Transcript: Full Press

Introducing a new Canadian media criticism podcast

This week, I’m changing things up, here at Lean Out. I am pleased to be able to bring you an episode of my new media criticism podcast with The Hub.

My co-hosts are Harrison Lowman, managing editor of The Hub, and Peter Menzies, a former newspaper executive. On this show, we discuss an interview with the new president of the CBC, the use of anonymous sources in Canadian media — and why some women may object to being referred to as “pregnant people.” Enjoy!

This is an edited transcript for paid subscibers. You can listen to the episode for free here.

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HL: Hello there, welcome to Full Press, a media criticism podcast here at The Hub, where listeners can escape the mainstream media for a precious 40 minutes every two weeks, on Thursdays. I'm Harrison Lowman, managing editor of The Hub, and as always, I'm joined by Tara Henley here in studio, and Peter all the way on the other side of the country in Alberta. Thank you very much, you two, for joining us. This is our third episode. We also want to thank the 10,000 people who joined us two weeks ago. Very delightful to see those numbers, and we thank everyone from across the country — and maybe in other countries as well — for joining us. Peter, how are things over there? It has been -10 degrees plus here for multiple days. We are miserable. We are trudging through the streets in massive snowsuits. How are things over in Calgary?

PM: I'll see your -10, and I'll raise it by 15 to -25, -26 regularly overnight. The coldest first two weeks in Calgary in 50 years.

HL: Really?

PM: It was on the news the other day. And if it said it on the news, it must be true. It gets really miserable this time of year. It's very dry too, so my knuckles are all just done. I have to cover myself in moisturizing cream every night. It's just disgusting.

HL: Every episode seems to be about your skincare regime, so it's fun that we have that segment off the top.

PM: It's important.

TH: I am also moisturizing like a mad woman. I don't particularly like the winter, and I'm starting to count down now until the end of April when we get our last snow.

HL: Okay. Let's jump into block one here. I call this segment “CEO Tears Will Not Save the CBC.” The CBC's new CEO, Marie-Philippe Bouchard, was interviewed by Matt Galloway on The Current. This was her big reveal, right? We've been waiting for the next CEO of the CBC to come out of the gate and give us a sense of what her big plan is, what her tonal shift is — after the departure of the last CEO, [who] just objectively struggled. People went after her for CEO bonuses, et cetera. This was her big moment. Peter, how did she do on that interview?

PM: I thought it was very disappointing. She spoke like a long-term employee, which she has been, and she spoke as if she was completely unaware of the difficulties facing the CBC. This sort of thing goes around and around and around. It's almost like a public service entity, where it just endures. Leaders come and go, but the place has its own mass, its own momentum. And it really doesn't matter who the boss is, because it just goes where it wants to go. I was just really disappointed that there was no sort of, "I'm here, I'm taking the bull by the horns. I'm in charge and I'm going to make some changes, I'm going to do this.” Like that. When you're in that position, you really want to send a message early. She did, but it wasn't a very inspiring one.

HL: She's a 29-year veteran, specifically on the French side, Radio-Canada. In terms of good things she said, I think she talked about investing in local reporting — how we need to be close to where people live, bring a Canadian point of view. To your point, Peter, I just feel — and Tara, I suspect, will feel the same way — she did not address criticism head-on in terms of bias or challenges against the CBC. She talked about misinformation, disinformation, which I find to be buzzwords and are in the eye of the beholder at this point. She also cried at the end. What message, Tara, do you think she sent with all those things she mentioned there?