CBC News: Should It Even Exist?

[Moonlight_Graham]

For those not familiar, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) is a popular governent-run/funded media company in Canada that broadcasts television & radio channels in Canada, plus internet etc. They have their own national news program on TV plus local news, internet news websites, and talk-radio stations. Not to mention a CNN-style 24h tv news channel

 

The question is, should the CBC even run news at all? They are funded by the government, so there is a conflict of interest there. Its generally regarded by many that the CBC has somewhat of a Liberal bias ("Liberal" as in the "Liberal Party of Canada", who had control of gov't of Canada for the last 13 years until last year when the Conservative Party won).

 

Do u want TV/radio/internet news that is funded & owned by the government? Should the CBC just stick to entertaiment programs etc.? I say CBC news should be scrapped, i don't like the idea.

[garsk]

there is always going to be a bias with news no matter which channel you watch, but i watch the CBC evening news because i find it has better national coverage then CTV or Global.

[heyrabbit]

yeah I really don't think it matters. pretty much all of the news stations have a liberal bias which is probably why I don't get news from tv.

[Some Random]

if it disappeared, i wouldn't even notice. i haven't watched cbc news since i only had 3 channels and no internet. and even then i only watched it in the morning.

[Crusader]

CTV news is run by Bell. How is a news station run by the Bell Corporation really any different than the CBC being run by the gov?

 

CNN = Time Warner. None of our news sources are impartial.

[Some Random]

if it passes through a human brain at all, it isn't impartial.

[supercanuk]

CTV news is run by Bell. How is a news station run by the Bell Corporation really any different than the CBC being run by the gov?

 

CNN = Time Warner. None of our news sources are impartial.

Bingo my friend.

 

I don't buy any of this "media has a liberal bias" stuff because the media is a massive corporation which has an inherent conservative bias. Not in terms of political parties but in terms of ideologies. Remember these guys are a business, and who they are owned by dictate their content. If General Electric owns NBC, do you figure you will hear ANY bad content concerning GE? Hells no, and their one of the most evil multinationals.

Again, the media simply ignore and omit information all the time, in fact the myth of the "liberal news reporter" (whether they are personal liberal or not doesn't really matter), really is used to create a mental image that the media is somehow fair and balanced.

The media are owned by a handful of major corporations, its a horrifically monopolized industry that does not offer a real spectrum of information. You need the internets to get the real independent news from scholars and independent journalists.

 

Please, i beg you, all of you, read Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky, and it will really brighten your understanding of one of the most dangerous and powerful industries in our lives.

 

 

I have only had 3 hours of sleep so i don

Edited February 25, 2007 by supercanuk

[Matt]

Yes it should exist. Do you know why the CBC even exists? It comes from a time when most of our content came from the States over radio. It was to have at least some more Canadian content out there. Without them many Canadian programs would simply not exist, there would be no funding for them.

 

Global practically runs an American style newscast now, CTV's starting to go the same way. At least CBC News, is a little better at balance.

Edited February 25, 2007 by Matt

[garsk]

CTV news is run by Bell. How is a news station run by the Bell Corporation really any different than the CBC being run by the gov?

 

CNN = Time Warner. None of our news sources are impartial.

Bingo my friend.

 

I don't buy any of this "media has a liberal bias" stuff because the media is a massive corporation which has an inherent conservative bias. Not in terms of political parties but in terms of ideologies. Remember these guys are a business, and who they are owned by dictate their content. If General Electric owns NBC, do you figure you will hear ANY bad content concerning GE? Hells no, and their one of the most evil multinationals.

Again, the media simply ignore and omit information all the time, in fact the myth of the "liberal news reporter" (whether they are personal liberal or not doesn't really matter), really is used to create a mental image that the media is somehow fair and balanced.

The media are owned by a handful of major corporations, its a horrifically monopolized industry that does not offer a real spectrum of information. You need the internets to get the real independent news from scholars and independent journalists.

 

Please, i beg you, all of you, read Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky, and it will really brighten your understanding of one of the most dangerous and powerful industries in our lives.

 

 

I have only had 3 hours of sleep so i don

[Moonlight_Graham]

wow interesting results. Im the only person so far who thinks government run news is a bad idea.

 

Yes every news corp. has its bias, but news coming from a government corp. goes through an entirely different filter. I happen to like watching "The National" & i think CBC news does a pretty decent job, but thats completely beside the point.

 

Oh and Matt there's a difference between Canadian content like Mr. Dressup & Degrassi vs the news. Not talking about getting rid of the other non-news programs.

[Matt]

Well most people watch CBC for the news, so without the news how much more money would the CBC lose each year? Maybe enough to see the rest of the network get pulled.

