The Garret Tree
Friday, September 30, 2005
CBC 121: Globe sends kudos to Shelagh, CBCunlocked
Saturday's Globe and Mail takes a look at the web war against the CBC lockout in Rest stops on the web highway
Both Shelagh Rogers and CBCunlocked come in for praise
Excerpts:
Of course, many, by no means all, of the people who put together unlocked work for that anemic CBC.ca/news. As do those who work for cbcontheline.ca which also comes in for praise.
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CBClockout, CBCunlocked,
9:53 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Saturday's Globe and Mail takes a look at the web war against the CBC lockout in Rest stops on the web highway
Both Shelagh Rogers and CBCunlocked come in for praise
Excerpts:
I'd like to make two points before this miserable CBC lockout ends -- and may it end right this minute...
First: Shelagh Rogers has a weblog. It's at shelaghcaravan.blogspot.com, which brings us to another cross-country tour.... It's fun
...the breaking-news website that the CBC journalists put up at CBCUnlocked.ca is frankly more interesting than the real CBC news website ever was. The stories there are fresh, relevant and haven't all been covered by a dozen other outlets already. Even the design is better. (You might say less corporate.)...
CBC.ca has always been the most anemic of the corporation's services, and before the lockout it was looking paler and paler next to other Canadian media websites.
If there's a single lemon that could be turned into lemonade after this mess is finished, it could be distilling what makes CBC Unlocked work and bringing it home
Of course, many, by no means all, of the people who put together unlocked work for that anemic CBC.ca/news. As do those who work for cbcontheline.ca which also comes in for praise.
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writing, journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout, CBCunlocked,
9:53 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 119: Economist asks is CBC doomed?
Updated 21:12 Friday
The Economist this week takes a look at the CBC lockout.
They posted a tease on their website this afternoon.(the rest of is behind the paywall)
But my reliable sources did supply me with copy. It's told in The Economist's usual style, although its coverage is much more in depth than when it covered a CBC strike in 1981.*
The lead:
Other excerpts
Hmmmm.....
*And as for The Economist and its style. Back in 1981 I had left the CBC and was working in London. The Economist then was part of the British Prestel videotex experiment (the first pioneering steps in new media).
I still haven't forgotten the Economist news brief on Prestel from one day in July or August of that year. It went (as best as I can remember it)
"There's good news and bad news from Canada this week. The bad news is that the post office is on strike. The good news is that their television network, the CBC, is on strike."
Hah hah.
Maybe the same person wrote both stories? ;-)
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CBClockout,Economist,
9:19 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Updated 21:12 Friday
The Economist this week takes a look at the CBC lockout.
They posted a tease on their website this afternoon.(the rest of is behind the paywall)
But my reliable sources did supply me with copy. It's told in The Economist's usual style, although its coverage is much more in depth than when it covered a CBC strike in 1981.*
The lead:
Shortly before the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation locked out 5,300 of its 9,000 employees on August 15th, Michele Sparling, the management's chief negotiator, declared: “This is the hill we will die on.” Seven weeks later, those words look ominous. Many of CBC's most familiar faces are on the picket line. Managers have had to fill the schedules with many inept stand-ins. Some in the media industry reckon that after the dispute ends, Canada's public-service broadcaster may be badly diminished or even doomed.
Other excerpts
CBC's defenders cherish it for its Canadian content and serious programmes. They see it as an essential bulwark against American culture...A poll by Ipsos-Reid last year found that half of respondents (and a plurality among those who vote Conservative) wanted parliament not to cut CBC'S funding. But another poll found that only 10% of respondents feel “deeply inconvenienced” by the dispute (and 27% slightly so)...
The betting is that the dispute may end by October 5th, when ice hockey starts up after its own year-long lockout over player wage demands. Canadians found they could live without hockey. Journalists can hardly claim to be more indispensable.
Hmmmm.....
*And as for The Economist and its style. Back in 1981 I had left the CBC and was working in London. The Economist then was part of the British Prestel videotex experiment (the first pioneering steps in new media).
I still haven't forgotten the Economist news brief on Prestel from one day in July or August of that year. It went (as best as I can remember it)
"There's good news and bad news from Canada this week. The bad news is that the post office is on strike. The good news is that their television network, the CBC, is on strike."
Hah hah.
Maybe the same person wrote both stories? ;-)
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writing, journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout,Economist,
9:19 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 120: Another Photoshop creation
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
Posted on Flukemedia, in honour of the negotiations news blackout, by Pary Bell, once and perhaps future (depending on a settlement)CBC.ca kids producer.
7:28 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
Posted on Flukemedia, in honour of the negotiations news blackout, by Pary Bell, once and perhaps future (depending on a settlement)CBC.ca kids producer.
7:28 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Journalism: The next generation speaks---and you better listen
Just found this excellent blog from journalism students in Quebec in a link on a comment on Antonia Zerbisias's latest posting on the CBC.
It's called The Pod. Not much there as yet but if it continues (as school assignnments pile up etc.) it will show us what the next generation of J students are thinking about the media. And as the study I posted about earlier today shows, in the age of blogs, the next generation aren't going to be afraid to say what they think and they aren't like most of the aging CBCphobes, anonymous.
And as for working as casuals Sikander Hashmi writes:
In one of my original posts I said that before the lockout the CBC was losing talented young people to Teachers College, MBA courses and the family business.
Now the message that the triumvirate and the grand vizier have been sending for the past seven weeks has hit home. You want a decent job, don't apply to the CBC.
Check Sikander Hashmi's blog profile, age 23, second year student, running a blog and an editor on two websites, eat-halal.com and sunniforum.com. And his two colleague have equally interesting profiles.
That's the kind of potential they're driving away from CBC.
Footnote: And as a former Ry J-prof, I would like to see equally hard-hitting stuff from the other J-schools.
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CBClockout,Concordia,
10:42 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Just found this excellent blog from journalism students in Quebec in a link on a comment on Antonia Zerbisias's latest posting on the CBC.
It's called The Pod. Not much there as yet but if it continues (as school assignnments pile up etc.) it will show us what the next generation of J students are thinking about the media. And as the study I posted about earlier today shows, in the age of blogs, the next generation aren't going to be afraid to say what they think and they aren't like most of the aging CBCphobes, anonymous.
And as for working as casuals Sikander Hashmi writes:
I've got news for Mr. Rabinovitch.
We don't dream of spending six months or a year at the CBC. We dream long-term. We don't like uncertainty. We want stability so that we can pursue our passion while earning a decent living, enabling us to raise families and live a stable life.
If someone else offers that, we'll probably go for it.
End result: Rabinovitch will be left mostly with those who have no choice, which won't be a happy bunch. Unhappy kids working for a unloving mom is not a recipe for a good product.
In one of my original posts I said that before the lockout the CBC was losing talented young people to Teachers College, MBA courses and the family business.
Now the message that the triumvirate and the grand vizier have been sending for the past seven weeks has hit home. You want a decent job, don't apply to the CBC.
Check Sikander Hashmi's blog profile, age 23, second year student, running a blog and an editor on two websites, eat-halal.com and sunniforum.com. And his two colleague have equally interesting profiles.
That's the kind of potential they're driving away from CBC.
Footnote: And as a former Ry J-prof, I would like to see equally hard-hitting stuff from the other J-schools.
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CBClockout,Concordia,
10:42 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 118: Ford has a better idea
The Globe and Mail Report on Business today looks at why the negotiations between Ford and the Canadian Auto Workers went so well.
Excerpts:
And the key point:
Where did Ford send its neogtiating team for training? One thing is certain, it probably wasn't the Niagara Institute. And the taxpayers' money would have been better spent on a local call from Toronto to Oakville to ask "Where are you guys going?"
Update: I received this e-mail from a locked out producer:
Interesting point you make about Niagara in relation to the Ford-CAW story, Robin.
The funny thing is, I went to Niagara and we had a session about resolving conflict that was all about dialogue, problem solving, and trying to find common ground. The basic tenet was, find out what the other side really needs, and maybe it's the means that are the problem, not the ends.
That said, it's apparent that this message is sadly absent from the management side of the bargaining table. CMG has said if it's flexibility you want, we'll give it to you (as we do now). But CBC is bent on the means -- contract workers -- not the ends -- flexibility.
I think the Big 3 settlements are a great counter-point to what's going on here. These are two entities that have shown animosity and entrenchment in the past, and the Big 3 are all hurting financially. Yet all three came to quick, solid agreements with the CAW that meted out a little pain for both sides, but enough long-term security that the business won't collapse and jobs will continue.
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CBClockout,Canadian Auto Workers
9:21 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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The Globe and Mail Report on Business today looks at why the negotiations between Ford and the Canadian Auto Workers went so well.
Excerpts:
In five intensive days, without a single table-banging incident or raised voice,[Ford negotiator] Stacey Allerton Firth quietly became the newest Canadian industrial relations idol.....
“She paid attention, she didn't miss an issue, she didn't misread an issue,” [CAW head Buzz] Hargrove said...
Ms. Allerton Firth said over a vegetarian lunch that she simply treated the negotiators on the other side of the table the way she likes to be treated...
Issues were talked out rather than fought out, in an atmosphere of mutual respect, she said. And there was no negotiation by exhaustion...
And the key point:
... the Ford team received training in communications and problem-solving because they wanted to know “how you talk about tough issues in a way that invites dialogue,” Ms. Allerton Firth said.
“If you need the help of the other party in solving business issues, they need to understand what they are. You have to share a lot of information.”
Her team was also trained in “active listening skills” to better understand the union's concerns."
Where did Ford send its neogtiating team for training? One thing is certain, it probably wasn't the Niagara Institute. And the taxpayers' money would have been better spent on a local call from Toronto to Oakville to ask "Where are you guys going?"
Update: I received this e-mail from a locked out producer:
Interesting point you make about Niagara in relation to the Ford-CAW story, Robin.
