Citing a decrease in its operating budget, the news division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced layoffs Thursday.
In its 2018-19 annual report, the CBC reported a 14.5 per cent decrease in revenue. The public broadcaster, which has a mixed funding model from government and advertising, reported $490 million in revenue for 2018-19, compared to $573 million in 2017-18.
CBC has to contend with a digital advertising market dominated by sophisticated technology firms such as Facebook and Google.
Read the full story here.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
CBC North Blindsides Staff
CBC North is centralizing its morning newscasts, eliminating the English-language morning news reading posts based in Iqaluit and Whitehorse in favour of pan-northern newscasts to be broadcast out of Yellowknife.
Management at the public broadcaster announced the decision to staff Monday, in an email from Janice Stein, the managing director of CBC North.
But the news prompted swift backlash within staff at CBC North after the news was announced on Monday, explained Kaila Jefferd-Moore, a reporter based in Whitehorse.
"Folks felt blindsided," Jefferd-Moore said. "Their response was mostly confusion. It was a lot of uncertainty … no one knew why it was happening, where it came from. That's the best way to describe it, blindsided."
Management at the public broadcaster announced the decision to staff Monday, in an email from Janice Stein, the managing director of CBC North.
But the news prompted swift backlash within staff at CBC North after the news was announced on Monday, explained Kaila Jefferd-Moore, a reporter based in Whitehorse.
"Folks felt blindsided," Jefferd-Moore said. "Their response was mostly confusion. It was a lot of uncertainty … no one knew why it was happening, where it came from. That's the best way to describe it, blindsided."
Read the full story here.
Monday, November 18, 2019
CBC will no longer work with Netflix
Despite the success of award-winning TV drama co-productions such as Anne with an E and Alias Grace, the head of the CBC says the broadcaster will no longer work with Netflix Inc.
Tait’s comments mark a notable change of policy from last December, when she said she “absolutely” saw such cost-saving co-productions as being the future for the CBC. And while no explicit reason was given for the U-turn, it comes as Netflix has significantly ramped up its activity in Canada.
Read the full story here.
Tait’s comments mark a notable change of policy from last December, when she said she “absolutely” saw such cost-saving co-productions as being the future for the CBC. And while no explicit reason was given for the U-turn, it comes as Netflix has significantly ramped up its activity in Canada.
Read the full story here.
Friday, November 15, 2019
CBC's CEO seems out of touch with the public
CBC CEO Catherine Tait said something truly insane on Thursday, and we owe her a debt of gratitude. It’s so rare that Canadians reach consensus on matters pertaining to Mother Corp.
We can all agree, however, that Tait’s comments at a TV industry conference in Ottawa were bananas.
No word of a lie, she was talking about Netflix’s presence in Canada.
It’s ridiculous and offensive on any number of levels. But it also bespeaks someone in a very important position who seems to be almost psychedelically out of touch with the corporation and the public she is supposed to work for.
Read the full story here.
We can all agree, however, that Tait’s comments at a TV industry conference in Ottawa were bananas.
No word of a lie, she was talking about Netflix’s presence in Canada.
It’s ridiculous and offensive on any number of levels. But it also bespeaks someone in a very important position who seems to be almost psychedelically out of touch with the corporation and the public she is supposed to work for.
Read the full story here.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
CBC provided a one-sided platform for Ms. Erakat’s anti-Israel invective
If you tuned into CBC Radio on November 10, you were likely aghast to hear a 30-minute anti-Israel invective that centered largely on replacing the world’s only Jewish state with an Arab-majority, Palestinian-run country.
On “The Sunday Edition” yesterday, CBC Anchor Michael Enright interviewed avowed anti-Zionist and anti-Israel detractor, Noura Erakat, professor of law at Rutgers University, who aside from uttering outright falsehoods and flagrant distortions of the truth through misleading legalese, Erakat advocated for the “right of return” of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants into Israel, akin to a demographic ticking bomb that would see the Jewish character of the state of Israel and Jewish majority, eliminated.
