Cuts could jeopardize CBC’S regional stations
CBC executives will tell employees Wednesday how the public broadcaster intends to absorb the $115 million funding cut prescribed in Thursday’s federal budget. An internal memo distributed by CBC president Hubert Lacroix says the broadcaster will stay mum about how it will adapt to its new economic reality until a town hall meeting next week. Lacroix also said that, while the reduction will have a “significant impact” on the organization and its services, management is working on a plan that “will meet our financial reality head-on without overly compromising our strategy.” But many observers are skeptical such a plan is possible, especially just three years after the organization let go nearly 800 employees in the wake of a $179 million advertising shortfall. “We’ve already trimmed the fat,” said a former CBC executive who asked not to be named. “Now we’re looking at arms and legs.” The lobby group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting warned Friday that the cuts would have a “rapid and severe” impact on the CBC, possibly including “the death of Radio 2,” the closure of international bureaus, and the addition of advertising to radio. The group added that the cuts could mean “reduced depth, quality, diversity and distinctiveness of CBC News” — a problem that former CBC president Robert Rabinovitch sees growing already. In an interview with The Network, a new Toronto Star website dedicated to a discussion of the CBC and public broadcasting, Rabinovitch said that “the quality of writing and editing is depressing; (CBC News doesn’t) have the staff to produce the quality of work that they used to be able to produce.” Many observers believe that the brunt of the cuts will be borne by regional stations, which the CBC claimed to be its top priority in the five-year plan the corporation released in February of last year.
“These cuts pose a serious threat to the CBC’S ability to provide services to the 6,000,000 Canadians who live in towns of 50,000 people or less and who would otherwise get no service,” the former CBC decision-maker said.
Ian Morrison, head of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, told the Star that while the CBC may claim that the regions are its top priority, the organization will have little choice in the current context but to reallocate funds to entertainment and sports television.