Image credit: the Canadian Press

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Why job cuts at the CBC are a bad thing for the country

Dec 6, 2023 | 5:55 AM

‘DEFUND THE CBC’ has been a popular sentiment among some people, especially recently. Those people are probably happy this week because the CBC is defunding itself.

Yes, CBC and Radio-Canada will cut 600 jobs and leave 200 others vacant (about 10 per cent of its workforce), reducing programming in the process. Why? A $125-million budget shortfall.

Just how much we’ll notice it remains to be seen, but comments from the CBC suggest we’ll see fewer programs on TV and probably shorter seasons for those we do see. So, more repeats.

Nobody is neutral about the CBC — we either love it, or hate it. On the one hand, it’s lauded for bringing programing to parts of the country that would, otherwise, receive no service, and for providing the type of programming commercial broadcasters don’t.

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On the other hand, it’s criticized for allegedly being a bloated pig at the public trough, for supposedly being less and less relevant. Some say it should get out of the news business because others do it. Some say it should keep its news departments but shed itself of entertainment programing because others do it.

The reasons for the cuts are attributed by CBC to declining TV ad revenue, rising production costs and the pandemic. So what, you might say, every other network — and every other news outlet — faces the same issues.

While CBC has faced many cutbacks in funding over the years, the media in general are feeling the crunch. This year alone, the National Post cut editorial staff, and Bell Media (which owns CTV) slashed six per cent of its workforce. Other media giants, such as the Toronto Star, have cut hundreds of jobs, and small-market papers have been closing their doors — Kamloops This Week among them.

If we don’t weep for CBC, we should worry about the overall loss of media because our window on the world is closing. And that’s bad news for democracy.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.