Monday, August 22, 2005
CBC scuttlebutt: A parliamentary inquiry?
Busy day on picket lines at CBC across the country Monday. It was pay day. First day of lockout pay.
So hundreds showed up at the Toronto Broadcast Centre.
That also meant the rumours were flying. And this is just a rumour, I could not track down the original source. It may be a death wish or it may be wishful thinking. The John Street scuttlebutt is that some Conservative MPs with no love for the CBC want a parliamentary inquiry into the CBC, its management, its operations, the all-important mandate and the future of Mother Corp.
But as was pointed out to me among the trees of Simcoe Park, with a minority government it could happen. And with a minority government that kind of inquiry could go anywhere, with MPs both in favour of the CBC and those who don't like us at all.
So if any of my colleagues from the Parliamentary Bureau are reading this and can get me reliable information, I will post it.
Note to MPs (if you're reading this) I have a late summer reading assignment for anyone, pro or anti CBC possibly planning an inquiry into the CBC. Get a hold of Senator Keith Davey's famous report on the state of the media in Canada back in the late 1960s. There are probably dozens of dusty copies somewhere in a warehouse in the National Capital Region. Read it, especially the chapter with the famous phrase that Canadian newsrooms were "boneyards of broken dreams." And ask do we want to go back to those days.
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writing, journalism, CBC, news, Canada
7:51 PM posted by Robin Rowland
Permanent Link
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So hundreds showed up at the Toronto Broadcast Centre.
That also meant the rumours were flying. And this is just a rumour, I could not track down the original source. It may be a death wish or it may be wishful thinking. The John Street scuttlebutt is that some Conservative MPs with no love for the CBC want a parliamentary inquiry into the CBC, its management, its operations, the all-important mandate and the future of Mother Corp.
But as was pointed out to me among the trees of Simcoe Park, with a minority government it could happen. And with a minority government that kind of inquiry could go anywhere, with MPs both in favour of the CBC and those who don't like us at all.
So if any of my colleagues from the Parliamentary Bureau are reading this and can get me reliable information, I will post it.
Note to MPs (if you're reading this) I have a late summer reading assignment for anyone, pro or anti CBC possibly planning an inquiry into the CBC. Get a hold of Senator Keith Davey's famous report on the state of the media in Canada back in the late 1960s. There are probably dozens of dusty copies somewhere in a warehouse in the National Capital Region. Read it, especially the chapter with the famous phrase that Canadian newsrooms were "boneyards of broken dreams." And ask do we want to go back to those days.
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, CBC, news, Canada
7:51 PM posted by Robin Rowland
Permanent Link
