Massive CBC news restructuring to focus on citizen journalism; local news
New local supper-hour news programming will be introduced across the country beginning in early February 2007, replacing Canada Now.
A stronger focus will be placed on the CBC’s web site — citizens will be encouraged to upload pictures and video and add comments to the story. Reporters will work across all media lines, rather than be assigned specifically to radio or television. As well, the Vancouver plant will operate as an integrated newsroom as a trial, then will roll this integration scheme out to other locations in time.
The CMG, which represents more than half of the CBC workforce, calls the plan “promising.” “We’re happy the CBC is getting back into local news on television,” said Lise Lareau, national president of the Guild. “But I am very concerned that no new money is being devoted to the expanded local programs. Despite everyone’s best intentions, you have to wonder whether it will be possible to do this right.” [more]
What do you think of this new plan? How will it affect your work?
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Ian Hanomansing is a really good news anchor and he will be missed and I hope good homes in other CBC shows will be found for Ian and the Canada Now team.
I like this bit “A stronger focus will be placed on the CBC’s web site – citizens will be encouraged to upload pictures and video and add comments to the story.” I think it is a move in the right direction. My question is how much approval or editorial control will CBC like to maintain before the videos or pictures are uploaded? I like to think, the less control the better it will turn out.
BBC is currently in the process of doing some experiments on letting viewers upload video also. But they ask the users to upload videos to YouTube or Google video, etc. first (note: the control is at the creator’s hands) and then send in the links to BBC. The important distinction is that the videos are made public on YouTube or other video services before sending in to BBC. Which paradoxically, creates a healthier environment for the community. Just my 2 cents.
If I see a good story, I may take out my camera and shoot some news. (smile)
Since ‘prime time’ falls inbetween 6am (radio) and 8pm (tv), I feel sorry for the schmuck who’s going be the assignment editor, with a 14-hour day and do the work of four people.
Interesting concept,but I must agree with Lise Lareau, national president of the Guild when she said “I am very concerned that no new money is being devoted to the expanded local programs. Despite everyone’s best intentions, you have to wonder whether it will be possible to do this right.”
While I wish the CBC well in this latest version which I will call “CBC 6.0″ I wouldve been happier if the CBC spent more on bring back the local aspect of their stations like CBET 9 with more local programs.
Will my taxes go down?
What will happen to the great Gloria Mackarenko? According to cbc.ca, Ian Hanomansing (also great) will be the host of the new Vancouver one-hour show. Whither Gloria?
Sounds like a step in the right direction. As Lise Lareau said, (as well as others scratching their heads in the newsroom) there is no new money for the extended newscasts.
Not sure about you guys, but there is one problem that will still exist after this is all implemented: no local tv presence latenights and weekends! We hear about it all the time from viewers.
Here’s the bottom line – CBC is out there on the cutting edge of radical left chic socialist avant garde marvellously chi chi thinking . That cannot change without a massive change in personnel, and true to form their citizen contributors will also be the left wing nits who have far too much to say in my home and native land and now are pretty much facing ten years of excellent Stephen harper administration . CBC should die a quiet death . Soon .
The way to fix CBC and its biased news division is to put it on a pay for view site and let the smucks who support this type of programming pay for it themselves. As a taxpayer I am sick to death of paying for something I never watch.
Funny, that is exactly how I feel about TSN and Spike, which I pay for to get CNN.
Should a public broadcaster be something the whole country watches each and every day? In my opinion, I’m not so sure.
So what’s wrong with paying for something you never watch?
First of all, I’m proud to see part of my tax dollar going to Canadian programming: what’s most important to be is the fact that people have jobs because of the CBC, and I believe some of them are doing a job they love. It’s not just the programming that’s outputted, it’s the lives and operations behind it that count on my ballots.
If everyone left their commercial television behind and watch the good old Ceeb, the private broadcasters will cry foul. The Aspers at Global and whoever’s at CTV will cry over how audience share, which helped them into profit, bankrupted their businesses. I don’t think I would let the poor rich guys suffer that kind of consequence.
Probably the most pragmatic reason EVERYONE can’t watch the CBC is because there will always be those who just don’t want to. Regardless of what’s on. Only in an ideal world would anyone be seeing that kind of ratings. And we wouldn’t need to fund the CBC if audience share was that high.
My God, those poor workin’ stiffs in “the regions” (as CBC calls its local shows). They’re like the living dead of the news biz: supper shows cut, supper shows restored, supper shows cut, supper shows restored… must eat brains!
The new ideas are all fine in big think, but of course the reality is messy. Frankly, my neighbour is a clueless and bigoted schmuck. I don’t care what he has to say about anything. I want my news from a professional journalist committed to gathering facts and presenting informed opinions. Citizen input? Hokay, just keep it in its proper corner. Not every opinion is equal. Sorry to be so illiberal on the CBC blog…
Excellent news about a return to regional news centres. Why did it take years of plummeting ratings in the regions, dented morale and the departure of fine talent in order for senior management to act on the alarm bells? Let’s hope the CBC does not compound the problem it created six years ago by failing now to provide the support–financial and otherwise–needed to return the regions to their former standards of high-quality journalism in news and current affairs. By sheer coincidence, I left the corp (after 20 years of producing regional television current affairs) two days before Canada Now began, and was very saddened to witness what happened during the ensuing years. I wish all the best for the future to the staff in the regions. Finally, there’s some hope for a return to high-standard journalism in Canadian broadcasting!