The CBC’s segment entitled: “Israel violates international law with impunity, says human rights lawyer” was very concerning. CBC Anchor Michael Enright did not adequately challenge many false and highly misleading statements that Ms. Erakat made, and didn’t seem informed enough about the issues at hand, or at least willing, to ask hard and informed questions.
Mr. Enright, who seemed infatuated by Ms. Erakat, and who fawned over her saying “you are clearly a brilliant lawyer,” also expressed admiration for PLO official Hanan Ashrawi, “she’s a terrific person,” he said.
On “The Sunday Edition” yesterday, CBC Anchor Michael Enright interviewed avowed anti-Zionist and anti-Israel detractor, Noura Erakat, professor of law at Rutgers University, who aside from uttering outright falsehoods and flagrant distortions of the truth through misleading legalese, Erakat advocated for the “right of return” of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants into Israel, akin to a demographic ticking bomb that would see the Jewish character of the state of Israel and Jewish majority, eliminated.
The CBC’s segment entitled: “Israel violates international law with impunity, says human rights lawyer” was very concerning. CBC Anchor Michael Enright did not adequately challenge many false and highly misleading statements that Ms. Erakat made, and didn’t seem informed enough about the issues at hand, or at least willing, to ask hard and informed questions.
Mr. Enright, who seemed infatuated by Ms. Erakat, and who fawned over her saying “you are clearly a brilliant lawyer,” also expressed admiration for PLO official Hanan Ashrawi, “she’s a terrific person,” he said.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
CBC lambasted on social media
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and it’s principle anchor, Rosemary Barton, have been lambasted on social media and in the national political discourse for bringing a lawsuit against the Conservative Party of Canada, based on the party’s use of publicly broadcasted footage.
The Chronicle has learned that Gerald Butts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s principal secretary and chief political operative, repeatedly phoned Barton prior to the CBC’s initiation of that lawsuit. Barton was a moderator of the Federal Leaders’ Debate and was widely criticized for her soft-handling of Trudeau.
Critics want Barton and Butts to disclose the nature of their communications.
Read the full story here.
The Chronicle has learned that Gerald Butts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s principal secretary and chief political operative, repeatedly phoned Barton prior to the CBC’s initiation of that lawsuit. Barton was a moderator of the Federal Leaders’ Debate and was widely criticized for her soft-handling of Trudeau.
Critics want Barton and Butts to disclose the nature of their communications.
Read the full story here.
Monday, November 11, 2019
What Was the CBC Thinking?
The CBC decision to sue the Conservative Party for copyright infringement over seven clips that were either used in a campaign ad or posted to Twitter has unsurprisingly garnered considerable attention. While the CBC claims that its lawsuit was designed to defend perceptions of independence of its journalists and journalism, the opposite has predictably occurred with many believing that the lawsuit itself (filed eleven days before the election after the content was removed) demonstrates bias against the Conservative party.
Beyond the strategic blunder, CBC’s legal arguments are very weak.
Not only are the CBC’s copyright claims tenuous, but reviewing the clips makes the decision to sue even more puzzling.
Read the full story here.
Beyond the strategic blunder, CBC’s legal arguments are very weak.
Not only are the CBC’s copyright claims tenuous, but reviewing the clips makes the decision to sue even more puzzling.
Read the full story here.
Friday, November 08, 2019
How low will CBC TV bosses go
How low will CBC TV bosses go in search of ratings and ad dollars?
My friends, it’s time for a resistance. Specifically, a resistance against the direction that current management is taking CBC TV.
The desperate search for ideas recently became a very public issue when The Globe and Mail revealed that the bosses of The Fifth Estate had proposed a series of programs on the crimes committed by Paul Bernardo. Negative reaction from inside and outside the CBC was swift.
My friends, it’s time for a resistance. Specifically, a resistance against the direction that current management is taking CBC TV.
The desperate search for ideas recently became a very public issue when The Globe and Mail revealed that the bosses of The Fifth Estate had proposed a series of programs on the crimes committed by Paul Bernardo. Negative reaction from inside and outside the CBC was swift.
What moral compass do these CBC bosses have when it comes to balancing the need for a ratings win with the moral sensibility of this country?
Read the full story here.
