The president writes, and more CBC lockout notes

CBC president Robert Rabinovitch has an op-ed in Tuesday's Globe, titled The CBC's boss speaks: The fight's over means, not ends. Among his points:

Taken together, the proposals we have put forward to our unionized employees seek to ensure that the CBC can employ the right people for the right jobs at the right time. It seems obvious, but that is the core of our dispute with our union. Without this ability, our programming will suffer and the CBC will gradually become less relevant and attractive to Canadians.

Another graf:

What is in dispute are the employment arrangements of future CBC hires. "Jobs for life" could lead to the demise of the institution. "The right people for the right jobs" could save it. The future of public broadcasting in this country depends on the choice we make.

Hadeel at Sparks Lockout has photos and details of what happened when Rabinovitch and vice-president Jane Chalmers were spotted at the line in downtown Ottawa.

Campus comeback

Andy Barrie, host of Metro Morning on CBC Radio 1 in Toronto, will mark his 10th anniversary with the corp. next Monday with a campus-spawn show, originating from the University of Toronto:

Brian Burchell, station manager for CIUT, said last night that the agreement would satisfy the local desire for news. The station's signal goes out from the same spot (the top of First Canadian Place) as the CBC signal and it should be accessible by much of the same audience as CBC Radio, typically as far away as Kitchener, Barrie, Cobourg and Buffalo.

Ambient noise: 7; Announcers: 0

Ratings for Saturday's football game were strong, despite the lack of announcing (and the CFL's own discomfort with the current arrangement.)

Walking the line (or square)

Bill Richardson writes in the B.C. online magazine Tyee about the joys of walking a picket line:

.. There are compensations, but mostly it's proved to be one mindless circuit after another: one block south on Hamilton, one block east on Robson, one block north on Cambie, one block west on Georgia, repeat, reverse, nod at the security guards, repeat, reverse. The novelty wears thin, believe me.

Sounds familiar, but with different geometry and markers. Bill has plenty else to say; check it out.

New blogs

A new blog to add: Abolish the CBC, which launched this weekend. The author, Jer Houston, publishes another blog.

Philly Markowitz, the host of radio's Roots and Wings - and a freelancer who has stuck by the CBC for well over a decade - has entered the blogging world.

Nancy Russell, a reporter in P.E.I., has launched a blog about being part of a couple where both incomes come from the CBC. (Off the top of my head, I know of four here in St. John's, and I'm probably missing others.)

Points from Antonia

Antonia Zerbisias' media blog has several points. In one, she deals with an issue that I know has surfaced in many places, and has the same intel we were told:

Some readers have wondered why they have seen some regular CBC reporters such as the Middle East-based  Nahlah Ayed on the air. Are they scabbing? No. CBC reporters in Quebec and New Brunswick belong to a different union. And certain international correspondents, including Ayed, Washington journalist Henry Champ, Paris-based Paul Workman and Nancy Durham and Azeb Wolde-Giorgis in London are all on affiliated contracts. They have no choice. They have to work.

Scroll to the bottom of the post for Zerby's take on the contract-staff issue.

CEP on contracts, privates

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union (which formerly represented technicians at CBC, but still represents most at other networks) issued a statement about contract workers at the CBC:

"The most successful private broadcasters in the country use a fraction of the contract work currently used by the public broadcaster," said Peter Murdoch, Vice-President Media for the CEP. The union represents 26,000 members in the media, including employees at all of Canada's major private broadcasters. ...     "CTV, CHUM, Global - these are very successful broadcasters who not only have less contract workers but far fewer labor disputes. (CBC has had five in the last six years.)"

Around the blogs

Robin Rowland has more about the emerging weight of podcasting and its cousins.

Tod posts what he describes as a generic-sounding reply from a board member to a letter written by a locked-out producer.

Bit late on this one, but it's worth posting: Tessa Sproule recently posted an emotional note to her blog:

... I am not amused. I sense I am close to my breaking point. Ma Corpse and Papa Union are fighting and I’m a rebellious teenager. Can it be long before I act out, maybe joining the circus (read: get an advertising gig) or running with the wrong crowd (read: get a gig in the communications department of some pharmaceutical giant)?

Cindy in Yellowknife (at right) has taken on an extra job to make ends meet (I doubt she's the only one - today's an income-generating day in my house); her latest post has the details, plus the observation:

A few members of the RCMP dropped by and updated us on the latest news. Imagine! When we're working, getting them to talk to us is like pulling teeth; now, they come down and volunteer information out of pity!

Locked Out Employee 100000223 posts a letter from a Winnipeg city councillor, who received a solicitation from CBC to support an FM transmitter application.

End points

A fellow named Mark in Kitchener rhetorically answers the question "Do we need the CBC?"

Blogger James Koole is planning a listener podcast, and has paid at least a couple of visits to the line in Toronto.

Finally, a note from a student named Nuances of Being: "I'm fazed! I want my CBC back!"

Click here to read Dot Dot Dot postings on the CBC lockout, as a group.