To use a sports metaphor (of sorts), the Canadian Media Guild tossed a ball into the air Thursday, and the CBC called it foul.
The CMG advanced what it described as an "offer of settlement." Details are here. CBC Unlocked files its report here. On The Line posted its synopsis here.
The CBC management team - while not rejecting the offer outright - does not much care for it all the same, calling it "disappointing" and at least one element "troubling." The initial response was posted last night to the CBC's negotiations updates page.
The anonymous blogger CBC Drone has an irreverent report on CMG negotiator Arnold Amber's comments to picketers in Toronto Thursday, and his interpretation of a manager's monitoring of the mood of the crowd. Justin Beach notes that the proliferation of online options - in which offers will be posted, dissected, etc. - makes this labour dispute different from those in the past. Halifax blogger Darryl MacLeod has a succinct view: "Just move on and get a deal already!"
Meanwhile, Tod Maffin faithfully reports a rumour (heard in three different situations, at least, in Toronto) that the CBC board, while giving its backing to president Robert Rabinovitch, insisted the lockout be resolved in one week.
(Thanks to Nancy Russell for the pic above, depicting colleagues from Charlottetown.)
Political fallout
The Toronto Star's Susan Delacourt - a veteran watcher in Ottawa - reports on the political ramifications of the CBC lockout:
Frustration with the 40-day lockout by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is on the rise within Prime Minister Paul Martin's government, with the parliamentary secretary for Canadian heritage, Sam Bulte, now warning she can no longer defend management's position in the dispute.
"I'm sick about this," Bulte said in an interview yesterday. "I've said to the CBC management ... I can't defend you any more."
Bulte's criticism comes a day after the CBC's board of directors met and endorsed management's position in the lockout negotiations as "reasonable and prudent." What's more, Bulte and some other senior Liberals are now saying that it may be time to take a harder look at the whole CBC operation and even look at radical solutions to making it viable and vibrant as a public broadcaster.
A football dispute, between the lines
The Canadian Football League is considering taking playoff games - including the Grey Cup game itself - away from CBC if the lockout continues, Perry Lefko reports for the Toronto Sun.
The CFL was less than impressed (to be diplomatic) with the announcer-less coverage CBC provided of CFL games. League commissioner Tom Wright made this comment (which I think is meant to be read between the lines) to the Sun:
"Everybody would agree that we're not at the (broadcast) level we'd like to be, but we understand it's a difficult situation for the CBC and we hope they resolve it," Wright said.
"They've been a partner for 53 years in this league and we hope very strongly they can resolve it."
Watson dead wrong: Morrison
Ian Morrison of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting takes aim at Patrick Watson's provocative op-ed piece in Thursday's Globe & Mail, as reported in CBC On The Line:
"If you take it seriously," [italics mine] said Morrison of Watson's piece, "it shows a callous disregard for how national institutions should function. In that light, it is irresponsible and trite."
Morrison added, "The criticisms leveled at the institution would be better leveled at senior management," and stated that Watson failed to discuss what is "obviously not functional" at the CBC – the government appointment of board members and the chair, which in some cases can be "political patronage appointments lacking in merit."
The article notes Jason MacDonald, the CBC's voice throughout the lockout, had no comment on Watson's comments.
Watson letters
Letters poured in to the Globe about Watson's article. Excerpts are available online, but full text are behind the subscriber wall. In the Atlantic run of the national edition, the letters are on A16.
From Douglas Bell:
Patrick Watson's op-ed piece on tendering out the CBC was like John Gotti getting space to complain about the extent to which wiretaps infringe on his civil rights -- fair enough, but consider the source. Mr. Watson had a chance to confront these problems as chairman but failed to do so. He could have resigned on principle but chose not to.
From Mary Mackie:
With the greatest respect for Patrick Watson, I'd like to knock his block off. Sell the CBC buildings and buy new ones? Fire all the staffers and find new ones?
From Mark W. Mitchell:
Patrick Watson is right: The CBC is irrelevant. And should be. State-controlled media went out with fascism and communism.
From David Downey (executive producer of CBC national radio news):
If nothing else, Patrick Watson's piece reminds me that even really smart people can say really dumb things. I work in National Radio News, home to the morning newscast World Report. I won't speak for my TV colleagues, but, as far as radio hosts go, I think it's unfair and yes, dumb, to call Judy Maddren, Anna Maria Tremonti, Bob McDonald, Marylou Finlay or Anthony Germain chatty, pea-brained hosts. His criticism of the music on Radio One makes him sound silly, considering there's an entire network, namely Radio Two, that devotes substantial portions of the program schedule to classical works.
From Natalie Ruskin:
C'mon, Watson, who's the real dinosaur here?
From John Corcelli:
A good public broadcaster chases ideas, not ratings. While I agree that a new direction is necessary for the CBC's success, tendering it is probably too extreme -- especially if the feds do it too soon. It is still a public institution and should be held accountable.