Thursday, November 07, 2019
CBC publishes fact free column
The next time Canada’s public broadcaster publishes a column by Calgary pundit Duane Bratt, it should come with a disclaimer: Warning! Entering fact-free zone!
This week, Bratt penned a passionate defence of the National Energy Board titled “It’s not a sham: A rebuttal to Mayor Robertson’s Trans Mountain stance”. The Mount Royal University professor, who chairs the department of Economics, Justice and Policy Studies, earnestly claimed that in 60 years of operation, the Trans Mountain pipeline had never spilled a drop.
Had Mr. Bratt, or his fact-checkers at the CBC, bothered to look up the “spill history” page on the pipeline company’s own website, they would have found 69 oil spills reported to the federal government since 1961, plus more than a dozen leaks of natural gas, jet fuel, diesel, solvents and contaminated water.
Since Texas-based Kinder Morgan bought the line in 2005, there have been 13 oil spills totalling 5,628 barrels of crude. CBC even reported on some of them ...
This week, Bratt penned a passionate defence of the National Energy Board titled “It’s not a sham: A rebuttal to Mayor Robertson’s Trans Mountain stance”. The Mount Royal University professor, who chairs the department of Economics, Justice and Policy Studies, earnestly claimed that in 60 years of operation, the Trans Mountain pipeline had never spilled a drop.
Had Mr. Bratt, or his fact-checkers at the CBC, bothered to look up the “spill history” page on the pipeline company’s own website, they would have found 69 oil spills reported to the federal government since 1961, plus more than a dozen leaks of natural gas, jet fuel, diesel, solvents and contaminated water.
Since Texas-based Kinder Morgan bought the line in 2005, there have been 13 oil spills totalling 5,628 barrels of crude. CBC even reported on some of them ...
Read the full story here.
Wednesday, November 06, 2019
CBC recently cited “a leaked report” that is misleading — to say the least
Canada’s CBC here recently cited “a leaked report” which claimed Canada is “warming at twice the global rate.”
According to the “leaked report”, Canada’s annual average temperature over land has warmed 1.7 C when looking at the data since 1948. But that claim is misleading when recent data is considered.
Over the past 25 years, since scientists began to warn that the planet was warming in earnest, there has not been any warming when one looks at the untampered data provided by the Japan meteorology Agency (JMA) that were measured by 9 different stations across Canada. These 9 stations have the data dating back to around 1983 or 1986, so I used their datasats.
Though temperatures over Canada no doubt have risen over the past century, there has not been any real warming in over 25 years. Rather, there’s been slight cooling, though not statistically significant. Clearly there hasn’t been any Canadian warming recently.According to the “leaked report”, Canada’s annual average temperature over land has warmed 1.7 C when looking at the data since 1948. But that claim is misleading when recent data is considered.
Over the past 25 years, since scientists began to warn that the planet was warming in earnest, there has not been any warming when one looks at the untampered data provided by the Japan meteorology Agency (JMA) that were measured by 9 different stations across Canada. These 9 stations have the data dating back to around 1983 or 1986, so I used their datasats.
So it is misleading — to say the least — to give the impression that Canada warming has been accelerating.
Tuesday, November 05, 2019
CBC lies about global warming
CBC lies about global warming causing volcanoes to erupt.
On last night’s show, I reported on the CBC falsely claiming that global warming will cause Canadian volcanoes to erupt.
Canada’s volcanoes are very small and located far from populated areas, so the threat their eruptions pose is negligible.
CBC even interviewed a scientist who admitted that CBC’s claim is merely a theory being debated by graduate students.
On last night’s show, I reported on the CBC falsely claiming that global warming will cause Canadian volcanoes to erupt.
Canada’s volcanoes are very small and located far from populated areas, so the threat their eruptions pose is negligible.
CBC even interviewed a scientist who admitted that CBC’s claim is merely a theory being debated by graduate students.
Monday, November 04, 2019
Truth, lies and the CBC
The CBC said this in a Tweet:
“a convoy of angry Albertans and other westerners rolls into Ottawa today for a mass protest against federal energy and environmental policies that has also become a magnet for extremist, anti-immigrant elements”
With one tweet, CBC managed to make the case for their own defunding while simultaneously proving how elitist they are about the concerns of everyday Albertans.
