“Is it a reflection of your skin colour? Is it ethnic diversity? Is it religion? Is it country of origin?” Hopefully it is all of the above, Abdelmahmoud replied. “No!” she said. “No, my problem is that I crave diversity of opinion. That’s what I am looking for.”
Accurate statement. However, I think it has to start with hiring practices. CBC needs to start by not hiring from University Humanities Graduates, and start hiring regular people. Truth is, a regular Pakistani Canadian, and a regular rural white Canadian have more in common today with each other, than they do with graduates from University Humanities Programs. I know this, because I talk to both on a daily basis. The same can be said across the board with respect to any identity group you want to name.
Small business owners of all races have similar experiences and similar concerns. Working Class people of all races have similar experiences and concerns. CBC has come to reflect the views of the Academic Media Managerial Class (and ironically the Oligarchs by extension) not the experience of most Canadians.
I am not sure that it can be reformed because it has gone too far down the road.
Far from being a venue to tell "our Canadian stories" the CBC seems to see it's purpose as importing all the dumbest culture war nonsense from the US. So we get stories like Meet The Neurodivergent Queer Latinx Activists Using Decolonization To Smash Cis-Heteronormative Oppression which I could get from any woke American publication like Vox or Slate except I didn't have to involuntarily fund Vox or Slate through my taxes
In my opinion it is too late for the CBC. It is true that it is easier to tear something down than it is to build it up. However, unless there is a complete turn over of staff there is no reason to believe that we would not get more of the same, even if there is a recognition that the CBC needs to change to better reflect our country and citizens. I I once loved CBC and I was an avid listener and viewer. The local and national news, CBC radio, Stuart Mac Lean, and Peter Gzowski were fantastic. Now as the end draws near I am anxious for it all to be over. Hopefully the broadcasters and media outlets that rise from the ashes of the CBC will do a better job at objective and fair journalism about our country and the lives of average Canadians.
I used to listen to Gzowski on the way home from my first teaching job, and when I saw his name, I was transported back to that time for a moment! I loved Gzowski and Stuart MacLean (have all his Vinyl Cafe recordings) as much as I despise the current CBC offerings.
The CBC lost me when it ceased to be the diverse voice of Canada, as I knew it, and became simply the voice of the Annex and its adjacent (geographically and intellectually) humanities faculties.
When it became a Toronto-centric “woke” institution, where a journalist could be penalized in their employment for merely mentioning Pierre Valliere’s provocatively titled 1967 book (which was much discussed when I was an undergraduate), and where certain words could be forbidden – forbidden! - because of their alleged pejorative or racist connotations.
Dangerous words like “tone-deaf” or “blackmail” or “spooky” - which I thought about, again, this Halloween, and which requires some real mental gymnastics and allusive acrobatics to find “offensive”.
What world do these people live in? And why should we pay them?
No; the CBC lost me when it became the voice of patronizing and condescending disapproval, from our purported betters. Even though my radio (yes, radio) is still tuned to the CBC for news.
I bet if you did a survey of creators at CBC, they would be universally college educated (read indoctrinated from a young age) progressive elites. Nobody is let into the club unless they tick the right boxes. Talking about culture change or reformation is a pointless endeavor if the entirety of the body is homogeneous. That's why people want to get rid of the CBC root and branch. Oh, and the stats about wanting to keep the CBC around from some think tank with 'democracy' in the title? Well, that's just a laugh.
I've stood in a few Poilievre rallies and have seen the enormous applause when he says, "Defund the CBC!" His core supporters unamiously believe the current CBC is a paid propaganda arm of the current Liberal government and they crave for the CBC to be punished - no, executed. If Poilievere doesn't carry through with this election promise, his credibility will take such a hit with his supporters that he's done for. He's a smart and savvy guy and he knows this. It's now just a matter of setting an execution date.
A chance meeting with a young journalist at a local watering hole—whose beat used to be CBC North—convinced me of the potential relevance of CBC to both public and personal communication in Canada’s (many) remote regions, or for minority languages including French. I see a case for reforming. But I don’t know that we have the mechanisms of listening and upgrading in place to do so, because we don’t seem to have those generally in the culture, or our institutions. These days I only reliably listen to CBC for the annual holiday Joy to the World concerts, and to keep up my French. Maybe occasionally to benefit from the political commentary of a grounded and experienced journalist like Chantal Hèbert, to better understand what goes on in Quebec, since I live in the west. When Peter Mansbridge retired, I actually thanked him for his service personally, at an event in Vancouver. Now I can’t stand to watch the National. It grates on the ear.
