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Media Bias [Merged]

Another one of those "tell me why CBC gets a billion dollars again?" things:

http://www.oxygentax.com/2011/07/cbcs-switch-to-dtv-transmission-will.html

CBC's switch to DTV transmission will leave some viewers without access
It should read: CBC loses justification for $1.1 Billion in subsidies.

The CBC, however, argues that maintaining over-the-air signals for small numbers of viewers is not an efficient use of the broadcaster’s $1.1-billion parliamentary subsidy.

It is only replacing the transmitters in places where it has a television station that originates programming: London, for example, does not have its own station; the signal is a retransmission from Toronto, while Saint John, although it is the larger city, receives a retransmission of the Fredericton signal. (Moncton, meanwhile, will only keep the French service.)

I have, in the past, viewed the CBCs mission as one of  ensuring coverage.  If there is one particular segment of the population who are least likely or least able to buy cable or satellite services, it would be someone in a remote locations.  These are also the areas which are likely to request or require specialty services like programming in a different language; Cree, Dene or any of the Inuit languages among them.  It would be because of these services that I would have given CBC a pass because they are currently covering all areas of gathered population with at least a repeater tower, if not a normal one.

That stops now.

By failing to continue to service all areas, regardless of profitability, the CBC loses all moral authority to receive my tax dollars.  The point of the subsidy isn't to ensure service in the most populous areas, the point is to ensure carriage in the least populated areas.  The point is to provide a service for a segment of the population who would have few or no other options. 

The CBC estimates that less than 1 per cent of Canadians will be affected, but critics point out that the public broadcaster has a mandate to reach all Canadians.

Let's do the math...  1% of 33,000,000 is 330,000 people.  Regina, Moose Jaw and Weyburn encompass approximately 300,000 people.  Figure a farm trading area within range of approximately 50,000 people.  The 1 transmitter for Saskatchewan will serve 350,000 people in a population of 1 million.  That leaves 700,000 people in Saskatchewan alone who will be no longer receiving a CBC over the air signal or 2% of the population.  The Lloydminster tower may cut into that percentage, but not by much.  In essence, Saskatchewan alone proves the CBCs numbers wrong.

I could go through all the provinces and make an estimate of what isn't going to be covered, but I will make a guess that you will see between 25% and 40% of the population no longer serviced by the CBC without cable or satellite services.

He said going digital in all mandatory markets would cost the CBC another $50-million, but he hopes the broadcaster might work out a plan with the CRTC to keep analog transmitters running. However, CRTC spokesman Denis Carmel said the CBC has not made any applications to maintain analog signals.

Moreover, the CBC isn't even providing digital in all mandatory markets.  I don't need a dictionary to tell me that mandatory means MUST.

The complaint with the cost of replacing all the transmitters is a strawman.  The United States shut down all high powered analog TV signals over 2 years ago.  They were one of the last of the completed conversion nations, the rest having made the conversion within the last decade.  To be quite frank, the CBC could have been chipping away at the conversion over the last decade in order to get it done on time and less disruptively than they are doing now.

In short, if the CBC isn't going to service all of the population, then they shouldn't receive subsidies from the population.

So I can choose to pay for Sun TV; but now will not be able to get the CBC I am forced to pay for.
 
>Because the role of government is to do things that can't be economically done by individuals (or other entities) acting alone.

I assume you mean to be facetious if TV entertainment is among the social "goods" government must act to provide.
 
Brad Sallows said:
I assume you mean to be facetious if TV entertainment is among the social "goods" government must act to provide.

No, I don't mean to at all -- but I certainly concede that it's not on the same level as the necessities of life or "peace, order, and good government".

But I would add that I see the role of the CBC as including the protection and promotion of Canadian culture, which I see as a different purpose from pure entertainment.  We have a much larger neighbour that has a massive output of popular culture in all media, and for most related purposes we are a small part of a single market dominated by them.  I think there is a role for the government in ensuring a Canadian voice in that market.  (There's all kinds of room to discuss whether CBC TV, as currently constituted, is doing this to maximum effect.)
 
N. McKay said:
...But I would add that I see the role of the CBC as including the protection and promotion of Canadian culture, which I see as a different purpose from pure entertainment.  We have a much larger neighbour that has a massive output of popular culture in all media, and for most related purposes we are a small part of a single market dominated by them.  I think there is a role for the government in ensuring a Canadian voice in that market.  (There's all kinds of room to discuss whether CBC TV, as currently constituted, is doing this to maximum effect.)

The problem is that the "protection and promotion of Canadian culture" is being determined by a relatively small minority within the CBC's structure, considering their own ideals of creativity and proponency of Canadian visual arts and culture to wholly represent what is in Canadian culture's best interests -- what is and is not acceptable -- then committing funds to the support of their ideas with very little post-spending accountability regarding how well the "mission" to protect and promote Canadian  culture was accomplished.  It's a rather large "creative petty cash fund" is one thinks of it that way.  Perhaps some measures of effectiveness need to be applied to the CBC's "creative" mission, for example, linking program lines to related cultural activity, i.e. X% more Canadians attending cultural events promoted by CBC program  XXXXXX or YYYYYY, etc... ?