CBC can't possibly know what people on the convoy are thinking because they haven't been on the convoy, except for a few hundred kilometres. Everything the CBC writes about the mindset of those on the convoy is speculation, laden with anti-blue collar bias, and peppered with a desire to protect Trudeau at all costs.
“a convoy of angry Albertans and other westerners rolls into Ottawa today for a mass protest against federal energy and environmental policies that has also become a magnet for extremist, anti-immigrant elements”
With one tweet, CBC managed to make the case for their own defunding while simultaneously proving how elitist they are about the concerns of everyday Albertans.
CBC can't possibly know what people on the convoy are thinking because they haven't been on the convoy, except for a few hundred kilometres. Everything the CBC writes about the mindset of those on the convoy is speculation, laden with anti-blue collar bias, and peppered with a desire to protect Trudeau at all costs.
Read the full story here.
Friday, November 01, 2019
CBC News has become the Airbnb of hate
The still largely pasty white proprietors of our broadcaster’s news division have invited a host of white-pride, “Christian” disciples masquerading as “journalists” to spend valuable time on CBC to parade — with little, if any resistance — their odious vision before viewers and readers.
The decision to give prime, unfettered space and airtime to these preening purveyors of smut cannot be dismissed as unfortunate or isolated errors of judgment.
Rather, it constitutes a pattern of unconscionable behaviour that reflects not only the CBC’s tolerance of the intolerable, but its abandonment of decency and editorial responsibility in the name, apparently, of the “cleansing” power of journalism.
CBC News has sullied its already fading reputation by happily providing a forum to the likes of rancid Rebel Media “contributor” Sheila Gunn Reid, Ann Coulter and, of course, most recently, Gavin McInnes — the screeching leader of a band of bigoted brothers who have traded white sheets and hoods for polo shirts.
The decision to give prime, unfettered space and airtime to these preening purveyors of smut cannot be dismissed as unfortunate or isolated errors of judgment.
Rather, it constitutes a pattern of unconscionable behaviour that reflects not only the CBC’s tolerance of the intolerable, but its abandonment of decency and editorial responsibility in the name, apparently, of the “cleansing” power of journalism.
CBC News has sullied its already fading reputation by happily providing a forum to the likes of rancid Rebel Media “contributor” Sheila Gunn Reid, Ann Coulter and, of course, most recently, Gavin McInnes — the screeching leader of a band of bigoted brothers who have traded white sheets and hoods for polo shirts.
Read the full story here.
Thursday, October 31, 2019
CBC has a totally unfair advantage
CBC has received a massive injection of taxpayer money under the Trudeau government.
Despite already being well-funded previously, Trudeau upped their budget to the point at which CBC now gets around $1.5 billion per year.
And that money is on top of the advertising revenue they receive, as CBC is allowed to benefit both from being State Media, and from the private advertising market.
This gives CBC a totally unfair advantage, putting private broadcasters on an unequal footing.
Yet despite this huge built in advantage, CBC is unable to convince people to watch their biggest news show – The National.
The National is now averaging 401,000 viewers – less than half of what CTV National News brings in.
Despite already being well-funded previously, Trudeau upped their budget to the point at which CBC now gets around $1.5 billion per year.
And that money is on top of the advertising revenue they receive, as CBC is allowed to benefit both from being State Media, and from the private advertising market.
This gives CBC a totally unfair advantage, putting private broadcasters on an unequal footing.
Yet despite this huge built in advantage, CBC is unable to convince people to watch their biggest news show – The National.
The National is now averaging 401,000 viewers – less than half of what CTV National News brings in.
Read the full story here.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
CBC allows falsehood to exist on CBC website
On May 17, CBC Online published an article by former Mideast bureau chief Derek Stoffel on the Eurovision song contest which Israel hosted in Tel Aviv recently.
In his article which focused largely on how Palestinians called for a boycott of Israel and the Eurovision song contest as the host city was inside the Jewish state, reporter Stoffel included the following quote from a Hamas official which erroneously claimed that Tel Aviv sits atop land of former Arab villages “stolen” by Jews:
What CBC did not tell readers is that Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as the first all-Jewish city in modern times. Since when did Palestinians have any connection to Tel Aviv?
