Public advocacy groups, citizens’ initiatives and mainstream media publishers are all seeking a new vision for the country’s public broadcast, as it faces budget cutbacks and the loss of additional staff and programming initiatives.
The CBC will lose $115 million in funding over three years, according to a federal government budget released last month
From selecting a new Chair for the CBC’s Board of Directors, to ‘reimagine’ the broadcaster’s overall role in Canada, the public’s view of the future of the CBC has been a hot topic on multiple media platforms.
The Toronto Star has launched an online video series and community portal called The Network, where citizens, viewers, media figures and more are sharing their views on the public broadcaster’s role in Canada.
From new show pitches to free form discussions and more, The Star’s site continues to gather input.
At The People’s Pick for CBC Chair, online voting has now closed on calls made by the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting to nominate a new CBC Board Chair.
The terms of almost half of the CBC’s board of directors – all of whom are appointed by the Prime Minister – expire this year. The term of the current CBC chair, Timothy Casgrain, has already expired, and notices for filling the vacancy have been circulated by the government.
In a notice of vacancy for the position, a new requirement that the incoming CBC Chair “maintain effective relations” is included:
“The qualified candidate should possess the ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with the Corporation’s management, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Minister’s Office, the Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Corporation’s key stakeholders and partners.”
“To protect CBC’s independence from the government, CBC Board appointments should be made in a non-partisan way that ensures the best and brightest are selected to lead our most important cultural institution, and the Board should have the power to hire and fire the CBC President, who currently is beholden to the Prime Minister,” Friends.ca spokesperson Ian Morrison said.
Another online initiative, called Reimagine CBC, will culminate with live events and discussions, including one planned for Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre, May 7.
Media advocacy groups Open Media and LeadNow launched the site in late January, and they report collecting some 400 ideas from 900 users and 10,000 votes on the ideas that have been posted.
Together with Gen Why Media, they are bringing the online discussion to publicly scheduled events.
As well, Open Media is to deliver a report to the CBC and the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission in September, when another event is scheduled for Toronto.
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