I am a big believer in local news. In the face of threats to our culture and digital sovereignty from American Big Tech giants, the CBC has an important role to play in telling Canadian stories.
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CBC Radio has many excellent programs, like The Current, As it Happens, and Q, which are heard around the world, and Canadians should feel proud about this.
Lately, however, the CBC’s role within the Canadian news ecosystem seems more competitive and conceited than complementary and conciliatory.
In her farewell blast email, dated Jan. 2, 2025, Catherine Tait, the former CBC president, shared her phone number, which began with 718 — the area code for Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island.
That speaks volumes about a CBC culture that feels out of touch with Main Street Canada.
Last week, her successor, Marie-Philippe Bouchard, appeared at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. She was asked about the CBC’s poaching of reporters.
Her response was, “We don’t approach journalists from other media.” To another question, she responded, “That is business. That’s what happens,” she said. “People move — they move because they want other experience.”
To local publishers and broadcasters like me, CBC News seems more like a predator than a partner.
Here’s what Jeff Elgie of Village Media wrote on LinkedIn in response to Bouchard’s comments, “This is untrue. We are a direct example of the CBC hiring one of our staff, for more money, to compete directly against us. That staff even (politely) joked about us being ‘competition.’ The CBC has since established a local presence and digital newsletter in our largest market (Sault Ste. Marie) — where one of the largest per capita digital audiences in the country is (SooToday). It is also accompanied by a Postmedia daily (Sault Star), Postmedia weekly (Sault This Week), two Rogers radio stations and a CTV local news outlet.”
Matthew Mendelsohn, CEO of Social Capital Partners and the former deputy secretary to the federal cabinet, added a comment to Elgie’s post, “A vibrant public broadcaster is essential for democracy. It is such a shame that CBC also engages in practices that undermine independent media, which is also essential for democracy. And lie about it.”
Under the Online News Act’s regulations, the CBC is entitled to up to $7 million of the $100 million Google is paying in annual compensation. My friend, and fellow Alberta publisher, Tim Shoults, wrote in the St. Albert Gazette, “CBC used that money last year to hire another 30 reporters in communities across Canada, which is great.
The problem is, it’s not in places like Gibbons or Legal that have no community news, but towns like Red Deer and Medicine Hat, which already have daily newspapers, private TV stations, multiple radio stations and online news outlets. Towns like Banff, that are already served by community news outlets like our very own Rocky Mountain Outlook — a bureau they’re now expanding to two reporters.
Better still, it’s poaching those reporters from community news companies — two last year from our company alone, offering wages we can’t even come close to, even with our new funding.”
Beyond the poaching, the CBC News of today seems more arrogant and aloof than accountable. CBC’s News’ recent slick promotional video about local news feels like a smack in the face to independent publishers and broadcasters like me.
CBC News must be living in La La Land to put out blogs and news releases, crowing about their local news expansion, while the rest of us are working night and day — hoping that there is enough money at the end of the month to make payroll.
It’s one thing if a private company like CTV News poaches local reporters, but CBC News is a national public institution that should know and do better. So, what should be done about it?
First, the Heritage Committee’s hearings into the state of journalism and media sectors should be extended to allow local publishers and broadcasters to share their experience with CBC’s poaching.
Second, while I believe CBC should get compensation for their content under the Online News Act, it should be cut from $7 million annually to a much smaller amount and the savings should be shared among the other eligible publishers and broadcasters.
Third, if the CBC is going to continue poaching reporters from local publishers and broadcasters, it should reimburse us 100 cents on the dollar for the investments we make to train and develop those journalists.
Fourth, the compensation for CBC News employees should be benchmarked with the private sector, and the public broadcaster should not pay more than the median private sector journalistic salary in the local market.
Finally, Ms. Bouchard should reach out to local publishers and broadcasters, rather than just listening to her news division, which may not have fully briefed her on the facts about their hiring practices.
Again, CBC News has an important role to play, but if it wants to enjoy public support, it needs to get back to acting like the good and responsible corporate citizen it once was.
Lisa Sygutek is the owner of the Crowsnest Pass Herald.
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