. The only one who sounds like he may be a dissident is David Skok, CEO and editor-in-chief at The Logic (an independent media startup.) He at least appears to pay his own bills; a subscription is $300/year.I wish him luck; as a free-market lion, he will find it uncomfortable in a den of publicly-funded Daniels.The group will deliberate as the CBC anticipates a further $20-million loss for the current fiscal year. What's the betting they tell Minister St. Onge the CBC is too important to crafting the identity of our post-national state and should be given all the money it can spend?
And so the CBC appoints another committee to tell it what it wants to hear.That’s not quite how they put it of course. As the corporation reported upon itself earlier today, seven multimedia experts had “been selected to advise Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge as she renews the role of Canada's public broadcaster.”Two questions spring immediately to mind.First, what is the minister intending exactly?Second, if you were a Liberal cabinet minister looking for people to tell you how to fix up the CBC, what kind of people would you be wanting to find?First question, then. Do you think the minister might just be looking for a way to head off Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, whose consistent call for the CBC to be defunded has not prevented Canadians at large from giving him a massive polling advantage over the Liberals?Because the love's not there like it use to be for the CBC. Time was, when people watched it, even when it seemed to be nothing more than a semi-official news agency for the Liberal Party. But that sentimental goodwill has been much less in evidence since the CBC got rid of Don Cherry, lost the rights to Saturday night hockey in Canada and the late Rex Murphy decamped for more congenial pastures at the National Post.No surprise there. If you’re the kind of blue-collar guy who showers after work, not before, who the hell and what the hell is there for you at the CBC any more?Then there’s the entitled and oblivious CBC president Catherine Tait. Her salary is north of $500,000. (She also billed $120,000 in expenses over two years between 2021 and 2022.) Yet despite the fact the operation she’s responsible for lost $125 million last year, and laid off 800 people, there was — according to access to information reports obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation — still nearly $15 million handed out in staff bonuses.Even if you’re the ultimate liberal, a doctor’s wife who drives a Volvo, loves brie and thinks the Toronto Star is always fair and balanced journalism, it’s hard to accept that that’s just the way things are, and ought to be. And you start wondering if perhaps enough's enough, and that young fella Pierre wotsisname, you know the one who’s always talking about defunding the CBC, perhaps he has a point?So, you know what’s going on here. The Group of Seven multi-media experts are to present a thoughtful plan for the CBC’s future. They will probably recommend that the CBC stop taking advertising, as Pierre (it’s Poilievre) has made quite a fist over it, and recommend a handsome elevation of public funding to compensate for the revenue loss. The Trudeau Liberals will then respectfully accept it, thank the Group of Seven for their hard work and as my friend and colleague Peter Menzies puts it, “promise a new and improved CBC, in contrast to Pierre Poilievre’s burn approach.”And take that to the election next year. Friends, you read it here first.And so we come to the second matter, what kind of people would you look for if you wanted to receive that kind of advice?Well, speaking as an experienced cynic, I would say the CBC would certainly not want anybody committed to the profit motive. So, forget Kevin O’Leary or Gwyn Morgan.You would definitely make sure you’ve got Diversity, Equity and Inclusion covered off, not only for appearance’s sake but because that’s what your friends in government — the people who pay your bills — are all about these days. Better find somebody friendly from the new media side of things, too… a friendly academic as well, perhaps?Find people then, who are like yourselves and who could blend seamlessly into CBC after-hours drinkie-poohs.So, who did they actually get?For a start, the Chair of the Canada Council. It doesn't get much more Yorkville than that. Jesse Wente also happens to be the founding executive director of the Indigenous Screen Office. Also ploughing the DEI furrow, Jennifer McGuire, managing director of the Pink Triangle — ‘Our aim is to inspire LGBTQ2S+ communities’ — Press.That ticks a couple of boxes. So does Loc Da. As executive director of DigiBC, which supports ‘companies in the video games/interactive, animation, visual effects, VR and AR sectors,’ with multiple awards to his name, he clearly knows that business. However, Mr. Dao is an old CBC 3 hand. He is also swimming in the kind of pool that would be comfortable for a scared and defensive CBC; the person he replaced at DigiBC is now an NDP MLA in BC. And also for the comfort of the CBC, DigiBC is a non-profit organization… He'll get it.Academics... Mike Ananny is an associate professor of communications and journalism at a California university. Reviewing his book ‘Networked Press Freedom: Creating Infrastructures for a Public Right to Hear,’ the European Journal of Communication says, “Ananny’s reconceptualization of press freedom also inevitably leads to a reconceptualization of journalism — from ‘a profession fighting for cultural legitimacy or economic viability’ to ‘sociotechnical makers and defenders of networked publics’ and ‘creators of listening environments.’So ‘economic viability’ is something to reconceptualize away from… well, shouldn’t be hard. It never has been much of a priority for the CBC, anyway. I'd be interested to know what Ananny thinks about Bill C-18 or Bill C-63 but a search revealed nothing public. And so it goes on. The only one who sounds like he may be a dissident is David Skok, CEO and editor-in-chief at The Logic (an independent media startup.) He at least appears to pay his own bills; a subscription is $300/year.I wish him luck; as a free-market lion, he will find it uncomfortable in a den of publicly-funded Daniels.The group will deliberate as the CBC anticipates a further $20-million loss for the current fiscal year. What's the betting they tell Minister St. Onge the CBC is too important to crafting the identity of our post-national state and should be given all the money it can spend?