In his article which focused largely on how Palestinians called for a boycott of Israel and the Eurovision song contest as the host city was inside the Jewish state, reporter Stoffel included the following quote from a Hamas official which erroneously claimed that Tel Aviv sits atop land of former Arab villages “stolen” by Jews:
What CBC did not tell readers is that Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as the first all-Jewish city in modern times. Since when did Palestinians have any connection to Tel Aviv?
CBC declined to revise its article allowing this falsehood to exist on the CBC’s website.
Read the full story here.
Read the full story here.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
CBC wastes taxpayers' money on fake news horoscopes
Did you know that CBC has a horoscope section? and it's not even in the entertainment section where it should be. It's in the "life and culture" section for some reason, lumped in with opinion articles and news.
Let's look at an example of the CBC horoscopes.
Am I reading a softcore romance novel? The Jay Peterman catalog? Or a horoscope? Who writes this stuff?
Anyway, joking aside, I wanted to know why the state broadcaster is paying someone to write horoscopes, who that person is, and how much it's all costing us to have CBC provide this vague astrological slice of Canadiana?
Let's look at an example of the CBC horoscopes.
Am I reading a softcore romance novel? The Jay Peterman catalog? Or a horoscope? Who writes this stuff?
Anyway, joking aside, I wanted to know why the state broadcaster is paying someone to write horoscopes, who that person is, and how much it's all costing us to have CBC provide this vague astrological slice of Canadiana?
Read the full story here.
Monday, October 28, 2019
CBC is operating outside its mandate
The Canadian taxpayer supported CBC has become a tool for left-wing social activists to indoctrinate the Canadian public for a implementation of a carbon tax. CBC is promoting Liberal Party ideological objectives, which most definitely do not reflect the views of many Canadians.
CBC continues with their climate crisis articles while never pointing out differing views that many scientists have with research pointing out that human activity is a small factor in climate change, pointing out that China and India are still spending tens of billions of dollars building coal plants, or articles praising Canadians for their renewable energy efforts.
CBC continues with their climate crisis articles while never pointing out differing views that many scientists have with research pointing out that human activity is a small factor in climate change, pointing out that China and India are still spending tens of billions of dollars building coal plants, or articles praising Canadians for their renewable energy efforts.
Read more here.
Friday, October 25, 2019
CBC is now dwarfed in the media world
Handwringing over CBC funding obscures the fact it’s becoming a smaller and smaller player in a highly concentrated media world.
The upshot of these trends is that the CBC is now dwarfed in the media world. It’s share of the total media economy dropped from 5% in 1980s and early 1990s to less than half that amount today.
Over the past three decades, the place of the CBC within the media universe has been eclipsed as wholly new media have been added to it: e.g. mobile phones, broadband internet access, pay TV, OTT, online gaming, social media and search engines. In this context, carriage (or connectivity and bandwidth) is king, not content.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Why did the CBC drum up this fake news story?
I recently learned that Canada’s state broadcaster spent resources trying to investigate me and my social media. And the Prime Minister’s Office took an interest.
The CBC attempted what amounts to a smear campaign against, among others, myself, Ezra Levant and Barbara Kay.
You might have seen the story online. The alarmist headline read: “Twitter trolls stoked debates about immigration and pipelines in Canada, data show: 9M troll tweets released by Twitter reveal foreign campaigns to influence Canadians’ opinions.”
The CBC attempted what amounts to a smear campaign against, among others, myself, Ezra Levant and Barbara Kay.
You might have seen the story online. The alarmist headline read: “Twitter trolls stoked debates about immigration and pipelines in Canada, data show: 9M troll tweets released by Twitter reveal foreign campaigns to influence Canadians’ opinions.”
That’s quite the statement. And a reader could be forgiven for thinking that foreign agents posted nine million tweets about Canadian pipelines and immigration in an attempt to meddle in our politics and push propaganda. That’s what the headline says, after all.
But that’s far from the truth.
