Effective immediately, CBC News will be re-organized into two main areas: Programming and Newsgathering. Both divisions will be headed by CBC Radio’s senior two executives who will be leaving their roles in radio.

• Programming will be led by Jennifer McGuire, who will become Executive Director of News Programming and Deputy Head of News. In her new role, she will define the mandate, voice and tone of news programs across all platforms—Radio, Television, Newsworld and CBC.ca.
• Todd Spencer will join News as the Executive Director of News Content. Todd’s extensive experience in this role while in CNN’s Asia bureau will bring insights to his team and to News generally.

The new structure, under CBC News publisher John Cruickshank, appears like this:

• Executive Editor of News: Esther Enkin
• News Programming: Jennifer McGuire
• Strategy and Innovation: Heaton Dyer
• News Content: Todd Spencer
• Finance: Iain McIntosh
• Don Knox will be “senior director”

* Read the CBC’s backgrounder on these changes [internal link only] on iO, the new CBC intranet.

REACTION FROM STAFF

These were among the questions posed by CBC staff at the announcement:

“What changes will occur to local news?”

Cruickshank: “We’ll see a level of coordination through the country through the newsrooms and the new universal desk, coordinating with the assignment desks, so there’s a coordination with all newsrooms across the country. Jennifer will bring programming expertise to the newsrooms, supplementing the beginning work we’re doing with the Magid [U.S. news consultants] folks.”

“What kind of resources are you putting into reporting?”

Cruickshank: “Over time,we really want to focus on folks that are audience-facing — people who are on-camera and on-mic who are actually engaged directly with the audience. That’s got to be an evolutionary thing, but it simply has to happen. The first steps have to do with communications and coordination, though.”

“I thought I heard the words ‘investment in local tv news.’ What does that mean for the poor souls putting on hour-long shows with six or seven people?”

Cruickshank: “We’ve seen investment in local news, staffing in Vancouver, training, and an enormous amount of research. We’re going to continue to try to engineer our operations so we get more feet on the street. This is going to take time. It’s not going to happen overnight. For most folks, tomorrow is not going to be a different day. This is going to be evolutionary.”

CBC’S QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The CBC published a list of prepared Q&As on its intranet earlier today. This content comes from CBC Communications (you can tell, since the phrase “extend and leverage the brand” exists in it )

What is changing in News?
We are creating structures that will allow for faster and more complete sharing of intelligence across platforms and across the country. This will permit us to get breaking news on all our platforms faster than the competition and will enhance our ability to break news more often.

Are there going to be budget cuts?
Our overall News budget will remain the same. We continually review our budgets against priorities. As a result, resources will shift to meet those priorities.

What is Esther Enkin’s role? How does it differ from Jennifer’s new role?
As Executive Editor of News, Esther’s focus will be on journalistic policy and standards.

Are there any changes to Current Affairs?
Jennifer McGuire will be responsible for Television Current Affairs programming. Linda Groen continues to be responsible for Radio Current Affairs and Radio Current Affairs will report into Radio.

What changes are going to be made to The National?
We are looking at how we can extend and leverage the very powerful National brand.

What’s the status of Magid?
The Magid consultants will continue to be involved in research, training and strategies to support our evolving breaking news strategy.

So, do you work at CBC News or for a current affairs show? How does this announcement affect you?

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	Integration, News & Journalism	Posted at 3:11 pm (20 Feb 2008)

CBC English Services today unveiled its new organizational structure, bringing radio, television and digital platforms into alignment under one “integrated management framework.”

The announcement, in front of a live audience of employees at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto, was broadcast via closed-circuit to CBC locations around the world.

During the announcement, Stursberg reaffirmed that the CBC’s continuing commitment to Canadians remains unchanged. “This is not about a change in vision or direction for each service—their respective strategies stay the same.”

* Read the CBC’s backgrounder on these changes [internal link only] on iO, the new CBC intranet.

According to Stursberg, the revised organizational structure will “provide the best support for creating programming” across the CBC’s different media lines — radio, television and digital —but each will continue to pursue its existing strategies.

As part of the newly announced structure, Stursberg announced a revised management committee. Changes will take effect immediately.

In the announcement to staff, moderator and CBC Radio host Michael Enright asked Stursberg “What exactly is the central inefficiency that this reorganization is intended to correct? And who is served by it? What have we been doing wrong so far.”

Stursberg: When i look at the news service and the sheer quantity of resources we have, we don’t have enough breaking stories. I frankly find it strange that the most popular all-news network in Canada is a foreign news network [CNN]. That is untrue of newspapers…. When we look at the array of resources we have — and much of the aueience is watching — Are we available for breaking news all the time? The answer: Nope. Are we the ones who are dominating the newscasts all the time? Nope. We should be the most dominant, original, impoirtant news centres of all in the country.

Enright: “There’s concern about whether television [decisions are now made by] one person. Can you address this amazing centralization that the power and decisio- making lies in your office and you. You might hear the name King Richard mummered in the halls of the Broadcast Centre.”

Stursberg: “I don’t think that’s true at all. What we’ve tried to do is to hire very powerful, gifted, intelligent executives and said “Go and make it happen.”…. I think that over the course of the last little while, we have been able to attract an extra-ordinary colection of execuitves. When executives have left, people have been stunned at [the calibre of their replacements].

How do you feel about the continuing integration of services and centralization of decision-making?

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	Integration	Posted at 2:47 pm (20 Feb 2008)