The funny thing is, I went to Niagara and we had a session about resolving conflict that was all about dialogue, problem solving, and trying to find common ground. The basic tenet was, find out what the other side really needs, and maybe it's the means that are the problem, not the ends.
That said, it's apparent that this message is sadly absent from the management side of the bargaining table. CMG has said if it's flexibility you want, we'll give it to you (as we do now). But CBC is bent on the means -- contract workers -- not the ends -- flexibility.
I think the Big 3 settlements are a great counter-point to what's going on here. These are two entities that have shown animosity and entrenchment in the past, and the Big 3 are all hurting financially. Yet all three came to quick, solid agreements with the CAW that meted out a little pain for both sides, but enough long-term security that the business won't collapse and jobs will continue.
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Ford, negotiation, CBC, CAW, news, lockout,
CBClockout,Canadian Auto Workers
9:21 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Next generation prefers 'net to radio: study
The net is winning over radio with 13 to 24 year olds a study reported on the FMQB site says:
The news release on the study on Business Wire has some interesting notes.
Excerpts from the lengthy release:
There are also more details on Media Daily, which covers the advertising angle.
And there's a new word to learn: "Media meshing is a behavioral phenomenon that occurs when people begin an experience in one medium, such as watching television, then shift to another, such as surfing the Internet, and maybe even a third, such as listening to music. The explanation for this behavior is the constant search for complementary information, different perspectives, and even emotional fulfillment."
So how is CBC going to serve that generation? We're asking the question outside. Are they asking it inside? Or are they following a 1990s speciality channel strategy?
As for "constant search for complementary information, different perspectives, and even emotional fulfillment"--sounds like these young people are going to be great at all aspects of what CBC could do. But I bet they won't stand for casualization, there ain't much fulfillment in being a constant casual.
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CBClockout,Yahoo,
1:04 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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A new study from Yahoo! and OMD Worldwide finds that globally, youths far prefer to get their music fix from the Internet than the radio. The study, entitled "Truly, Madly, Deeply Engaged: Global Youth, Media and Technology," looks at 13-24 year olds in 11 countries and their media habits. The researchers conclude that today's youth expect their media experiences to be highly personalized and tailored to their individual tastes.
The news release on the study on Business Wire has some interesting notes.
Excerpts from the lengthy release:
- "We've moved from broadcasting to podcasting in just a short period of time," says Wenda Harris Millard, chief sales officer, Yahoo!.
- "A key finding from this study is that members of the My Media Generation can fit up to 44 hours of activities in just one day," said Joe Uva, president and CEO, OMD Worldwide. "Their ability to perform up to three tasks simultaneously, using multiple technologies, allows them to potentially increase their media consumption during their average waking hours..."
- Media Freedom. Unlike the old days of waiting for a program or song to "air," young people have taken media programming into their own hands. They aren't abandoning media content by any means, but they are seeking ways to schedule that content to meet their needs. Traditional media networks are giving way to personal networks, informed by blogs and programmed with media from a variety of online and offline sources.
- Information Freedom. News and information have been released from the confines of newspaper, magazines, or TV broadcasts to be available at any time. Also, the advent of blogging means that information content doesn't have to come from media conglomerates, allowing for new voices.
There are also more details on Media Daily, which covers the advertising angle.
And there's a new word to learn: "Media meshing is a behavioral phenomenon that occurs when people begin an experience in one medium, such as watching television, then shift to another, such as surfing the Internet, and maybe even a third, such as listening to music. The explanation for this behavior is the constant search for complementary information, different perspectives, and even emotional fulfillment."
So how is CBC going to serve that generation? We're asking the question outside. Are they asking it inside? Or are they following a 1990s speciality channel strategy?
As for "constant search for complementary information, different perspectives, and even emotional fulfillment"--sounds like these young people are going to be great at all aspects of what CBC could do. But I bet they won't stand for casualization, there ain't much fulfillment in being a constant casual.
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CBClockout,Yahoo,
1:04 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Thursday, September 29, 2005
CBC 117: No change for casuals:CBC
CBC management just sent out their latest e-mail.
It answers the question that eveyrone was asking last night, "What about casuals?"
The CBC's answer:
Complete message on management negotiations site.
That seems to mean, as I proposed in my post earlier today, that CBC management is arguing with the CMG over contract or permanent status for what the CBC considers longer term employees. At this point, they don't want to do anything about the revolving door of casualization. They don't want to handle the fact that there have been people who deserve to be staff who have been casuals for years. The fact that they put this in their communique shows that they don't have a problem with the revolving door. They don't get it.
journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout
6:15 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC management just sent out their latest e-mail.
It answers the question that eveyrone was asking last night, "What about casuals?"
The CBC's answer:
Fact: Currently, there is no limitation on the hiring of freelance fixed term, temporary or casual employees. The percentage of employees on short-term employment arrangements (temporary and casual) fluctuates with replacement needs (maternity backfill, sick leave replacement, etc) and with major projects like Federal elections and Canada Day coverage. The conditions under which short-term employees may be hired have not changed significantly, and the overall percentage has remained relatively constant due to the nature of these hires. This will not change
Complete message on management negotiations site.
That seems to mean, as I proposed in my post earlier today, that CBC management is arguing with the CMG over contract or permanent status for what the CBC considers longer term employees. At this point, they don't want to do anything about the revolving door of casualization. They don't want to handle the fact that there have been people who deserve to be staff who have been casuals for years. The fact that they put this in their communique shows that they don't have a problem with the revolving door. They don't get it.
journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout
6:15 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 116: Hockey blog check Sept. 29
The focus of fan anger seems to be Vancouver. And the fact the second game for the Hockey Night in Canada opener may not be broadcast--at least on CBC.
Hockey blog of the day is: Vancouver Canucks Hockey Blog.
Excerpt:
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4:50 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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The focus of fan anger seems to be Vancouver. And the fact the second game for the Hockey Night in Canada opener may not be broadcast--at least on CBC.
Hockey blog of the day is: Vancouver Canucks Hockey Blog.
Excerpt:
In typical CBC fashion, the Canucks - Oilers game will not be broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada(Of course the Toronto game will be broadcast, albeit without broadcasters). Now before you panic, I will guarantee that this game will be on TV somehow. At minimum the Canucks will put this game on PPV, and for those without PPV access, there is a decent chance that the game could be moved to Sportsnet or TSN. I'll keep you posted on this.
As for the rest of the season on HNIC, I would say that if the labour issues are not resolved by next Saturday the dispute will likely go on for quite a while. If the loss of HNIC can't pressure the CBC to make a deal nothing else will.
Unlike the CFL, the NHL will not stand for games being broadcast games without commentators, so we could be watching our Sarturday night hockey on another network.
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CBClockout,NHL,
4:50 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 115: What do you mean by contract?
Contract (Merriam Webster online legal dictionary)
From my trusty, battered, dead tree Oxford Concise:
I have to wonder at this point if everyone involved in this has a different definition of the word "contract."
The question on the mailing list and in e-mails to me last was:"What about casuals?"
It's clear now that the CBC management offer does nothing for casuals and other temps. Yet, management seems to believe this is compromise, a step forward. They are sticking to their five per cent figure. In fact in this morning's Globe and Mail they give a figure to reporters Guy Dixon and Daniel Leblanc:
There are likely more than 180 casuals and temps working in the Toronto Broadcast Centre alone in any given 24-hour period, not counting the other plants right across the country. Add to that the real "freelancers" likely working from home.
Then read this in the transcript of Richard Stursberg's meeting with the lockedout folks in Vancouver , as questioned by Mark Forsythe (transcribed by Paul Grant and posted by Tod Maffin):
So are we dealing with two, three or a dozen definitions of "contract"?
If someone works as casual, even if there is no signed contract, the contract is implied. Seven or so hours work for so much money in exchange for writing copy or editing tape or whatever.
If Stursberg is correct on the 11 year figure, it seems that management is thinking only in terms of high profile on air or producing talent when it comes to the word contract.
Time to agree on a definition of what the word contract means.
Time to deal with the issue of casualization.
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CBClockout
10:38 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Contract (Merriam Webster online legal dictionary)
Etymology: Latin contractus from contrahere to draw together, enter into (a relationship or agreement), from com- with, together + trahere to draw
1 : an agreement between two or more parties that creates in each party a duty to do or not do something and a right to performance of the other's duty or a remedy for the breach of the other's duty;"
From my trusty, battered, dead tree Oxford Concise:
1.Agreement between parties, states etc. business agreement for supply of goods or performance of work at a specified price; agreement enforceable by law.
I have to wonder at this point if everyone involved in this has a different definition of the word "contract."
The question on the mailing list and in e-mails to me last was:"What about casuals?"
It's clear now that the CBC management offer does nothing for casuals and other temps. Yet, management seems to believe this is compromise, a step forward. They are sticking to their five per cent figure. In fact in this morning's Globe and Mail they give a figure to reporters Guy Dixon and Daniel Leblanc:
Currently, the CBC has about 180 fixed-contract workers, not including other temporary and short-term positions.
There are likely more than 180 casuals and temps working in the Toronto Broadcast Centre alone in any given 24-hour period, not counting the other plants right across the country. Add to that the real "freelancers" likely working from home.
Then read this in the transcript of Richard Stursberg's meeting with the lockedout folks in Vancouver , as questioned by Mark Forsythe (transcribed by Paul Grant and posted by Tod Maffin):
MF: We're already at 30 per cent temporary and contract combined.
RS: No you're not and… but that's a different issue.
MF: But why is it a different issue?
RS: But your union has not raised the temporary thing. That's
not an issue for your union. The only issue they've raised is
contracts. And right now we're at about five per cent. The average
life of a person on contract is 11 years of service inside the CBC.
Anyhow, my only point is, I think that, like, I don't understand why
this has taken on, to your point, I don't understand why this has
turned into such a big thing. Apparently
So are we dealing with two, three or a dozen definitions of "contract"?
If someone works as casual, even if there is no signed contract, the contract is implied. Seven or so hours work for so much money in exchange for writing copy or editing tape or whatever.