From David Allan Stein:
From 1966 to 1989, I played many roles in dozens of CBC TV and radio productions. I even spent some time as a regional drama critic. On every occasion, I was paid scale, and generally treated like dirt by directors, just like every other actor, except expat Canadians brought in from L.A., and world-famous-in-Canada actors who had ''failed'' in L.A. Private production houses, however, mostly treated me with respect. Patrick Watson is right. The CBC should be flushed.
Curling news
Will post links later, but the Globe is reporting this morning TSN will pick up more curling coverage in the coming year, following the PR disasters of this year's Hearts and Brier coverage. The Star says the CBC and the Canadian Curling Association will soon cut a deal, but that TSN will likely gain extra coverage.
Barrie of Ontario
Andy Barrie and co. sign off today on CIUT, the University of Toronto campus station, after a three-week run. The Varsity student newspaper paid the crew a visit.
Atlantic pressure
Thursday's roundup included a note about Liberal MP Scott Simms, a member of the parliamentary heritage committee. Simms referenced a letter written from the Atlantic caucus; the St. John's Telegram article indicated the letter had not been released.
CBC On The Line has now posted the Sept. 8 letter, written by Rodger Cuzner.
A funky ditty
Brought down by the lingering lockout? (A few of my colleagues are getting, shall we say, weary of all this.) The reformed Parachute Club have written a song - We Want Our CBC - which they performed Wednesday night at the Massey Hall spirit-raiser in Toronto. Tod Maffin has posted audio of their recording.
Hello, stranger
In a posting this week in her series Daily Grind, Happy Valley-Goose Bay reporter Sonia Whalen-Miller writes on the anonymity that appears to come with taking a job at Tim Hortons:
Is it so hard to believe that you'd find an employee of CBC working behind the counter at Tim Hortons? I'm thinking it is.
I couldn't tell you how many times I've said a friendly hello to someone I used to interview on a daily basis as a reporter, but they have no clue who I am.
Patiently waiting
Sarah Bissonette, writing in the Parry Sound North Star, writes on her displeasure with the quality of programming during the lockout, but her sympathy with those locked-out:
For someone like me who loves listening to CBC radio, not having the regular programming because of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s staff lockout–mainly because of a labour-management dispute over contractual versus permanent employment–is horrible.
But because I think that employees deserve knowing that they will have a job in the near future, I am willing to wait this out for a bit longer.
Forty days, forty nights
Matt Watts celebrates the anniversary of 40 fun-filled days of lockout-erama:
And here we are, forty days.
Gosh.
This is like a GROWNUP lockout!
Out of the blog
From blogger Canned Clams, who supplies services under contract to the CBC, a post that delves into the various tangles in this lockout. Among them:
For one thing – and this is no surprise – CBC’s funding and relevance have come under fire from those conservatives who feel that we are not just a waste of taxpayer money, but also the usual bunch who see us as poodle-walking commies. This is nothing new, but it’s not a great discussion to have when you are fighting tooth and nail with the union. This means you caught up in two wildly different, but important debates at the same time.
From Alberta blogmeister Colby Cosh, a Wednesday posting that looked critically at the dispute between the CBC and its main union, as well as the competing news services:
The real point of the battle on both sides seems to be finding out which side has been left with more power and goodwill in the radically changing media environment. Or, to put it another way: is content truly king? Your answer will depend partly on whether you prefer news gathered by amateurs using professional resources or news gathered by professionals using amateur resources. Frankly, I kind of feel like the parts are greater than the original sum.
Niall McKenna, a master's student in journalism at Carleton University, has a guest post on The View From Ottawa blog:
I believe the mandate of the CBC needs serious revision. If its budget continues to lag, which is likely, it needs to be pared down to truly essential services. News, current affairs and sports should remain; drama and comedy series should be made by other means. I know many of you will wince at the latter suggestion, so let me make final one. I have heard that the CBC is weighed down by too many managers. Perhaps these managers, many former journalists themselves (thrust into the spotlight by the lockout), could be redeployed as journalists and producers in sorely understaffed regional offices. Make sure to put them on contract.
Robin Rowland has some inside gossip about managers, who apparently are going to have to wait for the extra pay they have been racking up keeping CBC on the air:
You see, all the administrative staff who would do that are locked out. I'm told that the computers are doing their regular runs and the managers are getting their regular pay cheques. While my source didn't tell me how it was being done, the managers are compiling their hours. Maybe the managers are filling in time sheets like the rest of us?
That means administrative staff will have to create all the computer runs, paperwork and cheque cutting for that, when they get back in. I am sure they are going to put their best efforts into that job, make it a top priority.
From Thunder Bay, a recipe for Lockout Chili from Gord Ellis.
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