CBC News will not air or publish some of the more gory details emerging from the case of Vince Li, the man charged with murdering a 22-year-old man on a Greyhound bus.

A police audio recording, leaked to the Internet, is said to contain an officer describing Li beheading and “defiling” the body of Tim McLean. The officer was reporting what he saw during the six-hour standoff with Li. Police acknowledge the tape’s existence.

But while other media, mostly international, are reporting what was said on the tape, CBC News has decided it will not air or publish this level of detail.
“Any time we have a story that we’re covering in an ongoing way, we have a discussion around what to cover, what time of day it would air,” says Esther Enkin, Executive Editor of CBC News. “[But] we have to report the essence of it.”

Enkin acknowledged in an a staff memo that while “rumours and blogs” had already begun ciruculating the detail of the tape, the CBC should continue to exercise caution.
It’s not the first time CBC News has withheld certain facts from its coverage of murder cases.

During the Paul Bernardo trial, CBC News’ editors sent this internal guideline to all its journalists assigned to cover the story:

“The question for journalists covering this will be how far should they go. How graphic should the description be? We can begin to answer that by making the decision in the best interests of our audience. How much detail does anyone want or need to understand the story. And we need to bear in mind that our audiences could be watching or listening as they eat their breakfast or get ready for the day. Or while they are eating their dinner. Or gathering around the television with their families in the evening.”

Following our coverage of the Willie Pickton trial, then CBC News chief Tony Burman began an online discussion about its coverage.

What do you think?
Are we continuing to make the right call here?

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	News & Journalism	Posted at 12:21 pm (06 Aug 2008)

UPDATE: The “starts right now” intro was curtailed in October. The corrected text below reflects change.

Pity Natalie Clancy.

She’s one of CBC TV News’ rising stars — formerly a reporter in the CBC Vancouver newsroom; today, after a stint co-anchoring at CBC Newsworld in Calgary (and before Calgary turned into Toronto), she’s anchoring the late-night Vancouver at 11 newscast. And she does a stellar job at it.

The CBC has been using Vancouver as a kind of testing ground for launching new ways of programming and promoting its newscasts.

Several months back, at the top of the show (after what we in radio call the “billboards” — I have no idea what you TV people call them), the camera would cut back to Natalie, zoom in dramatically in Colbert Report style, and she would deliver the line “Your five-minute B.C. news, weather, and sports starts right now!”

Dear God. (This practice was curtailed back in October.)

It’s not Natalie’s fault, of course. I’m sure she loathed saying it as much as many cringed when they heard it. It was said to be part of the Frank Magid school of programming. Magid developed the Eyewitness News format years ago in the U.S. and has been retained by CBC to consult on our newscasts.

Even David Letterman, years ago, warned Canadians about this “eyewitness news” format in an interview on CBC when Carole Neilson Taylor (who would go onto to become CBC/Radio-Canada’s chairperson).

But maybe it’s our best option. If all the other networks and stations are going with this style of “everything is breaking news” breathless urgency, perhaps we need to compete with them? That argument really is at the heart of so many CBC policies these days: Do we:

• Program more American shows and compete thematically with private stations and networks so our ratings go up… we prove we’re being watched by more Canadians…. and thus are more relevant… and thus need more funding; or
• Stick to programming in the school of sober second thought, where our modesty stands out among the clutter… meet (arguably) our responsibility to the Broadcasting Act to reflect Canada and its unique nature… and thus deserve more funding.

Say what you like about the policy choices being made at the top floors of the Death Star. You have to admit the decisions are not as cut-and-dried as some out there would have us believe.

What do you think?

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	News & Journalism, Vancouver	Posted at 12:36 pm (18 Jul 2008)

If you were one of the suckers people like me who lined up at 4:00 a.m. just to buy a cell phone last Friday, you are probably still stroking the glistening plastic of your new iPhone.

If you can tear yourself away from Super Monkey Ball for just a moment, you may be interested to learn that CBCnews.ca has just launched a special web site for iPhone users. Just point the Safari browser on your phone to cbc.ca/iphone and you can get the lastest news from CBC.

iPhone users have always been able to see the CBCnews web site, but it’s just been a minature display of the regular site desktop users see.

If, on the other hand, you’re a rational person and didn’t spend nearly $3,000 over a mandatory locked-in three year plan, you can see access CBCnews.ca on your cell phone by pointing your phone’s browser to m.cbc.ca.