The article reveals that Twitter released an archive of 9.6 million deleted tweets since 2013 that came from suspected bots — that is, fake accounts that are not connected to real people.
Of the 9.6 million deleted tweets, 21,600 mentioned Canada.
Yes, 21,600. Not nine million, as the headline deceptively implies.
The story reveals that the account most retweeted by trolls was CBC News, followed by Rebel Media and its founder, Levant.
Despite the alarmism of this “investigative report,” these accounts were retweeted less than 200 times each.So why did the CBC drum up this fake news story?
But that’s far from the truth.
The article reveals that Twitter released an archive of 9.6 million deleted tweets since 2013 that came from suspected bots — that is, fake accounts that are not connected to real people.
Of the 9.6 million deleted tweets, 21,600 mentioned Canada.
Yes, 21,600. Not nine million, as the headline deceptively implies.
The story reveals that the account most retweeted by trolls was CBC News, followed by Rebel Media and its founder, Levant.
Despite the alarmism of this “investigative report,” these accounts were retweeted less than 200 times each.So why did the CBC drum up this fake news story?
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
CBC's failure has been an acceptance of the flagrant commercialization of CBC programming
Despite the partial restoration of its budget by the federal government, CBC governance needs a major overhaul. Action on this front is urgently needed and long overdue.
The first and most obvious failure of the CBC board has been its acquiescence to the ongoing erosion of CBC funding.
The second failure, which is related to the budget cuts, has been an acceptance of the flagrant commercialization of CBC programming. CBC is supposed to be a public broadcaster. It was created to serve citizens, not to sell commercial products or services, which the private sector can do quite well. Its mandate is to inform, entertain and enlighten Canadians, using predominantly Canadian programming, something that the market alone cannot achieve.
Read the full story here.
The first and most obvious failure of the CBC board has been its acquiescence to the ongoing erosion of CBC funding.
The second failure, which is related to the budget cuts, has been an acceptance of the flagrant commercialization of CBC programming. CBC is supposed to be a public broadcaster. It was created to serve citizens, not to sell commercial products or services, which the private sector can do quite well. Its mandate is to inform, entertain and enlighten Canadians, using predominantly Canadian programming, something that the market alone cannot achieve.
Read the full story here.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
CBC Reporter’s Biased Reporting About Israel
In response to several unfair and inaccurate reports about Israel that CBC TV’s The National and CBC Radio’s World Report recently broadcast, HonestReporting Canada has filed a formal complaint with senior executives at our public broadcaster calling for immediate corrective action to remedy the CBC’s biased reporting about Israel. As of this writing, we await a reply from the CBC.
On the October 11 broadcast of CBC The National, former Middle East Bureau Chief Margaret Evans (now stationed in London) produced a feature-length, almost 10 minute report entitled: “Young Palestinians see no end to the Israeli Occupation”.
Firstly, we took issue with this report’s headline which was appropriated by CBC editors. Ms. Evans’ report did not solely focus on Palestinian views about Israel’s so-called “occupation”. Instead, the report talked about the progress of building courthouses in the west bank (a joint Canadian-Palestinian project sponsored by CIDA), along with a discussion about how Palestinian politics are”frayed” and rife with “nepotism” and “corruption”. Yes, there was a discussion about the two state solution, Israeli settlements, and the presence of Israeli checkpoints, but this wasn’t its exclusive focus.
On the October 11 broadcast of CBC The National, former Middle East Bureau Chief Margaret Evans (now stationed in London) produced a feature-length, almost 10 minute report entitled: “Young Palestinians see no end to the Israeli Occupation”.
Why then, did CBC editors want to focus reader’s attention to this issue to the exclusion of others?
Read the full story here.
Monday, October 21, 2019
CBC spreads fake news propaganda
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has big plans.
It wants to compete with Netflix, private news companies, and broadcasters to be the chief Canadian content provider.
To truly do that though, the CBC would have to function as a media producer that represents all Canadians.
With only one week until the election ends, they have blown that opportunity by not just blurring the line between partisanship and journalism, but erasing it altogether.