If Stursberg is correct on the 11 year figure, it seems that management is thinking only in terms of high profile on air or producing talent when it comes to the word contract.
Time to agree on a definition of what the word contract means.
Time to deal with the issue of casualization.
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CBClockout
10:38 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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MTV Canada will be hiring "scores of new people"
The Globe and Mail reports this morning that CTV and MTV have made a deal to team up and have created a new business term: "multi-platfornication." (Perhaps a G&M dig at a bad typo?)* CTV plans to turn its low-rated TalkTV speciality channel into a new MTV north.
Key point:
That means once again people will move on, there will not only be jobs at this new venture (whenever that will be) but gaps to fill elsewhere.
*The Canada News Wire release does say "multiplatform."
Note also from the CNW release:
If that really is the intention, then that means CTV is taking on another area where CBC (mostly radio) was dominant. Looking for new music talent. Every one of the musicians who have appeared at the Simcoe Park concerts in Toronto have thanked CBC for helping them along the way. Will some 15-year-old with a garage band today be thanking CTV/MTV in a half dozen years?
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CBClockout
9:58 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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The Globe and Mail reports this morning that CTV and MTV have made a deal to team up and have created a new business term: "multi-platfornication." (Perhaps a G&M dig at a bad typo?)* CTV plans to turn its low-rated TalkTV speciality channel into a new MTV north.
Key point:
stamping the MTV brand onto conventional, digital and specialty network programming, involves hiring scores of new people to create Canadian-made, MTV-style segments, as well as tapping into on-line, wireless and video-on-demand products and promotions.
That means once again people will move on, there will not only be jobs at this new venture (whenever that will be) but gaps to fill elsewhere.
*The Canada News Wire release does say "multiplatform."
Note also from the CNW release:
This new digital television service, along with the new MTV analogue channel, will provide alternate high quality entertainment options to all Canadians, and represent a great boost to local production and culture.
If that really is the intention, then that means CTV is taking on another area where CBC (mostly radio) was dominant. Looking for new music talent. Every one of the musicians who have appeared at the Simcoe Park concerts in Toronto have thanked CBC for helping them along the way. Will some 15-year-old with a garage band today be thanking CTV/MTV in a half dozen years?
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CBClockout
9:58 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Wednesday, September 28, 2005
CBC 114: Hockey blog check Sept. 28
Hockey fans in Calgary are not happy there won't be a double header to open Hockey Night in Canada.
See CalgaryPuck forums
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CBClockout,Hockey Night in Canada
11:03 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Hockey fans in Calgary are not happy there won't be a double header to open Hockey Night in Canada.
See CalgaryPuck forums
tell the CBC how you feel about them not-broadcasting the second game in the first double header and possibly beyond!!
The more responses the better the chance they might listen to the people.....We the taxpayers fund them....they need to do what we say!!
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CBClockout,Hockey Night in Canada
11:03 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 113: Half empty or half full?
Earlier today (Wednesday) the CBC made its first major offer since the lockout. That offer came after months of CBC management stonewalling the Canadian Media Guild. Last week, the Guild made an offer, an offer that was somewhat controversial among the membership, but it may have gotten something rolling. (Or maybe among the federal mediators in Ottawa there's a big person in black leather whose job it is to knock heads together [just kidding])
The CMG says:"Unfortunately, it falls well short of establishing a platform for agreement."
The sticking point is still contract/casual/temp status. The CMG says: "the Corporation is proposing to increase the number of contract employees by 225% over the life of the contract."
I agree with the CMG position that money offer is totally inadequate.
The half full point is that there are now two new proposals on the table after months of little progress on the major issues. The negotiators may be able to use these as starting points to move toward an acceptable middle ground.
The half empty point is that they don't have much time.
There are more unconfirmed rumours tonight that there have been more defections.
And around the Toronto Broadcast Centre today, it was a roller coaster, with good news, bad news, good news, bad news. Today I heard people for the first time seriously talking about job hunting, whether it's something temporary like bartending or actually looking for a new full time job.
And remember what that news manager said in early September. After three more weeks (at that time), the bleeding by the CBC news service would become life threatening. This is now the middle of the fourth week. I am hearing from a reliable source who told me that Paul Martin and the PMO were very pleased with the way CTV handled the broadcast of the installation of Michaëlle Jean as Governor General.
CTV NewsNet has covered Katrina and Rita while we were walking what one of my fellow bloggers calls "the circle of death." Mike Duffy is up and taking the spot once held exclusively by Don Newman.
This afternoon after I left the Toronto Broadcast Centre I ran into two friends, within 45 minutes of each other. One CBC but on disability not locked out said "I never want to go back," saying the lockout will not help the atmosphere and the stress would be too much once we get back. The second friend (graphic design,not TV) hasn't been working much in the last three months and so he has been watching a lot of TV. He stopped watching the reruns on Newsworld quite a while ago. "This week I'm not missing CBC at all," he says.
Late add: Defection confirmed. Andrew Meeson was named chief copy editor at CBC.ca a couple of weeks before the lockout. He is starting at the Toronto Star on Thursday. Note my post on the problems CBC has had getting copy editors because it can't pay them a competitive wage. Now, even if there is a quick return to work, that hunt has to start over.
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CBClockout
10:30 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Earlier today (Wednesday) the CBC made its first major offer since the lockout. That offer came after months of CBC management stonewalling the Canadian Media Guild. Last week, the Guild made an offer, an offer that was somewhat controversial among the membership, but it may have gotten something rolling. (Or maybe among the federal mediators in Ottawa there's a big person in black leather whose job it is to knock heads together [just kidding])
The CMG says:"Unfortunately, it falls well short of establishing a platform for agreement."
The sticking point is still contract/casual/temp status. The CMG says: "the Corporation is proposing to increase the number of contract employees by 225% over the life of the contract."
I agree with the CMG position that money offer is totally inadequate.
The half full point is that there are now two new proposals on the table after months of little progress on the major issues. The negotiators may be able to use these as starting points to move toward an acceptable middle ground.
The half empty point is that they don't have much time.
There are more unconfirmed rumours tonight that there have been more defections.
And around the Toronto Broadcast Centre today, it was a roller coaster, with good news, bad news, good news, bad news. Today I heard people for the first time seriously talking about job hunting, whether it's something temporary like bartending or actually looking for a new full time job.
And remember what that news manager said in early September. After three more weeks (at that time), the bleeding by the CBC news service would become life threatening. This is now the middle of the fourth week. I am hearing from a reliable source who told me that Paul Martin and the PMO were very pleased with the way CTV handled the broadcast of the installation of Michaëlle Jean as Governor General.
CTV NewsNet has covered Katrina and Rita while we were walking what one of my fellow bloggers calls "the circle of death." Mike Duffy is up and taking the spot once held exclusively by Don Newman.
This afternoon after I left the Toronto Broadcast Centre I ran into two friends, within 45 minutes of each other. One CBC but on disability not locked out said "I never want to go back," saying the lockout will not help the atmosphere and the stress would be too much once we get back. The second friend (graphic design,not TV) hasn't been working much in the last three months and so he has been watching a lot of TV. He stopped watching the reruns on Newsworld quite a while ago. "This week I'm not missing CBC at all," he says.
Late add: Defection confirmed. Andrew Meeson was named chief copy editor at CBC.ca a couple of weeks before the lockout. He is starting at the Toronto Star on Thursday. Note my post on the problems CBC has had getting copy editors because it can't pay them a competitive wage. Now, even if there is a quick return to work, that hunt has to start over.
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CBClockout
10:30 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 112: Stop CBC lockouts: Liberal caucus
Canadian Press is reporting that the Liberal caucus wants to take hard look at the current and the past two CBC lockouts.
CP quote:
Full text of CP story on CTV.ca (who were fastest to get it up!)
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7:17 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Canadian Press is reporting that the Liberal caucus wants to take hard look at the current and the past two CBC lockouts.
CP quote:
Some Liberal MPs are saying never again as negotiations between CBC management and its locked-out employees grind forward....
MP Denis Coderre, a former Liberal cabinet minister, was more direct.
"Three times in a row, three lockouts in five years? I'm sorry. I don't accept that," he said.
"We should stop that lockout once and for all. ... At the end of the day I know one thing: there's a lot of people that don't have the public service that they should deserve."
Full text of CP story on CTV.ca (who were fastest to get it up!)
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7:17 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 111: Management tables offer; have they "blinked"?
CBC management has tabled a new offer.
Summary on the CBC negotiations page.
Full text pdf of CBC management offer.
For the record: CMG offer from Sept. 22 (pdf)
Update: Management e-mail says: "To that end, we believe our offer is a significant compromise..."
Have they "just blinked"? (During the Cuban missile crisis US Secretary of State Dean Rusk said, "We went eyeball to eyeball, and the other fellow just blinked." after Nikita Kruschev agreed to withdraw missiles from Cuba.)
CMG response will be interesting and awaited across the country.
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6:45 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC management has tabled a new offer.
Summary on the CBC negotiations page.
Full text pdf of CBC management offer.
For the record: CMG offer from Sept. 22 (pdf)
Update: Management e-mail says: "To that end, we believe our offer is a significant compromise..."
Have they "just blinked"? (During the Cuban missile crisis US Secretary of State Dean Rusk said, "We went eyeball to eyeball, and the other fellow just blinked." after Nikita Kruschev agreed to withdraw missiles from Cuba.)
CMG response will be interesting and awaited across the country.
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CBClockout,
6:45 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Subject-filtered headline RSS feeds
A day after PubSub launched its 1000 most influential sites/feeds list, the company today (Tuesday) announced it has a deal with Forbes to provide subject filtered news feeds. Most RSS news feeds send out the headlines just as provided by the news service.
Another indication of the future.
That kind of deal is likely to become common for news feeds and that will provide viewers/readers with a chance to concentrate on what they want to receive. It also raises once again the question that has been around for a decade about the reader possibly isolating him/herself from the important news of the day, news that does not match the filter.