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	CBC Mobile, News & Journalism	Posted at 12:20 pm (15 Jul 2008)

As you might have read in recent days, an Ontario Superior Court judge has released copies of a videotaped interview between Toronto police and convicted murderer Paul Bernardo. Bernardo was interviewed at the Kingston penitentiary in June 2007 about whether he had any involvement in the disappearance of University of Toronto student Elizabeth Bain, who has not been seen since June 1990.

Media, including the CBC, petitioned the court to permit the release of the tape (the tape doesn’t show any graphic images or descriptions of Bernardo’s crimes). While several media outlets have decided to air the entire 31-minute interview either online or on-air, the CBC decided it would not run the footage in its entirety.

The CBC’s executive editor of news operations, Esther Enkin, is answering questions on the Editors’ Blog about this decision. One of the questions:

Q: Was CBC one of the “media organizations” that argued in favor of the material being released, and if so, why the change of heart after the fact?

A: Yes we were. And no — it wasn’t a change of heart.

There were two reasons to apply for the release of the documents: CBC News has always had a strong commitment to an open judicial process. We believe justice is best served by making the system as transparent and public as possible. We also wanted to see the tape and judge for ourselves what its news value might be.

We did use portions of the tape in several stories: on radio, Newsworld, television and online. We used them in context and in a way we hope helped inform people about an ongoing case of great public interest.

You can read more at the CBC Editors’ blog.

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	News & Journalism	Posted at 1:01 pm (17 Jun 2008)

Interesting article today in the Edmonton Sun about an informal footage-sharing agreement between CBC Edmonton and Global Edmonton.

It’s nothing on paper, but both media outlets will share news footage after a certain time period - i.e., the day after a news event — with no need to identify the original source.

Very informal, says [CBC regional director Mike] Linder, no real arrangement, just “trying to serve the public interest.”

But shouldn’t the CBC, funded by yours and my tax dollars, have an all-or-nothing policy? Shouldn’t it either offer video-sharing with all local news broadcasters, i.e. Global, CTV and CityTV, or none at all? As for CTV, Linder just says the broadcaster “hasn’t contacted him.”

I’m not sure where I stand on this, though I can’t see what harm it does either party. What do you think?

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	News & Journalism	Posted at 2:02 pm (21 May 2008)

Last week, Peter Mansbridge celebrated being in the main chair at CBC Television News for twenty years. To celebrate this anniversary, the producers snuck in a video of Mansbridge’s first broadcast twenty years ago in the following broadcast.

Video will pause for a bit at start. Surprise happens after Coyne’s comments.

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	Archives/Vintage Media, CBC Newsworld, CBC Television, News & Journalism, Personalities	Posted at 11:10 am (05 May 2008)

The CBC will dramatically increase resources devoted to covering local and national news in Alberta generally and Calgary and Edmonton in particular.

Saying it’s moving to fulfill a commitment to local newsgathering announced nationally last year, CBC News will be doubling the number of newsgathering resources in Alberta by adding approximately 25 new assignments for television journalists based in Calgary and Edmonton to focus on local and national stories originating in Alberta.

At the same time, however, the CBC said it would move to Toronto the two hours of programming for CBC Newsworld, which are currently being produced in Calgary.

Actually, no, the CBC didn’t actually say it would “move” the programming from Calgary. The news release actually said it would “reconfigure to Toronto.” Wha?! “Reconfiguring” is the new corp-speak for “move?”

I guess it’s the same as executives not being able to ever say a show was “cancelled,” when, in fact, it was. The closest they seem to come up with is “Moved off the schedule.”

Really, who the hell is writing this stuff?!

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	Alberta, CBC Newsworld, News & Journalism	Posted at 2:39 pm (03 Apr 2008)

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)

I’m watching with interest our coverage on CBC newsworld of the Air Canada incident in Calgary.

I notice that hours after the story broke, we were still displaying the Breaking News banner on our coverage — even when no new information was available and all we were doing was resetting the story at the top and bottom of the clocks.

Compare that to cbcnews.ca which has moved on from Breaking News to Developing Story — a slug that seems more accurate.

Back in the day, “breaking news” meant literally that — we had JUST broke into our regular programming to bring people urgent information. Nowadays, especially on the American cable news networks, that “breaking news” banner can last all day on the same story.

Have we lost touch with what Breaking News means? Or do you think it’s a good idea to leave that slug there on important stories?

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	CBC Newsworld, CBC.ca web site, News & Journalism	Posted at 1:05 pm (10 Jan 2008)

This morning before heading into the CBC to record my tech columns, I turned on my TV and PVR and searched for Fortune Hunters — a new CBC series I wanted to tape.

