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The issue in Canada is that the CBC, despite having excellent journalists, investigative, local, and otherwise, and being an invaluable resource to many small c

The issue in Canada is that the CBC, despite having excellent journalists, investigative, local, and otherwise, and being an invaluable resource to many small communities, is overwhelmingly (but not entirely) biased in favour of one political party and whatever identity politics are currently the mainstay of their image. And it’s the party that nearly always campaigns on increasing their funding. I love(d) the CBC. I grew up watching it every day, and listening to it on the radio in the car. Some of the programming is still fantastic, but tuning into a national broadcast funded by the taxpayer, one would expect by chance alone to go more than 5 consecutive minutes without hearing someone bring up “black”, “queer”, “indigenous”, “climate change” or having every caller or interview be some sort of spokesperson or research chair with one of those words in their title. Combined with things like job listings explicitly but professionally saying “white men need not apply”, most reasonable individuals would say they turned certain dials a little too far left for anyone listening that’s not a young progressive or outside of an urban core. They also tend to leave out facts or context from certain topics and news stories where including it may reflect poorly on certain groups or a person of a certain identity. Lying by omission for the greater good is an editorial decision they’re comfortable with, leaving those who use it as their sole news source with stances that align broadly with progressive beliefs of systemic XYZ or discrimination in events where it’s a spurious assertion when considering details they leave out.

mmastrac 1y ago
Some of this stuff bugs me as well, but there's no good reason to defund an organization with some problems when you can fix it instead.
- triceratops 1y ago
  I read the poster's comment more closely and they sound paranoid tbh.
  - transcriptase 1y ago
    Paranoid about what? The things I’ve mentioned have been noticeable across the political spectrum for years. https://www.reddit.com/r/CBC_Radio/comments/1ao0ie1/what_the_heck_is_going_on_with_cbc_radio/ https://www.reddit.com/r/CBC_Radio/comments/1ao0ie1/what_the... https://www.reddit.com/r/AskACanadian/comments/18cz52m/why_do_a_lot_of_people_hate_on_cbcradiocanada/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskACanadian/comments/18cz52m/why_d... Etc. Pointing out why many people take issue with the modern state of CBC, particularly all of their non-news content, doesn’t put one in opposition with the things they’re prioritizing.
triceratops 1y ago
> And it’s the party that nearly always campaigns on increasing their funding Sounds like there's an obvious way for any party to get good press from the CBC /s The fact that you think "climate change" is an evidence of bias betrays your own bias.
- transcriptase 1y ago
  Inserting it into every conversation is an example of them playing to certain audiences, particularly when it’s being mentioned in a way that appears to be checking a box versus being relevant or substantial. I refrained from including in my original reply that another issue is that those they’ve increasingly tailored their personas/programming to legitimately can’t see any issue with how CBC has changed in the last 10 years. Whether that’s because they’re not old enough to remember the CBC when it was far more dry and neutral I’m not sure.
  - triceratops 1y ago
    I mean sure the diversity angle could definitely be about playing to certain audiences. Climate change ain't though. You believing it's proof of that tells us about your own biases. Also I missed this in your original comment > Combined with things like job listings explicitly but professionally saying “white men need not apply”, This sounds shockingly illegal. Do you have an example?
    - transcriptase 1y ago
      Perhaps you’re assuming that I’m a climate change denier or that I take issue with it being discussed because I included it as an example. Neither is true. My point is that there was a period of time when listeners would tune in and hear things like “Coming up in the next hour, how climate change is impacting the Jazz scene in Toronto’s entertainment district!”. Perhaps they’ve dialed it back recently but it was the equivalent of keyword stuffing in radio form, and rarely anything worth listening to when considering a coast-to-coast audience. As far as the job posting controversy it has happened a few times, the worst being where they put “any race except Caucasian” in a casting call for a kids tv host, and “preference given to women etc” on most others. It’s legal in Canada though you’re not supposed to say the quiet parts out loud like the former example.

mmastrac 1y ago

Some of this stuff bugs me as well, but there's no good reason to defund an organization with some problems when you can fix it instead.

triceratops 1y ago
I read the poster's comment more closely and they sound paranoid tbh.
- transcriptase 1y ago
  Paranoid about what? The things I’ve mentioned have been noticeable across the political spectrum for years. https://www.reddit.com/r/CBC_Radio/comments/1ao0ie1/what_the_heck_is_going_on_with_cbc_radio/ https://www.reddit.com/r/CBC_Radio/comments/1ao0ie1/what_the... https://www.reddit.com/r/AskACanadian/comments/18cz52m/why_do_a_lot_of_people_hate_on_cbcradiocanada/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskACanadian/comments/18cz52m/why_d... Etc. Pointing out why many people take issue with the modern state of CBC, particularly all of their non-news content, doesn’t put one in opposition with the things they’re prioritizing.

triceratops 1y ago

> And it’s the party that nearly always campaigns on increasing their funding Sounds like there's an obvious way for any party to get good press from the CBC /s The fact that you think "climate change" is an evidence of bias betrays your own bias.

transcriptase 1y ago
Inserting it into every conversation is an example of them playing to certain audiences, particularly when it’s being mentioned in a way that appears to be checking a box versus being relevant or substantial. I refrained from including in my original reply that another issue is that those they’ve increasingly tailored their personas/programming to legitimately can’t see any issue with how CBC has changed in the last 10 years. Whether that’s because they’re not old enough to remember the CBC when it was far more dry and neutral I’m not sure.
- triceratops 1y ago
  I mean sure the diversity angle could definitely be about playing to certain audiences. Climate change ain't though. You believing it's proof of that tells us about your own biases. Also I missed this in your original comment > Combined with things like job listings explicitly but professionally saying “white men need not apply”, This sounds shockingly illegal. Do you have an example?
  - transcriptase 1y ago
    Perhaps you’re assuming that I’m a climate change denier or that I take issue with it being discussed because I included it as an example. Neither is true. My point is that there was a period of time when listeners would tune in and hear things like “Coming up in the next hour, how climate change is impacting the Jazz scene in Toronto’s entertainment district!”. Perhaps they’ve dialed it back recently but it was the equivalent of keyword stuffing in radio form, and rarely anything worth listening to when considering a coast-to-coast audience. As far as the job posting controversy it has happened a few times, the worst being where they put “any race except Caucasian” in a casting call for a kids tv host, and “preference given to women etc” on most others. It’s legal in Canada though you’re not supposed to say the quiet parts out loud like the former example.