Then there’s the fake news propaganda CBC routinely spreads, too. With so much Liberal pamphleteering, it’s no wonder why Canadians are turning away from the CBC to independent alternatives.
It wants to compete with Netflix, private news companies, and broadcasters to be the chief Canadian content provider.
To truly do that though, the CBC would have to function as a media producer that represents all Canadians.
With only one week until the election ends, they have blown that opportunity by not just blurring the line between partisanship and journalism, but erasing it altogether.
Read the full story here.
Friday, October 18, 2019
Taxpayers foot CBC Trump attack ads
Trump has brought border security to the center of his domestic policy platform. The U.S-Mexico border wall was one of the main things he campaigned on before his 2016 election.
It is unclear how much CBC has spent on the billboard and TV-ad campaign but they have appeared in several locations throughout Canada including on Vancouver’s transit system.
Read the full story here.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
CBC claims contradicted by memo
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation once claimed the loss of licensing rights to Hockey Night in Canada only cost the network a “few dollars.”
That’s apparently not the case, according to an Access to Information memo obtained by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
The memo reportedly confirmed a steady decline in ad revenue for the CBC ever since the network lost the rights to Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC), which they held from 1952 to 2014.
The memorandum stated CBC advertising revenue peaked at $523 million in 2014, which was the last year the network held broadcasting rights to NHL games before losing it to Rogers Communications. Revenue fell 40% within two years, with ad revenue totaling $318 million in 2018.
That’s apparently not the case, according to an Access to Information memo obtained by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
The memo reportedly confirmed a steady decline in ad revenue for the CBC ever since the network lost the rights to Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC), which they held from 1952 to 2014.
The memorandum stated CBC advertising revenue peaked at $523 million in 2014, which was the last year the network held broadcasting rights to NHL games before losing it to Rogers Communications. Revenue fell 40% within two years, with ad revenue totaling $318 million in 2018.
Rogers paid $5.2 billion, outbidding the CBC for the HNIC licensing contract, which runs until 2026. At the time, the CBC claimed the loss wasn’t significant, with then network president Hubert Lacroix stating the network has “not lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the hockey contract.”
“We lost a few dollars,” Lacroix said in 2015 during testimony at the Senate communications committee.
“We lost a few dollars,” Lacroix said in 2015 during testimony at the Senate communications committee.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
The CBC has damaged its own brand
"A total lack of political savvy, another boneheaded move,” says one CBC journalist of the broadcaster's suit against the Conservatives.
There are only two possible scenarios for Rosemary Barton, and neither is good.
Either she knew that the CBC was going to sue the Conservative Party of Canada in her name and she let it happen, or she didn’t.
If she knew about it, that’s bad. She is, after all, the lead CBC journalist covering a federal election that’s mere days away. Three days before the copyright-infringement suit was filed on October 10, she was a moderator of the official English-language leaders’ debate, where impartiality was the essence of the job. To consciously make herself an adversary of the Conservative Party would be staggeringly stupid. It matters little in this scenario if she were an eager participant or just along for the ride, under pressure from management. It strains credulity to imagine that Barton was somehow forced by her employer to personally sue the Conservatives — and if push came to shove, she could always have resigned. To not refuse is to agree, and to agree is to demonstrate a shocking lack of journalistic judgment by entering into a conflict of interest that would seem to compromise her ability to continue to cover federal politics in Canada, perhaps permanently.
There are only two possible scenarios for Rosemary Barton, and neither is good.
Either she knew that the CBC was going to sue the Conservative Party of Canada in her name and she let it happen, or she didn’t.
If she knew about it, that’s bad. She is, after all, the lead CBC journalist covering a federal election that’s mere days away. Three days before the copyright-infringement suit was filed on October 10, she was a moderator of the official English-language leaders’ debate, where impartiality was the essence of the job. To consciously make herself an adversary of the Conservative Party would be staggeringly stupid. It matters little in this scenario if she were an eager participant or just along for the ride, under pressure from management. It strains credulity to imagine that Barton was somehow forced by her employer to personally sue the Conservatives — and if push came to shove, she could always have resigned. To not refuse is to agree, and to agree is to demonstrate a shocking lack of journalistic judgment by entering into a conflict of interest that would seem to compromise her ability to continue to cover federal politics in Canada, perhaps permanently.