As a taxpayer I am sick to death of paying for something I never watch.
Too bad, I don’t get farm subsidies, maybe we should kill those too. How about Afghansitan? Alot of people don’t like that, pull the funding. In fact, let’s see, there are 33 million (ish) Canadians, let’s kill the funding for anything any one of them doesn’t like.
Then just think how low your taxes will be!! Good thinking right? Of course the roads will fall apart, the trash won’t be picked up, we won’t have a military, you won’t be able to drink the water…etc., but look on the bright side your taxes will be so low you’ll almost forget you don’t have a job anymore and it’ll teach that “radical left chic socialist avant garde” a thing or two.
Derek: No thanks. We ain’t anywhere near “Worst of Pravda” turf yet. And rest assured, if Mothercorp’s maneuvered into trying, I intend to be right where I can call them(and the people cutting their cheques) on it.
hollinm: That is what I call “PBS-ification”, and I don’t want that happening either.
I don’t know about “radio left chic socialist avant garde” though. I’m not one when I watch the CBC right?
I’m quite the opposite, really. I’m socially conservative (on my part, but I won’t force it on others) but I still watch Dragons’ Den.
My family fleed political extremists. Don’t call ME, as a viewer of the Ceeb, one.
CBC is on the ball with crowd sourcing part of the CBC content. It makes total sense for public broadcasters to encourage participation from the public.
It doesn’t make much sense to divert attention from CBC.ca to Google Video and YouTube…I understand that CBC decision makers may not be able to justify spending the money on building the infrastructure needed to make their website a compete with the big video portals…but their going to have so much relevant local content in the archives that a dynamic ad delivery system would be a huge revenue generator.
It doesn’t even sound like they are going to partner with the vid portals which would be a good interim solution rather than just using them as a tool to harvest user-gen-content.
Terry Heaton should give CBC a good talking to.
Part of the reason it took so long to bring back the regions is that there are non-journalists running the place. The simple fact is that Burman has a boss who doesn’t like NCAN. And his boss’ boss was a political appointee, with very little in the way of relevant experience. Worse, neither of them know anything about programming, but both fancy themselves experts.
Rabinovitch got directly involved to kill the regional shows, failed to retain the bulk of his senior management team, and has done nothing to increase our Parlimentary appropriation. Stursburg cancelled a bunch of decent stuff, bullied the union, spent truckloads of money on sh*t no one wants to watch, bumped The National, and has generally been a micro-managing bastard. If we want to improve the news, we should get rid of those two and redirect their salaries toward.. well… anything: the regions? recruitment? retention? innovation? technology?
Thank God it was Heaton Dyer leading the development of the new plan, rather than some external consultant/second cousin. Interesting how things start to make sense when an experienced professional is given a mandate.
But where’s the money to make it happen? If you ask me, the lack of support from the upper echelons of senior management is just a further example of the two twits’ reign of error. Notice: Just because you can watch TV, doesn’t mean you can make it.
Where’s their death clock at now anyway? (12 months?)
Justin Beach said:
“Too bad, I don’t get farm subsidies, maybe we should kill those too. ”
Farm subsidies may or may not be good as a whole for the country. The CBC is clearly a biased organization that tries to shape Canadian culture in its own left wingnut image. Moonbats of course like this concept. But, the moonbats should be responsible for funding the propaganda machine – not the Canadian taxpayer.
Mike “CBC is clearly a biased organization that tries to shape Canadian culture in its own left wingnut image. ”
No, you’re biased, or you WANT the CBC to be biased, but it is not. You assume it’s biased because it doesn’t cover things the way you would. The reality is that it’s coverage is balanced, fair and inclusive. Because it will not become a mouth piece for your point of view, or present your opinions as facts you claim that it is biased.
[...] InsideTheCBC expanded on this a bit: “A stronger focus will be placed on the CBC’s web site — citizens will be encouraged to upload pictures and video and add comments to the story. Reporters will work across all media lines, rather than be assigned specifically to radio or television.” [...]
With the web going the way it is these changes are a must. I comment on stories on the Globe and Mail fairly regularly and will enjoy doing it on the CBC on both a national and local level. In this day and age media is no longer one way – it’s two way, I can read a story, subscribe to others comments via RSS and post my own comments. As for funding I too am a little scared that no new funding is coming and frankly you can have the money I pay for cable that gives me TSN, SPIKE and various other wasted stations and use it to make more good Canadian TV!
Thanks!
All the best to the new CBC TV News. You’ve always been “balanced, fair and inclusive”. You’ve trained and attracted many talented people, and I thank you for that. I am surrounded by my fellow ex-CBC’er’s who bring their considerable talent to my current newsroom. Good luck with your latest “re-invention”. However, the same people who bring you this new plan, brought you every one of the past disasters. The massive bureaucracy and questionable leadership that is CBC News is not cut out to compete in the regional market, and will be a laughing stock among professional journalists without a massive infusion of cash and intelligent local planning. In Vancouver, you now have to compete with one station that owns a high-tech news helicopter, and the other with 98% of the ratings. How in God’s name do you intend to compete with that? Tri-medial, web-based, civic-participatory journalism are great catch words. We deliver the news of the day on several TV newscasts every day (7.5 hrs/day) and we just hit our highest ratings in 40 years. More ratings than The National – everyday. Who the hell wants to work for the CBC?
However, good luck trying to compete with us big boys and girls.