[Moonlight_Graham]

there is always going to be a bias with news no matter which channel you watch, but i watch the CBC evening news because i find it has better national coverage then CTV or Global.

Bias coming from the Government is a lot different than regular media bias from private media corps.

 

Where & when does the line of bias step over into gov't spin-doctoring & indirect pressure from the gov't to report (or not report) the news in a certain way?

 

What if the Bush admin had something like the CBC news during the last several years? Could look something like FOX News but much more subtle & possibly even more f'ed up.

 

Still am astounded im the only person here who has some sort of problem with gov't run news. Hasn't anyone seen V For Vendetta, or pay attention to China & Iran etc.?

[ecnarf]

Honestly, the CBC puts out the best news-type shows and documentaries I've ever found.

 

I think the most important aspect to the CBC is that their funding is guaranteed no matter what they produce. This allows them to put out documentaries exposing the activities of corporations and even the Canadian government without concern for profits, or even which advertisers come to them. And we all remember that famous interview clip with Ann Coulter. There isn't one major US news organization that took Coulter to task the way the CBC did. Obviously, I'm more cynical than to think that the CBC is the absolute purveyor of truth in this world, but they do a far better job of that than just about any other major North American news outlet I've read.

 

The trolodytes who whine about the CBC's liberal bias piss me off to no end. Not catering to absolute stupidity in the name of "impartiality" isn't fair, balanced, or any fucking stupid catchphrases they steal from American news networks they don't watch. Accepting that global warming is real, or making documentaries about environmental concerns instead of "Great Leader Harper Personally Educates Afghanistan Women About the Finer Points of Enlightenment Thought" does not a liberal bias make. Rather, a bias towards reality.

[supercanuk]

Honestly, the CBC puts out the best news-type shows and documentaries I've ever found.

 

I think the most important aspect to the CBC is that their funding is guaranteed no matter what they produce. This allows them to put out documentaries exposing the activities of corporations and even the Canadian government without concern for profits, or even which advertisers come to them. And we all remember that famous interview clip with Ann Coulter. There isn't one major US news organization that took Coulter to task the way the CBC did. Obviously, I'm more cynical than to think that the CBC is the absolute purveyor of truth in this world, but they do a far better job of that than just about any other major North American news outlet I've read.

 

The trolodytes who whine about the CBC's liberal bias piss me off to no end. Not catering to absolute stupidity in the name of "impartiality" isn't fair, balanced, or any fucking stupid catchphrases they steal from American news networks they don't watch. Accepting that global warming is real, or making documentaries about environmental concerns instead of "Great Leader Harper Personally Educates Afghanistan Women About the Finer Points of Enlightenment Thought" does not a liberal bias make. Rather, a bias towards reality.

CBC definetely puts on some good docs but they certainly have their downfalls.

 

It's not like the CBC can be likened to Iran or China, or the tyrannical government found in Alan Moore's comic made move V for Vendetta.

 

The issue is that does the CBC represent the same interests as the private owned media? The CBC gets gov't funding and has internal checks for bias and can be held under close scrutiny then private media outlets yes. But both government and private corporations tend to support the same things, and the interests that they protect are also the same. They legitimize illegitimate authority, and shape opinions as well.

This is the problem i find with ALL media, not just government owned, and at least with the CBC you COULD try and get reform done to it, whereas with private media you can't.

An example: CBC has been really weak on the Afghanistan issue, they don't cover very much of what is going on with the warlords in Karzai's government(whom we support btw) stifling women's movements (RAWA which existed prior to and during the Taliban years). And at the same time, the CBC will rip apart the U.S. and the Iraq debacle, which im glad they do, but they cannot expose straight lies our own government are stating themselves.

 

The media both private and governmental is something that doesn't have to have official censorship, if you get into the media establishment you have been trained through schooling to censor yourself, just the way they want you.

[Moonlight_Graham]

Obviously i don't think the CBC is like media in Iran or China. I also enjoy the CBC news & they make some good docs. What i'm saying is the potential for abuse is there. It would be very easy for some political corruption to slip into CBC news. It will probably never be like Iran or China obviously, but to think some CBC producers have never left something out in the news because it reflected bad on the political powers that be or as a "personal favor" is probably naive. Especially given the disgusting corruption under the Chretien gov't, and the long reigns in power some of our governments have had. (Cue Matt)

 

What would be wrong if the CBC were an independant, publically funded station like PBS, & worked under similar guidelines for mostly Canadian content? I'd rather donate my money privately than have it run through the govt. Of course that can bring corruption/bias too but at least its not directly from the state.

 

I guess its just the idea of govt-run news i don't like.

[supercanuk]

Hey I just found this on Youtube, it's really worth a watch and it has to do with the so called liberal media bias,