CBC looking to repurpose up to 500 positions from broadcasting to new media

OTTAWA—CBC/Radio-Canada is looking at repurposing approximately 500 positions from its radio and television sector to its digital platforms as part of its five-year strategic plan, Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of the broadcaster, said to the House of Commons heritage committee Tuesday. Lacroix said five per cent of the broadcaster's budget is now dedicated to the development of web content. But significant changes and shifts in the CBC's staff and resource allocations will only be finalized after the government announces the CBC’s parliamentary appropriation with the budget in March, he said. The Conservative government's strategic and operating review seeks to find $4 billion in annual government savings and all federal departments and agencies, including the CBC, have submitted proposals for budget cutbacks of 5 or 10 per cent. CBC/Radio-Canada generally receives $1.1 billion in annual parliamentary appropriations. “I have no idea what the government’s decision will be,” Lacroix told reporters following the committee meeting. “Obviously, we are doing what we can in terms of dealing with eventualities, but as I do not know what the result of the subsidy will be, it gives us nothing to talk about speculation or possible cuts.” Lacroix said the CBC’s five-year strategic plan will focus on web content and local programming while showcasing smaller regions to the rest of Canada. He said the CBC News mobile apps makes the broadcaster more accessible and gives Canadians information they need “no matter where they are.” Christine Wilson, executive director of content planning for CBC English services, noted the CBC has also expanded its radio programming available online and accessibility through Twitter and blogs. She said that more than 10 million Canadians now use CBC as a news source. Wilson said the effects of the Crown corporation’s online expansion were particularly noticeable on May 2, 2011, when Canadians went to the polls for the federal election and the CBC website received 17 million views on pages providing local results. “Before transformation, it would’ve been two million,” she said. The CBC’s transformation was a part of a corporate strategy to improve regional content, feature more arts, documentaries and youth programming and extend its journalistic presence to more locations. Wilson said the broadcaster has not experienced a significant reduction in conventional television viewers and that new media platforms continue to represent “a niche market.” She added: “But CBC recognizes that it is evolving.” Louis Lalande, interim executive vice-president of French services at CBC/Radio-Canada, said the expansion of online services has extended its reach into more areas. “The web allows us to serve regions like Laval, Que., which we could not do before,” he said. In a release Tuesday, the CBC said the launch of Escape.mu, Radio-Canada’s new music service, will offer the most francophone music content on the web. As part of its strategic plan, the broadcaster also seeks to re-establish weekend newscasts in 12 of 13 Canadian communities, Lacroix said. He said weekend newscasts will return to Toronto, then Calgary, with weekend news in Montreal expected by September 2012. Wilson added that the Crown corporation’s regional platforms will go beyond local news. “Local news obviously is pivotal,” she said, “but focus on non-news regional content is important as well.” Wilson cited its coverage of the Newfoundland Screech Comedy Festival and a documentary called “40 Years of One Night Stands,” which profiled Manitoba’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, as examples of regional programming shared with national audiences. Wilson told the committee that the broadcaster will also offer a weekly two-hour block of movie programming called “Canadian Movie Night in Canada,” by next summer, which will air at 9 p.m. Lalande added that in Quebec's French-language film market, 14 new movies were made last year, with Radio-Canada investing in 11 of them. The public broadcaster has also come under fire from the government and private corporations recently due to notable delays in responses to access-to-information requests, which have caused them to question exactly how the corporation is spending its funds. During a separate meeting of the House ethics committee Tuesday, Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault said the CBC has received approximately 1,400 information requests since it came under the Access to Information Act in 2007. “Of those, 1,100 have resulted in complaints to my office,” Legault said. She added that she is concerned with the Crown corporation’s interpretation of Section 68.1 of the Access to Information Act, which allows CBC to exclude certain records for disclosure of journalistic or creative programming activities. Legault told the committee that CBC’s published interpretation of Section 68.1 guidelines states that “an access to information request may be refused on its face by the person with delegated authority, if this person concludes that the request for the information is excluded from the application by virtue of Section 68.1 on the sole basis of the wording of the actual access to information request.” She said that if CBC is denying requests based upon this wording, “I think it’s mistaken and misguided.” Legault noted that, prior to the dispute, a 2010 report from her office found that CBC took an average of 158 days to respond to access-to-information requests and had an information refusal rate of 60 per cent. But she said the public broadcaster is now reporting significant improvements, with an average response time of 57 days and a refusal rate of 22 per cent. “Although, we have not verified this information yet,” she added. The CBC is appealing a Federal Court decision last year that gave the Office of the Information Commissioner the authority to order the CBC to produce requested records. Legault said that, in addition to this case, her office has more than 180 investigations about requests for information to the CBC. But Lacroix told reporters Tuesday that he will address the issue when he appears before the ethics committee on Nov. 1. On its website, the CBC says that conflicts with the information commissioner are not uncommon. “In fact, government departments and Ministers have gone to court more than 180 times with the Information Commissioner to clarify Access to Information issues,” CBC writes. dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

CBC looking to repurpose up to 500 positions from broadcasting to new media

Broadcast | October 26, 2011

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