EDITORIAL – Why job cuts at the CBC are a bad thing for the country
(Image: CBC Radio)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
‘DEFUND THE CBC’ has been a popular sentiment among some people, especially recently. Those people are probably happy this week because the CBC is defunding itself.
Yes, CBC and Radio-Canada will cut 600 jobs and leave 200 others vacant (about 10 per cent of its workforce), reducing programming in the process. Why? A $125-million budget shortfall.
Just how much we’ll notice it remains to be seen, but comments from the CBC suggest we’ll see fewer programs on TV and probably shorter seasons for those we do see. So, more repeats.
Nobody is neutral about the CBC — we either love it, or hate it. On the one hand, it’s lauded for bringing programing to parts of the country that would, otherwise, receive no service, and for providing the type of programming commercial broadcasters don’t.
On the other hand, it’s criticized for allegedly being a bloated pig at the public trough, for supposedly being less and less relevant.
Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
So CBC says that they have a $125 million budget shortfall yet the federal government so far this year has given them $1.3 billion so how do they have a shortfall; OH I know that 1.3 billion most likely went into bonus’s for upper management and nothing trickled down to the working stiff.
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Extract from the CBC website:
“Founded in 1941, CBC News is Canada’s publicly owned news and information service. We are rooted in every region of the country and report on Canada and the world to provide a Canadian perspective on news and current affairs.”
I believe CBC News is an important service for Canadians, especially with the widespread availability of news from other sources, many of which are dubious for those of us who try to think critically of where they receive their information. At least CBC has journalists who investigate and report from a Canadian perspective.
The CBC website has a vast variety of news and information. CBC Radio is readily available without subscription, and whether we appreciate it or not, it provides an important connection across our vast country. (Although I wonder if younger generations listen to traditional radio).
For the most part I could do without most of CBC TV (The National and their discussion groups bore me), but I like Canadian TV documentaries such as The Fifth Estate and Marketplace. I also appreciate we’ve had great Canadian shows like Corner Gas and the Beachcombers.
Let’s face it, all our media in Canada e.g. news, music, tv, movies, radio syndicates, streaming services) is dominated by U.S.sources and providers, and we Canadians have been gradually losing our identity as a different culture.
If we were to lose the CBC, there’s not much left to distinguish Canada from the U.S. I like to think we are distinctly different culturally, socially and politically. CBC is the only major news organization in Canada that gives a different perspective than the bombardment of news and shows from the U.S., which are generally what is rebroadcasted via Global and CTV.
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I am happy to have the CBC and pay for that. However I want the CBC to represent all of Canada and not just the “woke” point of views. I want more “point of views” who some may consider “right wing”.
I also want the CBC to stop mentioning X used to be Twitter. What’s the point in doing that really?
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