Right off the bat, the numbers do not support a continued CBC. "According to its latest third-quarter report, the network holds just a 2.1 percent share of national prime-time viewers, meaning that 97.9 percent of Canadians choose not to watch CBC’s English-language prime-time news programming."
But sure, by all means let's engage in trenchant analysis about Liberal bias and wokeness, both insulting to say nothing of intellectually embarrassing. The critique gets richer.
Look (as so many newbie CBC "experts" like to start their sentences these days) I am a lifetime listener. I consider CBC a companion, still.
I will morn her passing but like all us boomers, her time has come. Say goodbye.
Several years ago, I went with a scion of one of Calgary's Billionaire families to an Art Exhibition to see her daughters art, that she was going to be showing in New York. For me, it was meaningless art that said absolutely nothing to me. Nothing good, nothing bad, just nothing!
Here in lies the problem with Graduates for University Humanities Programs. They live in a different universe. They take meaning from different events & ideas than the rest of us, but claim to speak for us.
Art has to reflect the experience of Society. Great Art reflects unspoken truths about society back to society. This is not possible unless the artist is part of the society that they are seeking to represent.
I think the C.B.C. should face the same fate as Justin Trudeau's far-left Liberal government in next federal election. They don't represent the majority of the Canadian population but only the minorities. And that is contrary to the very definition of a democracy where the majority population should rule and not the minority.
“Is it a reflection of your skin colour? Is it ethnic diversity? Is it religion? Is it country of origin?” Hopefully it is all of the above, Abdelmahmoud replied. “No!” she said. “No, my problem is that I crave diversity of opinion. That’s what I am looking for.”
Accurate statement. However, I think it has to start with hiring practices. CBC needs to start by not hiring from University Humanities Graduates, and start hiring regular people. Truth is, a regular Pakistani Canadian, and a regular rural white Canadian have more in common today with each other, than they do with graduates from University Humanities Programs. I know this, because I talk to both on a daily basis. The same can be said across the board with respect to any identity group you want to name.
Small business owners of all races have similar experiences and similar concerns. Working Class people of all races have similar experiences and concerns. CBC has come to reflect the views of the Academic Media Managerial Class (and ironically the Oligarchs by extension) not the experience of most Canadians.
I am not sure that it can be reformed because it has gone too far down the road.
Far from being a venue to tell "our Canadian stories" the CBC seems to see it's purpose as importing all the dumbest culture war nonsense from the US. So we get stories like Meet The Neurodivergent Queer Latinx Activists Using Decolonization To Smash Cis-Heteronormative Oppression which I could get from any woke American publication like Vox or Slate except I didn't have to involuntarily fund Vox or Slate through my taxes
Every time Catherine Tait goes before the House of Commons’ committee or quite frankly speaks publicly more of me wants to see the CBC defunded.
Add in the partisan nature of CBC news (no, I am not conservative but I value a variety of points of view) I am done with the CBC.
Again, during the B.C. election the CBC came across as partisan.
In my opinion it is too late for the CBC. It is true that it is easier to tear something down than it is to build it up. However, unless there is a complete turn over of staff there is no reason to believe that we would not get more of the same, even if there is a recognition that the CBC needs to change to better reflect our country and citizens. I I once loved CBC and I was an avid listener and viewer. The local and national news, CBC radio, Stuart Mac Lean, and Peter Gzowski were fantastic. Now as the end draws near I am anxious for it all to be over. Hopefully the broadcasters and media outlets that rise from the ashes of the CBC will do a better job at objective and fair journalism about our country and the lives of average Canadians.
I used to listen to Gzowski on the way home from my first teaching job, and when I saw his name, I was transported back to that time for a moment! I loved Gzowski and Stuart MacLean (have all his Vinyl Cafe recordings) as much as I despise the current CBC offerings.
The CBC lost me when it ceased to be the diverse voice of Canada, as I knew it, and became simply the voice of the Annex and its adjacent (geographically and intellectually) humanities faculties.
