The CBC may be gutted

I haven't had tv in years but I grew up in the boonies and CBC was the only channel we had until Global came along.  There were some good, somewhat subversive programs on CBC that you wouldn't find on other stations and that wasn't that long ago.  When I go home now though and watch the tube, I have to agree it is hard to find anything redeeming about it, the news isn't any better than any other channel, their 'At Issue' panel is a complete disgrace and I haven't seen any decent programs. 

I think John Doyle's column makes some good points:

Quote:

However, whatever the CBC now claims to be, it is a CBC that is adrift. In television it has increasingly positioned itself as a commercial broadcaster in search of hit shows and big ratings successes.

As soon as CBC puts that gloss on the corporation it lacks any authenticity and authority in its appeal for help. The current CBC regime has been playing at being a slick entertainment company. It's been playing Hollywood. That undermines the calls for special support.

The fact is that the film and TV industry in Canada is a $5-billion operation. The entire film and TV industry generates more than 125,000 full-time jobs in Canada and CBC is a core part of that. It employs thousands of people and they in turn generate more money and jobs. As such, CBC is entitled to request special funding as part of the federal government's stimulus spending — but as a public broadcaster. And as a public broadcaster, it commissions work that no commercial broadcaster can. It employs people who are storytellers, artists and craftspeople, not just entertainers. It's not Hollywood.

It's make-your-mind-up time at CBC. If its executives wants to play Hollywood games, then it's not entitled to special treatment. If it's a public broadcaster, then a case can be made. And CBC needs to know this — everybody's hurting.

I use to be a "Friends" But I cancelled, because the TV portion is so bad I can't support it. This is the insidous part of conservatives. They don't like it to start with, so making it run poorly only strengthens their hand to get rid of it. Perhaps it would be for the best. If all our media takes a swan dive in the depression, yes I said it, where does that leave us. At least losing bad option  B and C (ctv/global) or maybe they will come around to new thinking. But I somehow doubt it.

 This websiet may be aptly named in a few short years.  Because there will be an awful lot of pissed off people without jobs. While the whole time we will have shovelled Trillions to the rich and they won't have lifted a finger.

Yes, al-Q, that needs repeating.  Looks like the meaning of Conservative has shifted...fundamentally. They are really frightening boyos now.

The "swan dive" proponent obviously loves the parades that follow collapse of civil disourse ...military parades.

It seems to me this discussion should be less about why each person does or doesn't like the present CBC programming and more about whether Canada needs a public broadcaster and and what we can do about keeping it and improving it.  We can start by getting rid of the conservatives I guess.

Ah, so to get the CBC to represent us, who are to defend it, we must first change the government from the parties that have governed the nation for the past 140 years to a party that is all but entirely invisible to the public broadcaster. Yes, that makes sense.

So, how do we get Canadians to recognize this party we all love is the one for which they ought to rally behind and vote? I know! Get the public broadcaster to give them equal treatment, or, at least coverage that equitably represents the proportion of their voter support, say, just 18% of the coverage given to those other two parties. That would be fucking great!

And to do that, all we need to do is to ... oh, yeah, change the government ...