I did a title search, put a tracker on it, I even found out how to restrict the listing of all shows to only those that start with the letter F.

No dice. Fortune Hunters was not on the schedule, according to digital TV guides across the country.

That’s because the show’s official name (and, thus, how it’s filed in the guides) is CBC News: Fortune Hunters.

In our strange CBC world, Fortune Hunters starts with a C.

Nearly a dozen of our shows have the “CBC News: ” prefix. Personally, I think it’s goofy. I’m sure it seems great around the meeting room table when branding is on the agenda, but nobody in their right mind is going to say “Did you watch Peter Mansbridge on CBC News: The National last night?” And yet that’s how it’s listed and, in most on-air promos, spoken.

It’s not the only peculiarity we run into with digital cable boxes.

• Many shows, like the fifth estate, rarely have the episode details in the listings, opting for a general description of the show. Take the Rick Mercer Report. Each week, pressing your box’s INFO button will tell you that, this week and every week, the show is about how “the comedian takes to the streets, getting Canadian opinions on current affairs.” (In fact, it’s not even accurate. Rick doesn’t do that that often any more.) Would it kill us to put an episode description in?
  .
• And for some reason, CBC’s high-definition channel (at least on Shaw) doesn’t indicate when an actual program is broadcast in HD. According to the digital cable box, the premiere of The Border was not broadcast in high-def when, in fact, it was.

I suspect we’re losing viewers because people don’t bother to watch what the episode is about, or can’t find the show on a digital cable search.

And that CBC News: Sucks.

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	Marketing/Promotion, News & Journalism	Posted at 4:20 am (09 Jan 2008)

If you’re a journalist, researcher, or editor using Facebook, you may want to heed this warning from one of our own, a reporter in Vancouver.

For an inexplicable reason, last week Facebook disabled my account.

They say they have a policy of not permitting harrassing, threatening, obscene messages, or spam.

I of course didn’t do any such thing. I have always clearly identified who I am, who I work for, and so forth. Been completely transparent. Each message I have sent has been individually written, not “spam”. (I actually haven’t used Facebook that much.)

I have “appealed” my disabled status to Facebook. They have now responded that I am prohibited - they don’t tolerate anyone sending UNSOLICITED MESSAGES!

I’m not sure what we, or I, can do about this. Facebook won’t reveal to me what the message was, or to whom, which caused them to disable me.

I have responded to them that of course many journalists use Facebook for this purpose. And I have never harassed anyone. Anyway…this is just to warn you all who DO use Facebook for finding people - beware!

A bit later…

The PR person decided to re-instate me.

She said I had been “disabled” because I had posted very little information about myself, no photo or profile available, and WAS ONLY USING FACEBOOK TO “SOLICIT” contacts. That I wasn’t using it for private purposes (eg to connect with my own “friends”). Which is true.

So the lesson is…

1. Make your photo and even profile available - if you are going to use Facebook for journalistic purposes; and
2. have your own friends.

She warned me that if I only use Facebook to solicit people for ‘business purposes’ I will be disabled again. Journalists are NO EXCEPTION.

Guess to keep clean I’ll have to start messaging you all on the Facebook cbc network.

But this does have implications for those who have Facebook accounts and who only use them for finding people for CBC stories. Be warned.

Are you using Facebook for journalistic purposes? If so, do you find it valuable?

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	News & Journalism	Posted at 10:09 am (31 Oct 2007)

With the departure of senior news honcho Tony Burman, someone has stepped in to fill his role as the CBC’s news blogger.

I say someone, because whomever the writer is (or writers are), they’re not identifying themselves it’s not clear at first glance who the author is. It doesn’t show up in RSS readers or on the blog’s main page. This sadly, is probably the least effective way of engaging the dialogue that the blog desperately wants:

Tell us how you get your news and why you prefer it that way. Has the digital news world changed how you find out about things? What would you like to see covered in this space? Who would you like to hear from?

More than just being less effective, I believe it could actually hurt our brand image. We’re anxious to showcase the innovative programming and great people we have here. We spend lots of money advertising to that effect. A nameless blog, written as “we,” just reinforces the image many Canadians have of us as a bureaucratic and impersonal broadcaster.

Don’t get me wrong. The CBC News Editors’ Blog is better than not having one at all, but people want to engage with other people, not a huge faceless organization.

UPDATE: Since this original post went up, the web site was tweaked and now includes the names of the authors   Next to change: Full-text in the RSS feeds.

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	News & Journalism	Posted at 3:17 pm (15 Oct 2007)