Regards
G2G
 
"Wayne and Shuster" was my favorite show on CBC.
"Over their career, the humour of Wayne and Shuster was characterized by the "send-up" rather than the "put-down." Perhaps it was a reflection of how they were affected by what they saw during the war. Frank and Johnny were funny, but never cruel."

"Despite several enticing offers from the United States, Wayne and Shuster always chose to stay in Toronto. In addition to giving Canadians the confidence to do their own comedy, they spoke passionately on behalf of Canadian cultural sovereignty. In 1978, for example, Wayne told a joint luncheon of the Ottawa Men's and Women's Clubs that "an imbalanced television system has made us a nation of American watchers, totally ignorant of our own way of life. We are being robbed of our national identity. We've put Dracula in charge of the blood bank." "
 
CBC could face 5 per cent funding cut, Heritage Minister says
STEVEN CHASE OTTAWA— From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published Tuesday, Jul. 12, 2011
Article Link

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation could face a federal funding cut of at least 5 per cent to help Ottawa slay the deficit, Heritage Minister James Moore says.

“The CBC has to certainly do its part,” he told the CBC Radio program Q on Tuesday.

He sought to assure Canadians that the public broadcaster would be able to adjust readily.

“The idea that the CBC can’t find 5 per cent of efficiencies within the CBC to give back to the broader economic framework, I think, is silly.”

The Harper government is trying to squeeze at least $4-billion in annual savings to help eliminate the deficit by 2015, and 67 departments and agencies have been asked to draw up scenarios for cuts of 5 per cent and 10 per cent in operating expenses.

Decisions have yet to be made on which departments and agencies will face funding cuts, but Mr. Moore said he thinks the broadcaster can handle the belt-tightening. He said he met with the CBC’s board last week, and they assured him they’re ready to co-operate.

“They’re prepared to do their part and to find the savings – and make sure that CBC has the necessary funding to fulfill its mandate,” the minister said.
More on link
 
N. McKay said:
Because the role of government is to do things that can't be economically done by individuals (or other entities) acting alone.

I had to think about this for a bit.....

I agree that government can offer economies of scale that individuals can't and thus can finance civil infrastructure and collective security that individuals couldn't afford.  And if they did the patchwork that would result would be inefficient, costly and of varied quality.  In some cases that can be managed, as in the case of the world's fleet of merchant shipping or national fleets or road and rail transport.  In other cases, like highways themselves, a unified theme works better.

But it seems to me that government overstretches and does things that just plain can't be done economically as much as people and politicians, princes and priests might wish.  Some examples would be: offering everyone a lifestyle equivalent to a President when they both retire; promising a pain free life to the age of 85 (constantly adjusted upwards);  a guarantee that you will never be allowed to fail or be harmed....
 
>But I would add that I see the role of the CBC as including the protection and promotion of Canadian culture

I read/hear that frequently.  No-one has proven the premise: that Canadian culture needs to be protected and promoted lest Canadian-ness vanish from the face of the earth.
 
Brad Sallows said:
No-one has proven the premise: that Canadian culture needs to be protected and promoted lest Canadian-ness vanish from the face of the earth.

Agreed... but the proof, if executed, would be pretty grim!
 
N. McKay said:
Agreed... but the proof, if executed, would be pretty grim!

Would it?  What, no more lumberjacks crooning their sweethearts while the Mounties sang chorus back-up behind them?

If a culture is so weak that governmental intervention to affect arm's-length management through a small, combative cadre of anti-interventionalistic artisans is only the way to ensure its survival...well, that doesn't speak strongly of the value of that culture, does it?  :-\


Regards
G2G
 
My statement of the premise is intended to emphasize how ridiculous it is: that the only thing standing between us and the disappearance of Canadian culture is the CBC.  People who believe that need to give their heads a shake, perhaps two or three times.  It is insulting to pretend that the CBC is any significant part of the entire body of Canadian culture.
 
Good2Golf said:
If a culture is so weak that governmental intervention to affect arm's-length management through a small, combative cadre of anti-interventionalistic artisans is only the way to ensure its survival...well, that doesn't speak strongly of the value of that culture, does it?  :-\


Regards
G2G

Wow.  I almost thought you were talking about a certain region of the country there.  Funny the similarities in the argument.
 
KJK said:
You know Strike, I was thinking the same thing. :nod: :nod:

KJK

I'll bet you $12,000 that I wasn't even thinking that....


;)
 
So why again is the CBC receiving a billion dollars of taxpayer money?

http://bcblue.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/cbc-wont-publish-names-or-photos-of-war-criminals/

CBC won’t publish names or photos of war criminals
July 21, 2011 — BC Blue

Even though the Canadian government has released the names of 30 suspected war criminals that are here illegally and is asking for the public’s help in locating them, the CBC refuses to publish their names or pictures:

“CBC News is not publishing the names or photos of the suspects at this time” (see here)

Can someone tell me if the CBC has in the past not published the same information on say suspected murderers or rapists? Is this a new CBC policy that I am unaware of?

