CRTC MULLS PROBE OF CBC, RADIO-CANADA
At centre is use of controversial branded content
Canada’s broadcasting regulator says it is considering requests to “investigate” CBC/Radio- Canada’s use of branded content, which has caused a revolt among current and former staff.
At the same time, hundreds of staff from CBC and Radio-Canada, its French-language broadcaster, have signed separate petitions demanding their employer put an end to its plans for a new branded content division called CBC Tandem.
“The Commission is reviewing these letters and will respond to them in due course,” said Anne Brodeur, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
The National Post reported Tuesday that a group of 35 influential former CBC/Radio-Canada employees had filed a request with the CRTC to study Tandem as part of the public broadcaster’s upcoming licence renewal.
If the CRTC agrees to investigate, the probe would be included in hearings already scheduled for January.
But according to former CRTC vice-president and current Macdonald-Laurier Institute Fellow Peter Menzies, the commission may be limited in what it can do in this case.
“They can do a little bit of what we used to call ‘regulation by raised eyebrow’ though,” he said, adding that he thinks that CBC should get out of the advertising business “entirely.”
Branded content is an advertisement designed to look, read or sound nearly identical to a news story produced by a media outlet. It is generally identified as “paid content” or “sponsored content” and has become increasingly common in private media such as National Post, the Globe and Mail and the New York Times.
In a response posted online by non- profit Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (which filed a separate request for the CRTC to study CBC’s branded content), the public broadcaster argues that branded content is irrelevant to its broadcasting licence.
“CBC/Radio-Canada does not broadcast this type of branded content on its traditional platforms; this content is not part of our licence renewal proposal and therefore, is not relevant to the licence renewal process for our traditional platforms,” reads CBC’s response signed by Bev Kirshenblatt. executive director, corporate & regulatory affairs.
A group of over 500 current and former CBC and Radio-Canada staff disagree. They published an open l e tt e r and launched a website on Wednesday demanding their employer put an end to its new branded-content arm.
“Its purpose is to sell corporations the opportunity to disguise their advertising as our journalism. CBC is using its resources to help advertisers trick Canadians. They call what they produce ‘paid content’. And it’s insidious,” the letter reads. “We believe strongly it must stop.”
Letter signatories include the former host of The National, Peter Mansbridge, ex-CBC president Anthony Manera, current host of radio show As It Happens Carol Off, and Debra Arbec, host of CBC Montreal’s flagship 6 p.m. newscast.
Wednesday, National Post obtained copies of another open letter circulating among Radio- Canada staff with an identical request addressed to CBC/Radio- Canada executive vice-president of French services Michel Bissonnette.
Organizers say it had received support from over 100 employees, including all “hosts of primetime TV and radio news shows” within hours, according to images of the petition. That claim could not be independently verified.
“We believe that this form of advertisement, where the obvious goal is to imitate journalistic content, undermines our independence and our credibility in the eyes of the public,” the petition reads in French.
“As studies shows that this type of advertisement dupes people, we should set a good example and abstain from it. We ask you sincerely, Mr. Bissonnette, to abandon the Tandem program.”
When Tandem was first announced in September, pushback from staff and public broadcasting advocates was so strong that CBC/Radio- Canada executives decided to suspend the program for review.
Last week, management announced it would go forward with Tandem, but announced nine new guidelines that would limit how and where the branded content would be presented, as well as who could advertise.
CBC said the branded content will only appear on digital platforms, that no editorial staff will ever be involved in its creation or publication, and that all such content will be clearly labelled and visually distinct from regular editorial content and would not feature the broadcaster’s logo.
But the open letter circulating among Radio-Canada staff cited multiple examples where those guidelines were not respected. It pointed to a sponsored podcast that appeared unmarked in Radio-Canada’s podcast feed and an October “paid content” story on HSBC that originally featured the public broadcaster’s logo (it was removed after complaints from staff ).
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault warned in a statement Wednesday that there can be no doubt in Canadians’ minds about what CBC content is news and what is advertisement.
“We expect the public broadcaster to hold itself to the highest standards in terms of journalistic norms and practices.
“That means making sure that there is a clear distinction between paid content and news content,” Guilbeault said in a statement pointing to CBC’s new guidelines.