Yet another reason to take a hard look at what we do, once we get inside.
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CBClockout,PubSub,
5:36 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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A day after PubSub launched its 1000 most influential sites/feeds list, the company today (Tuesday) announced it has a deal with Forbes to provide subject filtered news feeds. Most RSS news feeds send out the headlines just as provided by the news service.
Another indication of the future.
That kind of deal is likely to become common for news feeds and that will provide viewers/readers with a chance to concentrate on what they want to receive. It also raises once again the question that has been around for a decade about the reader possibly isolating him/herself from the important news of the day, news that does not match the filter.
Yet another reason to take a hard look at what we do, once we get inside.
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CBClockout,PubSub,
5:36 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Monday, September 26, 2005
CBC 110: How the mighty (CBC.ca) have fallen
A web feed monitoring service called PubSub today launched a new list that says it measures the top 1000 "most influental websites" in the world.
CBC.ca does not appear anywhere in that top 1000. How the mighty have fallen.
The top 1000 ranking is based on numbers for the past 30 days and it counts mentions on RSS feeds. So it is one public measure of how CBC.ca is doing during the lockout,
Now there are a couple of things you have to know about PubSub. It appears that it largely measures full text RSS feeds and following the Google model, those full text feeds have to contain links. So it measures feeds that link to a site and the number links from a site contained in the feed. Footnotes on their pages say they are constantly refining their linkranking measuring tools.
But other Canadian media are ranked in that top 1000.
The world's most influental site, according to PubSub is the BBC, followed by the New York Times and the Washington Post. Some other samples. ABC Australia comes in at 62, NASA at 253, Microsoft support at 311 and the London Observer at 437.
The marketing news site ClickZ reported about this service a couple of hours before the launch:
You'll find CBC.ca's stats here.
The most interesting to me is the chart on the right side of the page which shows the number of sites linking to CBC.ca's minimal coverage has steadily dropped since the lockout begun.
CBCunlocked is not doing well in these rankings, not registering yet, although it is a little early, they just started and don't have an RSS feed. The good news is that the chart shows that number of people with RSS feeds linking to CBCunlocked it is growing, almost mirroring the drop at CBC.ca.
If you look at the ranking for little ol' me, robinrowland.com, even I am doing better than CBC.ca!!! (at least on this list) On Sunday I was in the top 11% of their sites, ranking number 6,957.
Tod Maffin's CBCunplugged blog registers among the world's most influential sites. He was in the top one per cent on Sunday at 489. Since PubSub stats are cumulative, it will be interesting to see if Tod makes next month's top 1000. If you look at the green line on his chart, it might just happen.
John Gushue, at Dot Dot Dot another CBC.ca lockoutee, beat me on Sunday and also blew away CBC.ca, making it into the top seven per cent with a ranking of 4,502.
As for Tea Makers, it shows that you can rank when you have a lot of people linking to you, even if you don't have many outlinks. On Sunday, Tea Makers ranked 20,648, among the top 32%, again, our insider manager is doing better than CBC.ca
Some other sites:
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CBClockout, CBCunlocked,
11:25 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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A web feed monitoring service called PubSub today launched a new list that says it measures the top 1000 "most influental websites" in the world.
CBC.ca does not appear anywhere in that top 1000. How the mighty have fallen.
The top 1000 ranking is based on numbers for the past 30 days and it counts mentions on RSS feeds. So it is one public measure of how CBC.ca is doing during the lockout,
Now there are a couple of things you have to know about PubSub. It appears that it largely measures full text RSS feeds and following the Google model, those full text feeds have to contain links. So it measures feeds that link to a site and the number links from a site contained in the feed. Footnotes on their pages say they are constantly refining their linkranking measuring tools.
But other Canadian media are ranked in that top 1000.
- 64 globeandmail.com
- 75 canada.com
- 142 ctv.ca
- 198 The Star.com
- 634 tsn.ca
The world's most influental site, according to PubSub is the BBC, followed by the New York Times and the Washington Post. Some other samples. ABC Australia comes in at 62, NASA at 253, Microsoft support at 311 and the London Observer at 437.
The marketing news site ClickZ reported about this service a couple of hours before the launch:
PubSub is today expected to unleash a new site ranking tool, called LinkRanks, that measures the "strength, persistence, and vitality" of links pointing to and from a given Web site...
Additionally, PubSub has begun an effort to compile lists of influential Weblogs by category, which could be of use to media buyers and planners eager to buy advertising in blogs....
By fiddling with LinkRanks' parameters -- now built into the PubSub engine -- PR types can determine the approximate reach and influence of a particular Web page based on the sites that link to that page, either on a daily basis or over a period of weeks. They can also use it to focus their brand listening on the most influential group of blogs or publications.
You'll find CBC.ca's stats here.
The most interesting to me is the chart on the right side of the page which shows the number of sites linking to CBC.ca's minimal coverage has steadily dropped since the lockout begun.
CBCunlocked is not doing well in these rankings, not registering yet, although it is a little early, they just started and don't have an RSS feed. The good news is that the chart shows that number of people with RSS feeds linking to CBCunlocked it is growing, almost mirroring the drop at CBC.ca.
If you look at the ranking for little ol' me, robinrowland.com, even I am doing better than CBC.ca!!! (at least on this list) On Sunday I was in the top 11% of their sites, ranking number 6,957.
Tod Maffin's CBCunplugged blog registers among the world's most influential sites. He was in the top one per cent on Sunday at 489. Since PubSub stats are cumulative, it will be interesting to see if Tod makes next month's top 1000. If you look at the green line on his chart, it might just happen.
John Gushue, at Dot Dot Dot another CBC.ca lockoutee, beat me on Sunday and also blew away CBC.ca, making it into the top seven per cent with a ranking of 4,502.
As for Tea Makers, it shows that you can rank when you have a lot of people linking to you, even if you don't have many outlinks. On Sunday, Tea Makers ranked 20,648, among the top 32%, again, our insider manager is doing better than CBC.ca
Some other sites:
- PubSub's Daily top 100
- Tessa's "I've been locked out" was 41,282 on Sunday in the top 64% (she did better earlier in the week)
- CBC Drone was 21,854 on Sunday in the top 31%.
- CmgToronto.ca did not register
- CBContheline.ca did not register
- Management's CBC negotiations did not register
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CBClockout, CBCunlocked,
11:25 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 109: "Hell to pay?"
I wasn't too impressed with the first Question Period this afternoon.
Now it may be that the Opposition parties were holding back because negotiators for both sides are working across the river in an office in Hull.
I was at Simcoe Park when NDP leader Jack Layton told the crowd, "If the lockout is still on when the Commons returns, there will be hell to pay."
The first set of questions on the CBC, softballs from NDP member Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) came, by my watch, watching CPAC, at 1447 ET, 32 minutes into Question Period. Jack Layton's session opening questions were on U.S. stonewalling on softwood lumber. The Conservatives concentrated on crime, guns and drugs, with softwood as priority two.
Four tougher questions on the lockout came late in Question Period from two Bloc Quebecois MPs.
Labour Minister Joe Fontana punted on the questions, referring to the ongoing negotiations.
If the position of CBC questions in the Commons lineup are any indication, the lockout is far down on everyone's priority list.
And Jack, don't forget that there are a lot of CBC employees in your riding. Wonder who the Bloc Quebecois nominee will be in Toronto Danforth? :-)
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6:08 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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I wasn't too impressed with the first Question Period this afternoon.
Now it may be that the Opposition parties were holding back because negotiators for both sides are working across the river in an office in Hull.
I was at Simcoe Park when NDP leader Jack Layton told the crowd, "If the lockout is still on when the Commons returns, there will be hell to pay."
The first set of questions on the CBC, softballs from NDP member Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) came, by my watch, watching CPAC, at 1447 ET, 32 minutes into Question Period. Jack Layton's session opening questions were on U.S. stonewalling on softwood lumber. The Conservatives concentrated on crime, guns and drugs, with softwood as priority two.
Four tougher questions on the lockout came late in Question Period from two Bloc Quebecois MPs.
Labour Minister Joe Fontana punted on the questions, referring to the ongoing negotiations.
If the position of CBC questions in the Commons lineup are any indication, the lockout is far down on everyone's priority list.
And Jack, don't forget that there are a lot of CBC employees in your riding. Wonder who the Bloc Quebecois nominee will be in Toronto Danforth? :-)
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CBClockout,
6:08 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 108: Gee, now they get "flexibility"
From the CBC news release this afternoon, courtesy none other than Jason MacDonald:
Playing Kreminology here, does the term "career aspirations" mean they are really going to be flexible?
Stay clicked.
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5:56 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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From the CBC news release this afternoon, courtesy none other than Jason MacDonald:
CBC/Radio-Canada's bargaining team has a clear mandate, as well as the flexibility and authority, to get an agreement with the CMG. The Corporation hopes the Minister's initiative provides the impetus needed to move toward reaching an agreement that not only reflects the business realities and requirements of the broadcasting world, but at the same time respects the career aspirations of its employees.
Playing Kreminology here, does the term "career aspirations" mean they are really going to be flexible?
Stay clicked.
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CBClockout,
5:56 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Millions and millions of Ipods
A projection by Deutsche Bank, reported by Forbes and repeated on MacMinute calls for Apple to sell 31 million Ipods in calendar 2005 and 43 million in calendar 2006.
Forbes also says:
Of course, the Mac has been the leader in that area for years, so let's not revisit the old Mac-PC debate.
But if Deustche Bank is right, what is the question for the lockoutees? Once we get back in, is CBC management going to have the imagination, creativity and guts to take advantage of all this?
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12:20 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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A projection by Deutsche Bank, reported by Forbes and repeated on MacMinute calls for Apple to sell 31 million Ipods in calendar 2005 and 43 million in calendar 2006.
Forbes also says:
Longer term, Deutsche Bank says Apple is "the best-positioned" PC vendor to capitalize on the convergence between digital media and computing. "Today, Apple is driving the digital music evolution. Tomorrow, Apple could become the partner of choice for digital video distribution and playback."
