My perspective - More, not more of the same

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Published on Friday, November 25, 2016

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

Last week, a number of Canadian media representatives, including Banner owner and publisher Ken Waddell, spoke at hearings of the House of Commons’ Canadian Heritage committee. The committee has been established to look at the media landscape in Canada and throughout 2016, it has been hearing presentations from new and established media providers.

Last week, two of Canada’s national media outlets asked the government not for financial support, but for a level playing field. Presentations by both the long-established Globe and Mail and the newer online political and social commentary platform The Rebel argued against the government’s sponsorship of their largest competitor– the CBC. They make a strong case.

The CBC started in the 1930s to meet an underserved need, providing Canadian listeners with Canadian news and programming. While private licences were issued, many Canadians were tuning in to American stations. The mandate expanded to promoting and supporting Canadian content. Today, the CBC has further expanded its mandate and is pushing into the territory of Canadian media companies of all types. CBC competes against private television stations for the broadcast rights of sporting events such as the Olympics and Hockey Night in Canada. CBC’s music streams compete with radio stations. CBC provides online news and opinion, in competition with almost every private media outlet in print, online or over the airwaves. As an added sting, the CBC sells ads on some of its platforms.

I do believe that there’s a place for a national broadcaster, but it isn’t in the same crowded space already occupied by private companies. In the face of cutbacks at the corporate level, there is important work that should be done for the benefit of Canadians, but isn’t. Valuable services like foreign correspondence and lengthy investigative work have been the victim of shrinking budgets and Canadians are worse off because of it. But the CBC isn’t doubling down its presence here, instead, it has launched services such as CBC Comedy, is if Canadians can’t find anywhere else on the internet to watch funny videos.  

Earlier in the year, Jennifer McGuire, editor in chief of CBC News, spoke to the Commons’ committee in defence of the broadcaster. She said that only about one per cent of CBC’s revenue is from digital and argued that they aren’t taking revenue away from private enterprise. But the problem is that if I want to know about the big story in Winnipeg, instead of paying a subscription to read the Winnipeg Free Press’ story, I can get it free from the CBC’s website. Which would be fine, if the CBC weren’t supported by the taxes paid by its competition. 

The CBC provides some really valuable and beloved programming. It’s also one of the few institutions that truly connects Canadians from coast, to coast, to coast. These are important and I support the institution in these pursuits, but the CBC should focus on those services that can’t be found elsewhere, the underserved pockets of our media landscape. One can’t argue that there is a shortage of editorial opinions in Canada and with many radio stations and individual artists broadcasting online, it’s hard to argue that Canadians don’t have good access to a variety of music. 

This is an important time for the broadcaster to really look at what it can do to best serve Canadians. Starting in 2016, the CBC will see its budget increased by $675 million over five years, one of the few media companies working with increasing resources.

As our public broadcaster stretches into further competition with private media of all kinds, it’s time to remember its original mandate and focus on the areas in which Canadians aren’t well served. Whether it’s more in-depth reporting, or outside the box thinking to create news ways of interacting, it’s time to create more, not just more of the same.