But they still have plenty of your money for this:

http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2011/07/cbcs-75th-birthday/

CBC’s 75th Birthday

Taxpayers are wrapping up yet another gift to the CBC as the state broadcaster celebrates itself.

And you’re invited! (to pay for it whether you want to or not)

Yes, the CBC’s annual budget has ballooned to $1.1 Billion which included a $60 million top up from our new Conservative majority government.

QMI reports that the information commissioner is at war with the state broadcaster over disclosure of its expenses.  The President of the CBC says that they’ll only respond to a court order.

Cabinet ministers won’t even expense lunch if they don’t need to and when they do, they’re more likely to show how frugal they are like when Monte Solberg expensed a $16 lunch for two with a journalist. Even when ministers abuse their expenses, like Bev Oda’s Juno junket, it’s right there for taxpayers to read in black and white online. However, when we grumble about when cabinet ministers get a driver, or fly first class, similar expenses and perks enjoyed by the CBC brass are a state secret.

Yet, our politicians are accountable; we elect them.

If they receive our tax dollars, CBC and any other crown corp should be accountable for every dime.  We don’t elect their boards of directors but we should at least know how they’re spending our money

The National Citizens Coalition is calling upon the government to implement transparency legislation for crown corps including the CBC. Any organization that receives such a beautifully wrapped gift forcefully given by the taxpayer must be transparent to the same.

Last night, I was on Brian Lilley’s Byline on Sun News talking about CBC’s birthday bash.  The hard newsing, straight talking plucky upstart spends in a year what CBC spends in a week. But Sun money is private, the CBC’s money belongs to us.

So, this year the CBC celebrates.  It’s the most lavish office party you’ve ever be told to chip in for.

Incidentally. I loved Sun TV's mockery of the CBC with their $14 celebration.......
 
Well, tell me again why the CBC gets $1 billion a year?

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/news/868018287001/media-monitor-july-28/1084711903001

http://bcblue.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/sun-news-awesome-slap-down-of-cbcs-omalley-and-solomon/#comment-16746

Sun News’ awesome slap-down of CBC’s O’Malley and Solomon
July 28, 2011 — BC Blue



Brian Lilley and Krista Erickson tag team the duo of Kady O’Malley and Evan Solomon for their desperate and ridiculous defence of CBC’s decision not to publish the names of suspected war criminals.

Lilley: “It’s controversial to Evan because it’s controversial to all his friends and Left-wing political activists”

Erickson: “You do win the Twitter war [against O'Malley] if you approach it with indifference..which I do as I just don’t care what she has to say”
 
CBC "policy" about naming suspects seems to only take effect if it can somehow be used against the current government. It will be a long four years....

http://bcblue.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/cbc-policy-change-publishes-name-pic-of-sexual-assault-suspect/

CBC “policy” change: Publishes name & pic of sexual assault suspect
August 1, 2011 — BC Blue

I’m really looking forward to Jennifer McGuire’s (General Manager and Editor in Chief of CBC News) response to my Ombudsman filed complaint about their “policy” when it comes to suspected war criminals:

“CBC News’ practice is not to name suspects, and therefore is not publishing the names or photos of the suspects at this time.”

As this “policy” is obviously not in effect when it comes to sexual assault suspects like this one from yesterday here in the Okanagan.
 
CBC hires ex-Bloc leader Duceppe
By Agnès Gaudet, QMI Agency
Article Link

MONTREAL - Former Bloc Quebecois head Gilles Duceppe said he doesn't think there is anything controversial about an ex-sovereigntist leader working at the state broadcaster.

Duceppe starts work as a columnist for the French CBC next week.

“Pierre Bourgault worked for years at Radio-Canada,” he said of the late sovereigntist politician who worked in the Party Quebecois in its infancy.

A former PQ leader, Rene Levesque, as well as its current president, Raymond Archambault, were also on the French CBC, Duceppe added.

“(The CBC) also belongs to the Quebec society,” he said. “Quebec pays taxes.”

His weekly morning segment, called “La Performance de la Semaine” (The Week's Performance), debuts next Thursday on the show Premiere Chaine.

He said viewers shouldn’t expect him to argue about who is the best singer or politician. Duceppe said this topics will “make you think.”

Topics such as the current financial crisis in the United States and Europe, the development of Canada's Arctic or the health and education systems, he said.
More on link
 
Gratifying to know that they're achieving balance.

/sarcasm
 
Duceppe's CBC radio career firing alright, career STOPS ....
Further to a misunderstanding about the nature of his role, Gilles Duceppe has declined to be a weekly commentator on the radio show Médium large.

The team had offered Mr. Duceppe free rein to discuss topics related to culture, science and sports, with the potential to cover broader social issues. Although Mr. Duceppe did not want to approach topics from a partisan perspective, he did want to comment on current events and public policies.

"Radio-Canada's program policy clearly states that at least two years must pass before we can hire someone who has left active politics to discuss public issues as a host, reporter or commentator," said Première Chaîne director Anne Sérode. "However, the same policy does authorize the hiring of political figures whose past associations have no relation to the role he is entrusted. We understand Mr. Duceppe's decision and regret that he wasn't informed of our policy restrictions from the outset." ....
Source:  CBC news release, 18 Aug 11
 
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