Of course, the Mac has been the leader in that area for years, so let's not revisit the old Mac-PC debate.
But if Deustche Bank is right, what is the question for the lockoutees? Once we get back in, is CBC management going to have the imagination, creativity and guts to take advantage of all this?
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CBClockout,Apple,
12:20 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Sunday, September 25, 2005
CBC 107: The autumn of freelance discontent
A new blog has emerged in recent days, Advocating for all CBC Freelancers, which is bringing out into the open the simmering discontent with the Canadian Media Guild amongst those who chose to freelance.
It is clear from this blog, and from others listed on the blog (which is aggregating freelance complaints from blogs across the country) that CMG is going to have a problem, now and in the future.
Here is a key point the blogger makes:
Having at one point my career having chosen to be a freelancer (rather than a casual aiming at a full time job) I am in full agreement with this.
Let's face one fact. We all know that the CMG position that 30 per cent of positions at CBC are casual or freelance is the correct one, that the management's idea that it is five per cent is pure propaganda.
A week or so ago, I was having a chat with some of my neighbours who work in the movie industry. They didn't understand the problem with the lockout and the dispute.
Why? Because although they are freelancers, whether they are members of ACTRA or IATSE, or another movie union, they get benefits and they get RSP contributions. The basic agreements with Independent Producers Association calls for the employer to pay half the cost of benefits and RSP contributions, the freelancer the rest. Just like full time employees.
This took me back to the mid-80s, when I was working, on contract, for CBC Project Iris, the Corp's first venture into new media. I was also writing scripts for Radio Drama at the time. So on one CBC contract, the new media project, I got no benefits, no pension and had to pay the full CPP. While on a second CBC contract, Radio Drama, under the Writers Guild of Canada (I am no longer a member, I dropped that when I became full time staff) I was getting RSP contributions and was also contributing to the ACTRA Fraternal Benefit Society's health insurance plan.
If the CMG is able to hold the line on the disposable work force, that means that 30 per cent of people working at the CBC are still going to be freelance or casual. Some of those, as I keep saying on my blog, will be able to get benefit support from a working partner with a staff job, usually in another industry. But many will not.
It is time that the ACTRA/IATSE movie model had serious consideration. First, so that freelancers are not left in a precarious position of no extended health benefits and no RSP contributions. As well, making the CBC contribute RSP and benefits for freelancers and casuals removes the incentive CBC management may have to treat freelancers as cheap, no-benefit, labour.
It's just my personal opinion, but I believe that the CMG should make a deal with ACTRA Fraternal so that freelancers represented by CMG can get RSPs and benefits. It may not happen in this round, but it should happen soon.
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5:44 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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A new blog has emerged in recent days, Advocating for all CBC Freelancers, which is bringing out into the open the simmering discontent with the Canadian Media Guild amongst those who chose to freelance.
It is clear from this blog, and from others listed on the blog (which is aggregating freelance complaints from blogs across the country) that CMG is going to have a problem, now and in the future.
Here is a key point the blogger makes:
Freelancers have to supply all their own equipment, pay 100% of their CPP contribution (including the employer’s half), save for their own retirement and have no health benefits and no paid sick leave. They are not eligible for Unemployment Insurance. The CMG is a unique union in that, within it, freelancers have the right to collective bargaining. Freelancers in most organizations do not unless they form their own organization. The question remains, how much collective bargaining is the CMG doing on behalf of freelancers? Having the right to something is different than having it.
Freelancers absorb the cost of their own equipment. We have to save for our own pension. We have to take the risk of getting sick and having no paid sick leave, health coverage or long-term disability. We take the risk of not being able to fill down time between assignments. Freelancers need to be paid a premium, in addition to the basic fee for the work, to cover these costs and risks. In this were not the case, freelancers would be simply cheap labour or suckers who are willing to supply equipment and pay expenses that are traditionally borne by the employer. These costs are buried in the price of every other product we buy. Why should CBC expect me to create a product for anything less?
Having at one point my career having chosen to be a freelancer (rather than a casual aiming at a full time job) I am in full agreement with this.
Let's face one fact. We all know that the CMG position that 30 per cent of positions at CBC are casual or freelance is the correct one, that the management's idea that it is five per cent is pure propaganda.
A week or so ago, I was having a chat with some of my neighbours who work in the movie industry. They didn't understand the problem with the lockout and the dispute.
Why? Because although they are freelancers, whether they are members of ACTRA or IATSE, or another movie union, they get benefits and they get RSP contributions. The basic agreements with Independent Producers Association calls for the employer to pay half the cost of benefits and RSP contributions, the freelancer the rest. Just like full time employees.
This took me back to the mid-80s, when I was working, on contract, for CBC Project Iris, the Corp's first venture into new media. I was also writing scripts for Radio Drama at the time. So on one CBC contract, the new media project, I got no benefits, no pension and had to pay the full CPP. While on a second CBC contract, Radio Drama, under the Writers Guild of Canada (I am no longer a member, I dropped that when I became full time staff) I was getting RSP contributions and was also contributing to the ACTRA Fraternal Benefit Society's health insurance plan.
If the CMG is able to hold the line on the disposable work force, that means that 30 per cent of people working at the CBC are still going to be freelance or casual. Some of those, as I keep saying on my blog, will be able to get benefit support from a working partner with a staff job, usually in another industry. But many will not.
It is time that the ACTRA/IATSE movie model had serious consideration. First, so that freelancers are not left in a precarious position of no extended health benefits and no RSP contributions. As well, making the CBC contribute RSP and benefits for freelancers and casuals removes the incentive CBC management may have to treat freelancers as cheap, no-benefit, labour.
It's just my personal opinion, but I believe that the CMG should make a deal with ACTRA Fraternal so that freelancers represented by CMG can get RSPs and benefits. It may not happen in this round, but it should happen soon.
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5:44 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 106: Canadians' contract with the CBC
While the CBC and the CMG are still negotiating the workers' contract, Todd Babiak in the Edmonton Journal this morning asks what about Canadians' contract with the Corp and should that be renegotiated.
One of the best, most thoughtful and reasoned pieces on the lockout so far, at least in my view.
Also worth reading: Nancy Westaway on the CBC's "dirty little secret" on how casuals are treated. It sounds familiar (and I would note from personal experience, it's not just CBC, CTV treats people exactly the same way)
In the Toronto Star (registration required):Was it all a casual thing? where Westaway compares the CBC to a Don Juan, love and leave 'em cad.
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10:58 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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While the CBC and the CMG are still negotiating the workers' contract, Todd Babiak in the Edmonton Journal this morning asks what about Canadians' contract with the Corp and should that be renegotiated.
One of the best, most thoughtful and reasoned pieces on the lockout so far, at least in my view.
Also worth reading: Nancy Westaway on the CBC's "dirty little secret" on how casuals are treated. It sounds familiar (and I would note from personal experience, it's not just CBC, CTV treats people exactly the same way)
In the Toronto Star (registration required):Was it all a casual thing? where Westaway compares the CBC to a Don Juan, love and leave 'em cad.
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CBClockout,Edmonton Journal,
10:58 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC.ca shut out in Online Journalism Awards
For the first time in a couple of years, CBC.ca has been shut out in the list of finalists in the prestigious Online Journalism Awards, announced late Saturday in California.
It's unclear whether or not the lockout had anything to do with this. But the rules say the site and the pages that have been nominated have to be active throughout the judging and for one year after the awards. Parts of the CBC.ca site have been shut down since the lockout. CBC.ca senior and executive producers usually give a list of possible nominees to managers in mid-summer. Because of the lockout the final list of nominees, usually circulated on Groupwise, was not available.
A CBC manager, Sue Gardner, Senior Director of CBC.ca was one of this year's judges.
The Globe and Mail did make the finals, for oustanding use of multiple media for
AIDS in Africa: A Turning Point.” (and following the rules mentioned above, the excellent site is not behind the Globe's pay wall. Take a look.)
TV news has also been nominated for awards during the lockout. But, of course, all that takes is sending in a tape for judging. The judges don't have to come to watch the current crippled CBC News on television.
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10:19 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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For the first time in a couple of years, CBC.ca has been shut out in the list of finalists in the prestigious Online Journalism Awards, announced late Saturday in California.
It's unclear whether or not the lockout had anything to do with this. But the rules say the site and the pages that have been nominated have to be active throughout the judging and for one year after the awards. Parts of the CBC.ca site have been shut down since the lockout. CBC.ca senior and executive producers usually give a list of possible nominees to managers in mid-summer. Because of the lockout the final list of nominees, usually circulated on Groupwise, was not available.
A CBC manager, Sue Gardner, Senior Director of CBC.ca was one of this year's judges.
The Globe and Mail did make the finals, for oustanding use of multiple media for
AIDS in Africa: A Turning Point.” (and following the rules mentioned above, the excellent site is not behind the Globe's pay wall. Take a look.)
TV news has also been nominated for awards during the lockout. But, of course, all that takes is sending in a tape for judging. The judges don't have to come to watch the current crippled CBC News on television.
Technorati tags
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10:19 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Saturday, September 24, 2005
CBC 105: What if we'd blogged the ice storm?
Brief note before I head out. (picked up from Bill Doskoch)
THe Houston Chronicle has two blogs on Hurricane Rita, one raw by the public, one by its staff.
You'll find the AP story here.
Blogging wasn't around during the ice storm. Imagine what the coverage would have been like on a story across a huge area of eastern Ontario and Quebec if we could have done that?
Everything has changed. And with a possible end to the lockout in sight, the question now is what are we going to do in the future? The Toronto Unlocked broadcasts were more lively, more interesting, better radio than even their top rated regular Metro Morning show. The blogs and the podcasts are, for a key part of the audience, a winner. So what are we going to do, and this message isn't just aimed at management but the senior and executive producers as well.