Read the full story here.
Monday, October 14, 2019
The “shocking” video the CBC is trying to prevent you from seeing
In response, the Conservatives used the lawsuit as a fundraising pitch, arguing in an email to supporters that CBC "footage should be usable by those who fund them."
The party is asking for donations so that it can "hit back hard" against "this attack on free expression."
As well, the Conservative Party says in a statement on its website that it plans to fight the CBC legal action.
Read the full story here.
Friday, October 11, 2019
CBC acknowledges missteps
It sucks. It really, really sucks. “CBC’s The National acknowledges missteps and looks to retool — while pledging to keep its four hosts”.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
CBC attempts to justify unethical habits of their stars
As the latest news story about CBC hijinks breaks, I’m beginning to wonder if we shouldn’t just rename it the Corrupt Broadcasting Corporation. (Ba-dum-cha!)
We’ll be publishing more frequently, from now till Election Day. Here’s why.
Here’s the story trending. Apparently, Amanda Lang, one half of the amateurish Lang and O’Leary Exchange, is in bed with the Royal Bank of Canada. Literally. (Ba-dum-cha!)
Lang, who is in a relationship with RBC board member Geoffrey Beattie, is accused of trying to suppress the 2013 story about RBC abusing the temporary foreign workers program. They were using it to replace Canadian workers on the cheap in a year when their profits were $8 billion.
Kathy Tomlinson, the investigative reporter behind CBC’s Go Public, broke the story on The National, with pick-ups on other CBC shows. The story led to an apology from the company and changes in legislation.
So no harm done? Maybe. But I want to know how many stories Lang successfully derailed.
That’s because the Lang kerfuffle is further complicated with news that the business reporter has been interviewing some of the people for whom she also does paid speaking gigs.
It’s outrageous. Which is why it’s also reached the point of high comedy. While there was nothing funny about the Jian Ghomeshi scandal, the way CBC managers attempt to justify the unethical habits of their stars has sitcom potential. Well, if you like those cynical sitcoms that feature sex, money, and backroom capers.
We’ll be publishing more frequently, from now till Election Day. Here’s why.
Here’s the story trending. Apparently, Amanda Lang, one half of the amateurish Lang and O’Leary Exchange, is in bed with the Royal Bank of Canada. Literally. (Ba-dum-cha!)
Lang, who is in a relationship with RBC board member Geoffrey Beattie, is accused of trying to suppress the 2013 story about RBC abusing the temporary foreign workers program. They were using it to replace Canadian workers on the cheap in a year when their profits were $8 billion.
Kathy Tomlinson, the investigative reporter behind CBC’s Go Public, broke the story on The National, with pick-ups on other CBC shows. The story led to an apology from the company and changes in legislation.
So no harm done? Maybe. But I want to know how many stories Lang successfully derailed.
That’s because the Lang kerfuffle is further complicated with news that the business reporter has been interviewing some of the people for whom she also does paid speaking gigs.
It’s outrageous. Which is why it’s also reached the point of high comedy. While there was nothing funny about the Jian Ghomeshi scandal, the way CBC managers attempt to justify the unethical habits of their stars has sitcom potential. Well, if you like those cynical sitcoms that feature sex, money, and backroom capers.
Read the full story here.
Wednesday, October 09, 2019
Angry CBC Radio listeners
Long-time CBC Radio One listeners upset over summer programming that featured a dozen shows about personal concerns and peoples’ problems will be listening carefully this fall to see how many of those kinds of programs are in the line-up.
Hundreds of traditional Radio One fans strongly agreed with my blog of two weeks ago, in which I blasted CBC management for broadcasting the mindless and banal programs.
Hundreds of people said they no longer listen to Radio One, while other said they turn the radio off as soon as they hear one of the selfie-like programs.
Hundreds of traditional Radio One fans strongly agreed with my blog of two weeks ago, in which I blasted CBC management for broadcasting the mindless and banal programs.
Hundreds of people said they no longer listen to Radio One, while other said they turn the radio off as soon as they hear one of the selfie-like programs.
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