In his recent editorial about the demise of the CBC at the hands of Stephen Harper, Neil Godbout suggests that the CBC should mimic the model of local Prince George radio stations CFUR and CFIS. The CBC should focus on local issues, forget about the national and international stuff.
That's exactly what I think the Citizen should do. Forget about the reams of useless crap about Hollywood and the middle east. Stick to Prince George, Mr Godbout. And do we really need a bimonthly 20 page dissection of the automotive business? Apparently, after all it serves your biggest advertisers correct? C'mon Neil, practice what you preach.
I spent 30 years in commercial private radio, 25 of them in Prince George. Newsrooms cost money. Journalists are not a revenue generator. The first thing to go in most private media outlets are the expensive non-revenue generating employees. What happens then? The content suddenly shifts from local to Hollywood, the Middle East and other content that comes from wire services like CP and Broadcast News.
Mr. Godbout is not incorrect to point to technology as a game changer. However, the Stephen Harper cuts are mortal wounds, cutting deeply into the CBC's ability to deliver the content that no commercial entity dare. In my time as a broadcaster, the mandate of my radio stations was strictly governed by the CRTC. Every minute of the broadcast day was regulated. Some of those regulations included a mandatory percentage of Canadian music content. The results were an unprecedented growth in the Canadian music business.
Some regulations ensured local content too. But that was costly to create. Now, those regs are gone. Most private radio stations today carry networked newscasts, play a 500 song universe from a narrow music genre and are owned by media conglomerates that have no interest in the local community.
By the way Neil, CFUR and CFIS operate on the backs of nonpaid volunteers and they DO NOT operate newsrooms. The whole point behind the CBC is to provide what commercial operations do not have to. The CBC should be delving into information and issues that would never see the light of day otherwise. Our national public broadcaster should not be ripping and reading the latest flash from Hollywood, nor the latest emailed press release from a government cyborg. We need more, we deserve more and the CBC is worth every tax penny.
Bill Russell
Prince George