Point one (more to come) Fire all those consultants. That will save huge amounts of money. Expand the innovation project across the whole CBC. So far, in news, it has been limited to ideas costing less than $1,000 and produced some great stuff. Take risks. Small units unhampered by bureaucracy and politics. (I can hope) Give them a strict budget and say come up with something great. It can be done. And prepare for a few failures and to say they were experiments and move on (that's why I said strict budgets, so we can risk and fail on some things).
If we go back to the old ways the slide will continue.
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CBClockout,Houston,
9:13 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Brief note before I head out. (picked up from Bill Doskoch)
THe Houston Chronicle has two blogs on Hurricane Rita, one raw by the public, one by its staff.
You'll find the AP story here.
Blogging wasn't around during the ice storm. Imagine what the coverage would have been like on a story across a huge area of eastern Ontario and Quebec if we could have done that?
Everything has changed. And with a possible end to the lockout in sight, the question now is what are we going to do in the future? The Toronto Unlocked broadcasts were more lively, more interesting, better radio than even their top rated regular Metro Morning show. The blogs and the podcasts are, for a key part of the audience, a winner. So what are we going to do, and this message isn't just aimed at management but the senior and executive producers as well.
Point one (more to come) Fire all those consultants. That will save huge amounts of money. Expand the innovation project across the whole CBC. So far, in news, it has been limited to ideas costing less than $1,000 and produced some great stuff. Take risks. Small units unhampered by bureaucracy and politics. (I can hope) Give them a strict budget and say come up with something great. It can be done. And prepare for a few failures and to say they were experiments and move on (that's why I said strict budgets, so we can risk and fail on some things).
If we go back to the old ways the slide will continue.
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Rita, journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout,Houston,
9:13 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Friday, September 23, 2005
My best friend's wedding
I am at a wedding this weekend. The blog will resume late Sunday.
8:28 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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8:28 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 104: Money, money, money, money
The Canadian Media Guild Thursday made a modest proposal on wage increases in its latest offer to CBC.
The CMG has proposed a 60 month contract to expire March 31, 2009, with 3.5% increases every year, retroactive back to April 1, 2004, plus a $1,000 signing bonus for everyone who had worked 60 days of more in the 12 months prior to the lockout.
On the picket line Thursday, the news in the Guild newsletter extra,it seems, brought up the old split between the CEP and CMG. Many technicians, formerly members of CEP, told me "It's not enough." Many of the journalists had a reporter's reaction, not an employee's reaction: "The taxpayer will never go for it."
I heard the same reporters' sentiments at a party on Thursday night--until I mentioned what reporters and editors are paid on the Toronto newspapers and by the national wire service Canadian Press. I literally saw a jaw drop when I told them our print colleagues, with the same experience, with comparable jobs, get five to ten to fifteen thousand dollars a year more than we do.
That's why I want to point people to one of my early blogs, We have a problem
The technicians know very well that the money they are paid--at least in the big cities of Toronto and Vancouver--has been falling further and further behind their colleagues in the private sector for the past 15 years.
As I said in my original post, I make between $10,000 and $12,000 less than photo editors doing comparable jobs on the newspapers (represented by CEP) and Canadian Press (represented by my union CMG).
The impression that CBC employees are paid very well comes today from other cities and small towns where the money, paid on a national scale, is much better than those in comparable jobs. And it is a legacy of the past, more than 20 years ago, before Mulroney's cutbacks in 1984 when the money in the big cities was comparable or better. That is no longer so in those cities.
On the original blog you will find links to the contract pages for those newspapers.
Compare the contracts. For those in Toronto and Vancouver, you will see how little you are getting in comparison to those print people you see on the job every day.
In the past 15 years there was a bit of a trade off, less money in exchange for job security.
It is clear that the CBC wants to gut job security. That makes comparable salaries an issue, now and in the future. It is likely there will be some taxpayers' resistance to even the CMG's modest proposal, but for the long term health of the CBC, the money has to keep up with the marketplace.
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journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout,
6:30 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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The Canadian Media Guild Thursday made a modest proposal on wage increases in its latest offer to CBC.
The CMG has proposed a 60 month contract to expire March 31, 2009, with 3.5% increases every year, retroactive back to April 1, 2004, plus a $1,000 signing bonus for everyone who had worked 60 days of more in the 12 months prior to the lockout.
On the picket line Thursday, the news in the Guild newsletter extra,it seems, brought up the old split between the CEP and CMG. Many technicians, formerly members of CEP, told me "It's not enough." Many of the journalists had a reporter's reaction, not an employee's reaction: "The taxpayer will never go for it."
I heard the same reporters' sentiments at a party on Thursday night--until I mentioned what reporters and editors are paid on the Toronto newspapers and by the national wire service Canadian Press. I literally saw a jaw drop when I told them our print colleagues, with the same experience, with comparable jobs, get five to ten to fifteen thousand dollars a year more than we do.
That's why I want to point people to one of my early blogs, We have a problem
The technicians know very well that the money they are paid--at least in the big cities of Toronto and Vancouver--has been falling further and further behind their colleagues in the private sector for the past 15 years.
As I said in my original post, I make between $10,000 and $12,000 less than photo editors doing comparable jobs on the newspapers (represented by CEP) and Canadian Press (represented by my union CMG).
The impression that CBC employees are paid very well comes today from other cities and small towns where the money, paid on a national scale, is much better than those in comparable jobs. And it is a legacy of the past, more than 20 years ago, before Mulroney's cutbacks in 1984 when the money in the big cities was comparable or better. That is no longer so in those cities.
On the original blog you will find links to the contract pages for those newspapers.
Compare the contracts. For those in Toronto and Vancouver, you will see how little you are getting in comparison to those print people you see on the job every day.
In the past 15 years there was a bit of a trade off, less money in exchange for job security.
It is clear that the CBC wants to gut job security. That makes comparable salaries an issue, now and in the future. It is likely there will be some taxpayers' resistance to even the CMG's modest proposal, but for the long term health of the CBC, the money has to keep up with the marketplace.
Technorati tags
journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout,
6:30 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 103: Beware the blogs!
CBC senior management was blindsided by the blogs begun after the lockout.
They ain't seen nothing yet. In fact, if there is still a lockout by October 8, blogs could decide everything.
No, not our small little lockoutee blogs. I mean the hockey blogs.
For the past week to ten days or so I have been "dipping in and out" as they say among the hockey blogs.
What can I report?
Everyone is waited with baited breath for the regular season to begin (although everyone is still unhappy with both sides in last year's hockey lockout, the NHL and the NHLPA).
Most of the bloggers and the comments are highly skeptical that management can pull off a decent Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. The consensus, at least among hockey fans (I am not sure if football fans would agree) is that having seen the CFL broadcasts, the bloggers believe CBC management cannot create a hockey broadcast to meet the standards that even the "ordinary" Hockey Night in Canada fan expects. (Nor can most feeds from American networks is a point that is repeated).
And for the sounds of silence, so to speak, a couple of the blogs had similar comments. Even in noisy bar, when Coach's Corner comes on, the chatter is subdued and the sound turned up so everyone can hear Don and Ron. On one such blog, one commenter claimed to be a sports producer for another Canadian network, and he said that in their newsroom, everything stops there as well for Cherry and Maclean.
So as the modern media experts are saying, ignore blogosphere at your peril. The first indications of fan reaction to the management produced Hockey Night in Canada will not be on the call-in shows, or the Monday morning papers.
It will be in blogosphere about six or seven minutes into the first period.
Beware the blogs!
(Note: There are too many blogs to link to any individually. I searched in Technorati, Google and Feedster using "Hockey Night in Canada" and "National Hockey League.")
Technorati tags
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CBClockout,hockey,
Hockey Night in Canada,National Hockey League,NHL,
12:07 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC senior management was blindsided by the blogs begun after the lockout.
They ain't seen nothing yet. In fact, if there is still a lockout by October 8, blogs could decide everything.
No, not our small little lockoutee blogs. I mean the hockey blogs.
For the past week to ten days or so I have been "dipping in and out" as they say among the hockey blogs.
What can I report?
Everyone is waited with baited breath for the regular season to begin (although everyone is still unhappy with both sides in last year's hockey lockout, the NHL and the NHLPA).
Most of the bloggers and the comments are highly skeptical that management can pull off a decent Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. The consensus, at least among hockey fans (I am not sure if football fans would agree) is that having seen the CFL broadcasts, the bloggers believe CBC management cannot create a hockey broadcast to meet the standards that even the "ordinary" Hockey Night in Canada fan expects. (Nor can most feeds from American networks is a point that is repeated).
And for the sounds of silence, so to speak, a couple of the blogs had similar comments. Even in noisy bar, when Coach's Corner comes on, the chatter is subdued and the sound turned up so everyone can hear Don and Ron. On one such blog, one commenter claimed to be a sports producer for another Canadian network, and he said that in their newsroom, everything stops there as well for Cherry and Maclean.
So as the modern media experts are saying, ignore blogosphere at your peril. The first indications of fan reaction to the management produced Hockey Night in Canada will not be on the call-in shows, or the Monday morning papers.
It will be in blogosphere about six or seven minutes into the first period.
Beware the blogs!
(Note: There are too many blogs to link to any individually. I searched in Technorati, Google and Feedster using "Hockey Night in Canada" and "National Hockey League.")
Technorati tags
journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout,hockey,
Hockey Night in Canada,National Hockey League,NHL,
12:07 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 102: Board meeting "lively" not stormy
After reports last night that CBC board member Peter Herndorf had "stormed out" of this week's meeting I sent an e-mail asking if it was true.
This is the reply I just received:
I am told by other reliable sources that the meetings went on long much longer than originally expected and that neither President Robert Rabinovitch or IR chief George Smith looked very happy during breaks and at the conclusion of the meeting.
I'll post more information if I can reliably confirm it.
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CBClockout,
11:59 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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After reports last night that CBC board member Peter Herndorf had "stormed out" of this week's meeting I sent an e-mail asking if it was true.
This is the reply I just received:
The board discussions were certainly lively, but no one on the Board stormed out of the meeting. The Board members continue to try to influence both sides to reach a settlement as soon as possible.