When it became a Toronto-centric “woke” institution, where a journalist could be penalized in their employment for merely mentioning Pierre Valliere’s provocatively titled 1967 book (which was much discussed when I was an undergraduate), and where certain words could be forbidden – forbidden! - because of their alleged pejorative or racist connotations.
Dangerous words like “tone-deaf” or “blackmail” or “spooky” - which I thought about, again, this Halloween, and which requires some real mental gymnastics and allusive acrobatics to find “offensive”.
What world do these people live in? And why should we pay them?
No; the CBC lost me when it became the voice of patronizing and condescending disapproval, from our purported betters. Even though my radio (yes, radio) is still tuned to the CBC for news.
I bet if you did a survey of creators at CBC, they would be universally college educated (read indoctrinated from a young age) progressive elites. Nobody is let into the club unless they tick the right boxes. Talking about culture change or reformation is a pointless endeavor if the entirety of the body is homogeneous. That's why people want to get rid of the CBC root and branch. Oh, and the stats about wanting to keep the CBC around from some think tank with 'democracy' in the title? Well, that's just a laugh.
I've stood in a few Poilievre rallies and have seen the enormous applause when he says, "Defund the CBC!" His core supporters unamiously believe the current CBC is a paid propaganda arm of the current Liberal government and they crave for the CBC to be punished - no, executed. If Poilievere doesn't carry through with this election promise, his credibility will take such a hit with his supporters that he's done for. He's a smart and savvy guy and he knows this. It's now just a matter of setting an execution date.
VOTE: TARA HENLEY FOR CBC PRESIDENT!
I was thinking the same thing.
Quite,Tara. CBC needs to abandon the authoritarian misinformation/disinformation ideology.
A chance meeting with a young journalist at a local watering hole—whose beat used to be CBC North—convinced me of the potential relevance of CBC to both public and personal communication in Canada’s (many) remote regions, or for minority languages including French. I see a case for reforming. But I don’t know that we have the mechanisms of listening and upgrading in place to do so, because we don’t seem to have those generally in the culture, or our institutions. These days I only reliably listen to CBC for the annual holiday Joy to the World concerts, and to keep up my French. Maybe occasionally to benefit from the political commentary of a grounded and experienced journalist like Chantal Hèbert, to better understand what goes on in Quebec, since I live in the west. When Peter Mansbridge retired, I actually thanked him for his service personally, at an event in Vancouver. Now I can’t stand to watch the National. It grates on the ear.
Right off the bat, the numbers do not support a continued CBC. "According to its latest third-quarter report, the network holds just a 2.1 percent share of national prime-time viewers, meaning that 97.9 percent of Canadians choose not to watch CBC’s English-language prime-time news programming."
- https://theclarion.ca/politicslaw/six-figure-paydays-surge-at-the-cbc-despite-sharp-decline-in-viewership/
But sure, by all means let's engage in trenchant analysis about Liberal bias and wokeness, both insulting to say nothing of intellectually embarrassing. The critique gets richer.
Look (as so many newbie CBC "experts" like to start their sentences these days) I am a lifetime listener. I consider CBC a companion, still.
I will morn her passing but like all us boomers, her time has come. Say goodbye.
Several years ago, I went with a scion of one of Calgary's Billionaire families to an Art Exhibition to see her daughters art, that she was going to be showing in New York. For me, it was meaningless art that said absolutely nothing to me. Nothing good, nothing bad, just nothing!
Here in lies the problem with Graduates for University Humanities Programs. They live in a different universe. They take meaning from different events & ideas than the rest of us, but claim to speak for us.
Art has to reflect the experience of Society. Great Art reflects unspoken truths about society back to society. This is not possible unless the artist is part of the society that they are seeking to represent.
They will never change, just defund it
Thank you. I recall that when the CBC centre was built, Barbara Frumm nicknamed it “The Ministry of Truth”. I guess she saw where things were going.
The same article could be written about the BBC.
I think the C.B.C. should face the same fate as Justin Trudeau's far-left Liberal government in next federal election. They don't represent the majority of the Canadian population but only the minorities. And that is contrary to the very definition of a democracy where the majority population should rule and not the minority.