Sunday 4 January 2009

CBC: Prognosis Critical

Harvie Andre was one of three partisan panelists on yesterday’s Year End Political Panel on The Current. He was so over-the-top that it was hard to remember points made by others. In fact, Warren Kinsella almost sounded bashful in comparison. I was surprised that they got Peggy Nash on that panel to represent the NDP. That was actually much better than their usual “left” (NDP) stalwart and sometimes Harper cheerleader, Janice McKinnon.

I used to listen to CBC Radio for most of the day and evening (combo of work and cooking) but these days I have a hard time keeping the radio on. Ideas is still top notch as is Eleanor Wachtel's Writers & Company but so many of the other programs that were worthwhile have been diluted, skewed or replaced by crap.

It’s not just the content of programming that has gone downhill. You can hear the cutbacks in almost all aspects of Radio One. There is so much repetitive programming that I have to keep tabs on whether I already heard something on the weekend or on a weekday morning/afternoon/evening. And it seems like they have laid off technical staff because there are far more glitches than ever before. Between news broadcasts mixing up tapes, intros and extros being out of whack, and phone line connection screw-ups — I experienced better quality control on campus/community radio.

As for their TV line-up, shriek! Seriously, how could they axe such great drama as Intelligence and This is Wonderland for the dreck that they now have?

I suspect that their money-maker, Hockey Night in Canada is next to go, or is that already official. Failing to negotiate a renewal of the contract for the theme song was definitely a death knell. TSN doesn't exist on making lucrative offers. That music was CBC's to lose and had little to do with Dolores Claman’s renegotiation demands for the rights to use her iconic music. Even on last night’s As It Happens year end current affairs quiz, none of the panelists (Elizabeth May, Pat Martin and Scott Brison) could hum the contest-winning replacement theme, Canadian Gold. (It reminds me of the theme from Dallas but with a flourish of bag pipes.)

I am convinced that Harper is trying to destroy the CBC from the inside. I also think that Ignatieff will not put up a fight with the proposed cuts to the CBC. What the hell would he know about the CBC or what it means to many of us when he has spent so much of his time outside this country! He probably will think of it as nothing more than an archaic nation building tool.

Thanks to decades of insufficient funding and government pressure to compete against media giants, what was once an institution started by a visionary leader is now stacked with executives who think they can hang on to their jobs by helping the CBC transition into something new -- perhaps privatized or member supported.

4 comments:

penlan said...

Agreed. I'm finding it more & more difficult to watch/listen to CBC. I've given up on the radio & Newsworld is making me a bit nuts too. Suhanna Meherachand, for example, is so obviously pro Harper/Con & looking for sensationalism when covering breaking news issues, such as the Mumbai terrorist attacks, that I feel like I'm watching Fox news. And she isn't the only one.

I never watch CTV coverage, for obvious reasons, so what's left? Nothing here in Canada anymore. It's sad & depressing.

Unknown said...

Here here! The CBC decline has been well orchestrated for a number of years, as they have been managed by folks from the 'right', including Rabinovitch.

It's getting harder and harder for me to listen or watch the CBC now, mainly because all they do is pitch shows for other networks. Whether it's interviewing people from HGTV or CTV shows, or working a little too closely with reporters from Maclean's or the Globe, they are consistently proving that they no longer have the best interest of the Canadian public in mind.

And the grovelling is going to get worse. With the Harpercrites threatening to cut another $200 million from the CBC, I'm sure folks with the 'mother ship' will do more begging than bragging and will push themselves further into oblivion.

What a shame. I miss the old CBC.

CanadaHolly said...

Which is exactly what the Cons want.

Disabling the institutions of oversight and accountability are fundamental strategies of today's right wing. Look at Stephen, attacking the head of nuclear energy and suing Elections Canada, plus God knows what other understructure which perhaps hasn't made the news.

The CBC is not just another broadcaster -- it is in large part the reason why Canadians are so much better informed and have better judgment than, for instance, the USA.

This past Xmas season I have heard large chunks of Con talking points showing up on CBC like "floaters" in the toilet bowl. Then there was that segment of The Current hosted by David Frum. I wouldn't mind if they simply had a different opinion on the facts -- but they have different facts, ones that aren't factual, like the Tory idea that "nobody voted for a coalition." Bullshit.

Making citizens dumber is necessary if you want to manipulate them. It is marginally excusable in the USA where they have no big challenges to their nationhood, but doing it in Canada is simply suicidal.

Currently I follow The Current, As It Happens, Ideas, Quirks, Gomeshi's show, and our excellent local morning and afternoon shows. I am trying to follow The Point, but god save us, they need smarter guests. I don't NEED to hear random, unsupported opinions, I want rare beef and strong beer. And I don't give a damn about the decline of Montreal coffee-houses; this sort of story is fine but only as the sort of enthusiastic appetizers Gzowski used to mix in with main dishes like his wonderful interviews of important people from Chretien to Donna Williams or A.J. Cassen.

An attack on the CBC is nothing less than an attack on Canada. This is why I vote ABC.

Noni

brebis noire said...

CBC radio One is the only station that comes through for me over the airwaves where I live, whether in English or French. That is a very important asset, and it's beyond sad to see how "our" government is causing its decline. But it's still superior programming to what I could tune into when I'm elsewhere.

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