Peter A. Herrndorf
I am told by other reliable sources that the meetings went on long much longer than originally expected and that neither President Robert Rabinovitch or IR chief George Smith looked very happy during breaks and at the conclusion of the meeting.
I'll post more information if I can reliably confirm it.
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CBClockout,
11:59 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Thursday, September 22, 2005
CBC 101: Call that a bonus?
Chatter from inside tonight that the managers in the Toronto Broadcast Centre and other buildings are going to have to wait and wait and wait for all those promised bonuses--until (or if) there's a settlement.
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.
And there's another problem. We've all heard this: everything in there is so empty and gloomy. But you know who else is locked out, the people who normally schedule shifts? A second inside source says several middle and lower managers "are at their wit's end, in part because their schedules are chaotic."
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CBClockout,
9:20 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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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.
And there's another problem. We've all heard this: everything in there is so empty and gloomy. But you know who else is locked out, the people who normally schedule shifts? A second inside source says several middle and lower managers "are at their wit's end, in part because their schedules are chaotic."
Technorati tags
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CBClockout,
9:20 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 100: Rita and Rabinovitch
The hot waters of the Gulf of Mexico have made Hurricane Rita a category five. The last such hurricane a century ago wiped Galveston off the map. I'm wondering if a day or so from now there will be anything left of the small cinder block beach front hotel I stayed at in Galveston a couple of years ago (not too mention all those mouth watering sea front sea food restaurants).
So now that you have the complete backing of the CBC board Robert Rabinovtich, what are you going to do about covering it for CBC? Another BBC report or fly down yourself and do wind-driven standup?
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CBClockout,
9:08 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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The hot waters of the Gulf of Mexico have made Hurricane Rita a category five. The last such hurricane a century ago wiped Galveston off the map. I'm wondering if a day or so from now there will be anything left of the small cinder block beach front hotel I stayed at in Galveston a couple of years ago (not too mention all those mouth watering sea front sea food restaurants).
So now that you have the complete backing of the CBC board Robert Rabinovtich, what are you going to do about covering it for CBC? Another BBC report or fly down yourself and do wind-driven standup?
Technorati tags
Rita, journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout,
9:08 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 99: On contract, on RMS Titanic
Among the heroes on board the sinking RMS Titanic were the muscians who played on the deck of stricken liner until they could no longer hold their instruments.
There's a little known fact about those musicians. While the officers and crew of Titanic, from Capt. Edward Smith to the lowliest teenage cabin boy were "on staff," the musicians were on contract. And that, unfortunately, made a big difference to their families.
(I was browsing my book shelf Wednesday afternoon and for some reason pulled out Walter Lord's The Night Lives On, his 1986 follow-up to A Night to Remember, his 1955 bestseller about the sinking of the Titanic. What you read here is based on that account)
According to Lord, there were actually two bands on board the Titanic, the Wallace Hartley quintet, which played the teatime and after dinner concerts, and a trio at the first class Cafe Parisien. It is likely, according to Lord, that they played together for the first time on the fatal night when Titanic struck the iceberg.
In early 1912, months before the Titanic sank, the British shipping lines, over the objections of the Amalgamated Musicians Union, decided to begin what today would be called "contracting out" with shipboard musicians.
Prior to 1912, muscians were signed as crew, as staff. They received union scale: £6 10s a month plus a uniform allowance of 10s.
Beginning in 1912, the shipping lines contracted out the musicians to a Liverpool agency called C.W. and F. N. Black, which got the exclusive right to hire musicians for British shipping. Wages were cut to £4 a month with no uniform allowance. They still had to sign ship's articles, putting them under the command of a captain for which they received one shilling a month.
When the musicians union objected to Bruce Ismay, CEO of the White Star line, he said, well then if they didn't want to sign ship's articles, they would have to ship as paying second class passengers.
But on both the Olympic and the Titanic they didn't get second class cabins, they had to bunk in the cramped crew quarters.
All the musicians perished when the Titanic sank.
Both surviving crew and the families of the crew dead were entitled, under British law, to "Workmans Compensation" benefits from the White Star Line.
White Star refused to compensate the musicians' families. The line argued that the musicians were second class passengers and the employees of the Black agency. Black said it had no responsiblity and sent the families to their insurance company. The insurance company said the musicians were independent contractors, not employees of the Black agency and therefore not covered by the insurance policy. The result, no compensation at all for the families of the "heroes" of the Titanic.
Blacks even billed the stricken families for expenses, including the uniforms, formerly covered by the shipping lines when the musicians were staff employees.
Eventually the families took White Star to court. The judge reluctantly ruled that the musicians were, as far as White Star was concerned, passengers and as far as the Black agency and its insurance company were concerned, independent contractors.
The musicians union then appealed to the charitable instincts of White Star. The company had no charity in its heart and refused to help.
The trustees of the public relief fund had a different attitude, they ruled that the musicians were members of the crew and entitled to full compensation from that fund.
As for Wallace Hartley, his body was recovered off Newfoundland and returned to his home town of Colne, Lancashire. As a hearse carried the coffin from Liverpool to Colne, hundreds turned out to pay their respects. All business in Colne stopped for the funeral, attended by an estimated 30,000 people. As the coffin was lowered into the ground, a bugler played "The Last Post" an honour normally reserved for those who had served in the military.
Two of the musicians were buried in Halifax.
John Frederick Preston Clarke, a bass violinist (#202) was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Halifax.
John Law Hume, the first violion, (#193) was buried at Fairview Cemetery, Halifax.
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CBClockout,Titanic,
music,
musician,
12:45 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Among the heroes on board the sinking RMS Titanic were the muscians who played on the deck of stricken liner until they could no longer hold their instruments.
There's a little known fact about those musicians. While the officers and crew of Titanic, from Capt. Edward Smith to the lowliest teenage cabin boy were "on staff," the musicians were on contract. And that, unfortunately, made a big difference to their families.
(I was browsing my book shelf Wednesday afternoon and for some reason pulled out Walter Lord's The Night Lives On, his 1986 follow-up to A Night to Remember, his 1955 bestseller about the sinking of the Titanic. What you read here is based on that account)
According to Lord, there were actually two bands on board the Titanic, the Wallace Hartley quintet, which played the teatime and after dinner concerts, and a trio at the first class Cafe Parisien. It is likely, according to Lord, that they played together for the first time on the fatal night when Titanic struck the iceberg.
In early 1912, months before the Titanic sank, the British shipping lines, over the objections of the Amalgamated Musicians Union, decided to begin what today would be called "contracting out" with shipboard musicians.
Prior to 1912, muscians were signed as crew, as staff. They received union scale: £6 10s a month plus a uniform allowance of 10s.
Beginning in 1912, the shipping lines contracted out the musicians to a Liverpool agency called C.W. and F. N. Black, which got the exclusive right to hire musicians for British shipping. Wages were cut to £4 a month with no uniform allowance. They still had to sign ship's articles, putting them under the command of a captain for which they received one shilling a month.
When the musicians union objected to Bruce Ismay, CEO of the White Star line, he said, well then if they didn't want to sign ship's articles, they would have to ship as paying second class passengers.
But on both the Olympic and the Titanic they didn't get second class cabins, they had to bunk in the cramped crew quarters.
All the musicians perished when the Titanic sank.
Both surviving crew and the families of the crew dead were entitled, under British law, to "Workmans Compensation" benefits from the White Star Line.
White Star refused to compensate the musicians' families. The line argued that the musicians were second class passengers and the employees of the Black agency. Black said it had no responsiblity and sent the families to their insurance company. The insurance company said the musicians were independent contractors, not employees of the Black agency and therefore not covered by the insurance policy. The result, no compensation at all for the families of the "heroes" of the Titanic.
Blacks even billed the stricken families for expenses, including the uniforms, formerly covered by the shipping lines when the musicians were staff employees.
Eventually the families took White Star to court. The judge reluctantly ruled that the musicians were, as far as White Star was concerned, passengers and as far as the Black agency and its insurance company were concerned, independent contractors.
The musicians union then appealed to the charitable instincts of White Star. The company had no charity in its heart and refused to help.
The trustees of the public relief fund had a different attitude, they ruled that the musicians were members of the crew and entitled to full compensation from that fund.
As for Wallace Hartley, his body was recovered off Newfoundland and returned to his home town of Colne, Lancashire. As a hearse carried the coffin from Liverpool to Colne, hundreds turned out to pay their respects. All business in Colne stopped for the funeral, attended by an estimated 30,000 people. As the coffin was lowered into the ground, a bugler played "The Last Post" an honour normally reserved for those who had served in the military.
Two of the musicians were buried in Halifax.
John Frederick Preston Clarke, a bass violinist (#202) was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Halifax.
John Law Hume, the first violion, (#193) was buried at Fairview Cemetery, Halifax.
Technorati tags
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CBClockout,Titanic,
music,
musician,
12:45 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Microbrew journalism?
My morning blog sweep came up with an interesting hit everyone should read called Microbrew Journalism out of Philadelphia.
These are not good times. The New York Times announced layoffs this week. And, so according to this post, are the Philadelphia papers.
Here is the key quote:
At least when we're working we have three out of three.
Aaron Finestone, the blogger, is according to his profile a lawyer and what he calls "A Reasoned Republican."
What Finestone doesn't mention is that a few years ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer was considered one of the best, if not the best, writers' newspaper in the United States. The star graduate of the Inquirer in those days was Mark Bowden, author of the superb literary journalism Black Hawk Down. The downsizing of the Inquirer is another blow to quality reporting.
For an institution that is supposed--according to the right wing CBCphobes-- to hate the United States of America, I am constantly amazed how many Americans actually love CBC coverage. (I had a man come up to me on a London street--he saw the jewel/pizza/logo on my luggage tag on my backpack--a couple of years ago to say he lived in LA and loved The National which he saw on the now late lamented Newsworld International.)
