Brian Dobbin, the publisher of The Independent - a weekly newspaper here in St. John's - was blunt in his assessment of what should be the CBC's future. The headline to his Sunday column was simply "Die CBC die."
The column is not available as of this morning on the Independent's website.
Dobbin writes:
I have a number of friends and family who work or have worked for this venerable Canadian institution, and they represent some of the brightest and most creative people I know, but I wish the CBC would fold up its tent. Perhaps a privatization is the answer, but I philosophically have a huge problem with supporting this broadcast empire out of tax dollars each year.
and ...
I talk to CBC people who have their 14 weeks vacation and a pay package that seems out of whack with what people are earning in private business, and they seem less happy than those who are forced every day to kill something they can eat that night - sales-wise, that is?
Hmmm ... 14 weeks' vacation? I get three. Anyway, the column is on page 6 of the Sept. 4 edition for headline hunters.
On page 1, incidentally, is a report bought from locked-out reporter David Cochrane. Above the fold, no less. It would seem the Independent does put some value on CBC newsgathering skills.
Heard on the Hill
With MPs returning to Ottawa this week, it's logical to expect more political weight to be engaged in debate about the CBC. Bev Oda, the Conservative heritage critic, will be calling on CBC president Robert Rabinovitch to account for the actual costs of the lockout, reports the Hill Times today. (The article, for now, is available only in PDF form for subscribers only.)
Part of the main
Colin Perkel of Canadian Press files a Labour Day-ready report on the state of labour relations. The lockout figures prominently, in part, I guess, because of its timing.
Perhaps the highest profile dispute is at the public broadcaster, where CBC management locked out more than 5,000 employees three weeks ago.
The lock-out came after members of the Canadian Media Guild refused demands to give the corporation the flexibility it says it needs by allowing more contract employees to be hired.
"I don't see those managers making their jobs three-month temporary jobs, and they're saying it's good for their workers," Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said in an interview.
CMG statement
Lise Lareau, the president of the Canadian Media Guild, issued a rally-the-troops memo, as the lockout heads now into its fourth week with no end in sight. Among her points, Lareau iterates a refrain for journalists that is becoming increasingly common:
I know that for many members, taking an outright position on any issue is foreign to our background and careers as journalists. I hope it is becoming clear that we are not observers to this major battle - we are participants in it.
Bits, pieces
Robin Rowland takes a hatchet to coverage of the lockout that appeared Sunday in the Observer, a publication affiliated with London's The Guardian. The original piece is here. Rowland's reply is here.
Tom Korski has a piece in the new issue of the Hill Times that argues CBC has lost its once-indispensible standing. (Registration required.)
Click here to see a map of Canada illustrating where podcasts from CBC locked out employees are available. You will soon see a dot over St. John's. Stay tuned for more on that.
Shelagh Rogers and crew are moving eastward, and are looking for ideas from the public.
Toronto blogger John Cairns shares his thoughts about Labour Day weekend without the CBC.
Best wishes to blogger Canned Clams, whose child has become suddenly and seriously ill.
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