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Tuesday, August 23, 2005

save our cbc



The good people at Our Public Airwaves have fixed up the above button. You may have noticed it on our sidebar and you can find the html code for the button here.

As long-time listeners of CBC Radio, we are getting more and more annoyed with the message "due to labour distruption..."

We want our CBC back. We want our As It Happens and Sounds Like Canada. We miss listening to Edmonton AM and the Current. We miss Global Village.

We miss the quality, and are really learning to dislike the new suplementary "national programing" that the CBC is using since the strike began.

It's time for this strike to end.

We believe it's time for the Liberal Government to seriously start funding the CBC.

11 comments:

calgarygrit said...

I really doubt we'll see Canadians get up in arms over this until Hockey Night in Canada becomes threatened.

adriennejackson at g mail dot com said...

i'm just as pissed about the lock out as the next guy, but at least i'm catching up on my bbc programming.

stupid students, too poor to afford real cable.

Simon Pole said...

I actually don't listen to CBC radio much anymore -- but I really depend on the CBC website.

It sucks now. The headlines and stories sound like they're written by sixth graders. Aargh!

Jay Currie said...

It's time we sold the CBC and stopped funding it altogether.

Believe me, hockey would still be on air. But it would not be the only CBC program the majority of Canadians ever watch.

The FM end is doomed in any case as anyone with a record collection (which means everyone with BitTorrents) and a podcasting suite can be Jergen Gothe.

As it happens....please. It was fresh and lame with Barbar Frum. She's a building name, now it is just lame.

Could I live without Peter Mansbridge? Well, if Wendy can so can I, (and I note her hair has looked better ever since.)

Save 1.5 billion, sell the real estate, lose the attitude. The better part of the CBC is already online podcasting.

Nastyboy said...

I really doubt we'll see Canadians get up in arms over this until Hockey Night in Canada becomes threatened.

HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA MIGHT BECOME THREATENED?!?!?!?!?!

daveberta said...

indeed. I heard they might not have audio for HNIC if the lockout/strike continues...

daveberta said...

"It's time we sold the CBC and stopped funding it altogether.

Believe me, hockey would still be on air. But it would not be the only CBC program the majority of Canadians ever watch.

The FM end is doomed in any case as anyone with a record collection (which means everyone with BitTorrents) and a podcasting suite can be Jergen Gothe.

As it happens....please. It was fresh and lame with Barbar Frum. She's a building name, now it is just lame.

Could I live without Peter Mansbridge? Well, if Wendy can so can I, (and I note her hair has looked better ever since.)

Save 1.5 billion, sell the real estate, lose the attitude. The better part of the CBC is already online podcasting."


Well, obviously I must disagree Mr. Currie.

I believe public broadcasting is a very important part of Canada's national identity. I'm not a huge fan of CBC TV (I don't really watch TV in general), but I'm a loyal listener to CBC radio one.

It's the quality of the programing that I enjoy. It's the quality of the reporting, the documentaries, and international content that draws me to it.

The fact that (especially in Alberta) there's an intelligent moderate alternative to the 630CHED right-wing paranoia mumbo-jumbo is extremely refreshing.

AWGB said...

CBC still has to atone for Don Hill, among others.

daveberta said...

I don't understand what was the big deal with the Don Hill thing. I personally couldn't stand his voice and I don't think he was the right person for a phone in show.

Gauntlet said...

Ick.

Love ya, dave, but disagree on a couple of points. First, anytime someone claims that we should keep something because it's part of Canada's identity is implying that Canadians didn't choose and don't get to choose their own identity. If Canadians want rid of CBC, it will be gone. Otherwise, it will hang around. "Identity" is not an entrenched, unchanging thing. Using it to justify the status quo is tantamount to conservatism.

Second, don't you find it disconcerting that there are no right-wing idealogues on CBC? Don Hill's voice aside, I do. I dislike the ideology as much as anyone, but the lack of dissent on the CBC is one example of a good argument that a government should not be running a media company.

Yes, there are benefits to having the CBC public. It doesn't crave advertising, and therefore tends to produce things of higher quality. If you accept that the CBC is avoiding dissent, though, there's a problem: How "good" does Pravda have to be before you can justify keeping it as a propaganda machine for the USSR?

And I'm not suggesting that the CBC start hiring tories. That is, not just tories. It should represent the entire country, including the people who don't have any investment in the existing power structure. Problem is, as soon as the CBC hires them, that changes.

Michael Fox said...

Adrienne, nice pic.

Anyways, Daveberta, when do you become a "we"?