Compare that to the nasty Lorne Gutner, CBC bashing again in the National Post (the site is down at the moment so I had to pull it from our friend Loyalist)
Two flaws in Gunter's argument. The first is the very basis of unreasoned conservatism. They believe they are the only ones who pay taxes. No one else, not even me (and no one knows what my politics are, just because I work for CBC don't assume I'm left-wing).
And just because the CBC "doesn't" represent Gutner, doesn't mean it doesn't represent a signficant number of people in Canada.
And the one sentence in his blog that is pure crap: Everything the CBC does could be done as well by other television and radio services.
Tell that to all the musicians who have come to support the locked out workers and say they only place they have a voice is CBC. Tell that to the people in all the small communities whose private stations ignore them while beaming into the big city markets. Tell that to the people in the North where there are no private stations.
Tell that to the authors who may, if they're extremely hot, might get on Canada AM. When I as doing my first book tours in the 1980s, private radio still had to have news and current affairs. In each town I hit station after station. No longer, it is few and far between. Deregulation you know, easy profits for no effort. Book publishers no longer give even the minimal publicity to mid-list authors (the reason I orginally started this blog) and then blame the author, not themselves when the book fails. At least here in Canada publishers know if they sent books to The Current, Sounds Like Canada, Writers and Company, and, if they target it right to Newsworld shows, the book will get a couple of minutes.
I am beginning to like the term microbrew journalism. In a way, it is what we're doing during the lockout. The only challenge is finding a way to make a living at it if this goes on and on and on....
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CBClockout,Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times,
12:21 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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My morning blog sweep came up with an interesting hit everyone should read called Microbrew Journalism out of Philadelphia.
These are not good times. The New York Times announced layoffs this week. And, so according to this post, are the Philadelphia papers.
Here is the key quote:
The continued shrinking of the two big Philadelphia dailies highlights a shift in American journalism. The two big dailies offer less and less to read. I buy the Inquirer at Broad and Erie and scan the obituaries and local news on my 20 minute subway ride to Center City. On Thursdays, I read the food section. I don't bother to buy the Inquirer on weekends. I have come to rely on the wealth of news on the internet. On a typical day, I browse online through the New York Times, New York Post, Washington Post, PoliticsPA, Los Angeles Times, Drudge, Jewish World Review and the CBC. I get all the liberal and conservative comment I want. Why waste trees?
For more and more people, the internet, internet radio and cable TV are the main sources of news.
At least when we're working we have three out of three.
Aaron Finestone, the blogger, is according to his profile a lawyer and what he calls "A Reasoned Republican."
What Finestone doesn't mention is that a few years ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer was considered one of the best, if not the best, writers' newspaper in the United States. The star graduate of the Inquirer in those days was Mark Bowden, author of the superb literary journalism Black Hawk Down. The downsizing of the Inquirer is another blow to quality reporting.
For an institution that is supposed--according to the right wing CBCphobes-- to hate the United States of America, I am constantly amazed how many Americans actually love CBC coverage. (I had a man come up to me on a London street--he saw the jewel/pizza/logo on my luggage tag on my backpack--a couple of years ago to say he lived in LA and loved The National which he saw on the now late lamented Newsworld International.)
Compare that to the nasty Lorne Gutner, CBC bashing again in the National Post (the site is down at the moment so I had to pull it from our friend Loyalist)
....since I am a member of the public and the CBC doesn't represent me. And I don't miss the arrogant notion that the CBC is where Canadians tell their stories to one another or that the network has some special place in our national debates.
Everything the CBC does could be done as well by other television and radio services. Everything the CBC does is being done now by other television and radio services, except hockey. And if the CBC didn't exist, private television services would quickly pick up the hockey slack, too. In fact, a private broadcaster would likely pick up most of the CBC's on- and off-air hockey staff, and fans wouldn't be any the wiser.
Two flaws in Gunter's argument. The first is the very basis of unreasoned conservatism. They believe they are the only ones who pay taxes. No one else, not even me (and no one knows what my politics are, just because I work for CBC don't assume I'm left-wing).
And just because the CBC "doesn't" represent Gutner, doesn't mean it doesn't represent a signficant number of people in Canada.
And the one sentence in his blog that is pure crap: Everything the CBC does could be done as well by other television and radio services.
Tell that to all the musicians who have come to support the locked out workers and say they only place they have a voice is CBC. Tell that to the people in all the small communities whose private stations ignore them while beaming into the big city markets. Tell that to the people in the North where there are no private stations.
Tell that to the authors who may, if they're extremely hot, might get on Canada AM. When I as doing my first book tours in the 1980s, private radio still had to have news and current affairs. In each town I hit station after station. No longer, it is few and far between. Deregulation you know, easy profits for no effort. Book publishers no longer give even the minimal publicity to mid-list authors (the reason I orginally started this blog) and then blame the author, not themselves when the book fails. At least here in Canada publishers know if they sent books to The Current, Sounds Like Canada, Writers and Company, and, if they target it right to Newsworld shows, the book will get a couple of minutes.
I am beginning to like the term microbrew journalism. In a way, it is what we're doing during the lockout. The only challenge is finding a way to make a living at it if this goes on and on and on....
Technorati tags
writing, journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout,Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times,
12:21 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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CBC 98: Collateral damage
Don't, repeat, don't, skip Kate Taylor's column in the Globe and Mail this morning. Unfortunately it's not about broacasting so it likely won't appear on advocacy sites. But it is absolutely crucial to what is happening, so read it if you can.
What Taylor is writing about is how changes in the rates Canada Post charges magazines are going to be a blow to both the big commercial magazines and the smaller ones. Most Canadian magazines survive by subscription, not news stand sales. And it is now going to cost a lot more money to mail a magazine in Canada.
Who is the collateral damage in all this? Not the staff editors, of course. It's going to be the freelancer writers who actually produce what you read in the magazine. This means freelance rates (which are 20 years behind the cost of inflation already) won't go up or could even be cut back.
Most freelancers don't concentrate on one market. Or at least they try. These days both the CBC and the big media conglomerates demand, as we have to keep repeating, all rights in perpertuity until the galaxy implodes, which means freelancers can't always resell what they create. (The late Pierre Berton once advised, in the 1950s I believe, that writers sell every story 12 times. Today Berton would only be able to sell most stories just once; he would likely want a staff job at CBC to support his family and be on the picket line)
The freelance market in Canada is tiny compared to the US or UK, that is why it is a lot harder to survive as a single freelancer in this country (which is why I keep saying those "fulltime freelancers" should be honest and tell how much household income comes from their partners).
As for wriitng books, there is more collateral damage. I won't go into dull details, but an obscure change in US tax rules for warehousing a decade a ago destroyed the publishers' backlist. Which is why you see so many cheap piles of remainders in the bookstores. The problem for authors is that the multinational publishers adopted the remaindering policy they created in the US for Canada and elsewhere. Years ago, small but steady sales from the backlist could, depending on the book, be a significant income for an author. No more.
This is what the triumvirate (Rabinovitch, Stursberg and Chalmers) and the Grand Vizier (Smith) want to do, all new employees as casual or contract, in a country where to be a freelancer is barely surviving not thriving. It is not a way of creating flexibility for the CBC, it is a way of driving people out of the business altogether. It is short sighted stupidity.
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CBClockout,Canada,
9:20 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Don't, repeat, don't, skip Kate Taylor's column in the Globe and Mail this morning. Unfortunately it's not about broacasting so it likely won't appear on advocacy sites. But it is absolutely crucial to what is happening, so read it if you can.
What Taylor is writing about is how changes in the rates Canada Post charges magazines are going to be a blow to both the big commercial magazines and the smaller ones. Most Canadian magazines survive by subscription, not news stand sales. And it is now going to cost a lot more money to mail a magazine in Canada.
Who is the collateral damage in all this? Not the staff editors, of course. It's going to be the freelancer writers who actually produce what you read in the magazine. This means freelance rates (which are 20 years behind the cost of inflation already) won't go up or could even be cut back.
Most freelancers don't concentrate on one market. Or at least they try. These days both the CBC and the big media conglomerates demand, as we have to keep repeating, all rights in perpertuity until the galaxy implodes, which means freelancers can't always resell what they create. (The late Pierre Berton once advised, in the 1950s I believe, that writers sell every story 12 times. Today Berton would only be able to sell most stories just once; he would likely want a staff job at CBC to support his family and be on the picket line)
The freelance market in Canada is tiny compared to the US or UK, that is why it is a lot harder to survive as a single freelancer in this country (which is why I keep saying those "fulltime freelancers" should be honest and tell how much household income comes from their partners).
As for wriitng books, there is more collateral damage. I won't go into dull details, but an obscure change in US tax rules for warehousing a decade a ago destroyed the publishers' backlist. Which is why you see so many cheap piles of remainders in the bookstores. The problem for authors is that the multinational publishers adopted the remaindering policy they created in the US for Canada and elsewhere. Years ago, small but steady sales from the backlist could, depending on the book, be a significant income for an author. No more.
This is what the triumvirate (Rabinovitch, Stursberg and Chalmers) and the Grand Vizier (Smith) want to do, all new employees as casual or contract, in a country where to be a freelancer is barely surviving not thriving. It is not a way of creating flexibility for the CBC, it is a way of driving people out of the business altogether. It is short sighted stupidity.
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CBClockout,Canada,
9:20 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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Tuesday, September 20, 2005
CBC 97: Breaking their oath of office
According to the Canadian Media Guild, the CBC Board of Directors, at the direction of President Robert Rabinovitch has refused to meet with CMG President Lise Lareau:
According to the Canadian Media Guild, the CBC Board of Directors, at the direction of President Robert Rabinovitch has refused to meet with CMG President Lise Lareau:
Lise Lareau, president of the Canadian Media Guild, will not be
allowed to speak before the CBC board during their meeting on
Wednesday, according to a letter sent today by CBC president Robert
Rabinovitch.
Nevertheless, Lareau is in Montreal at the hotel where the meeting
will take place and has told board members she is available to speak
wi