i'm guessing you live in the big city with 500 stations. If you lived or worked in the other 70% of the country you might think differently. There are some places that don't have the market for other types of broadcast stations. The earlier comment about Iqaluit was a perfect example.
CBC - What is it good for?
- Thread starter Ceiling Cat
- Start date
Not to mention that some (admittedly asymmetric) completion between the public and the private goes a long way to improving the quality, accuracy, and fairness of both systems. Rural or urban. But hey, the Reform segment of the Conservatives wants to scrap the long form census as well. Who needs fact based reality when we could have sound bites, infotainment, and lobbying and advertising disguised as news?
What is it good for?
Imma big fan of their The Passionate Eye docu series.
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyeshowcase/
Imma big fan of their The Passionate Eye docu series.
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyeshowcase/
We have National Public Radio and PBS (TV) that are consistent with the comments above other than most of their funding doesn't come from the government (although they are subsidized) but comes from station members (think of it as a grass roots movement). I don't watch much PBS but I do listen to NPR every day - while it is left leaning it's also high quality and diverse (the national programming, the local programming can span from brilliant to trash). In fact, other than the web most of my news comes from NPR and the Economist - I can't stand TV news (regardless of station) as it seems aimed at a 10 yr old (with apologies to 10yr olds).
OTB
OTB
I still don't think it should be part of the government's mandate. The less they are involved in the better. If you live in a town with no local stations, there could still be options - internet maybe? it seems to be catching on a bit, though it could be just a fad.
And apropos of the comment above saying 'we should get rid of the CRTC, as well', I note you also have a similar regulator OTB—considerably more uptight and censorious—in the FCC. Someone has to keep stations from jamming each other.
I think NPR's a treasure, like CBC Radio. Sadly radio tuners, especially AM, are pretty much crap these days. So the only way to be sure of a signal from 970 is in the car.
I think NPR's a treasure, like CBC Radio. Sadly radio tuners, especially AM, are pretty much crap these days. So the only way to be sure of a signal from 970 is in the car.
awhile ago the CBC committed to broadcast only their own or Canadian produced content. Obviously they didn't quite succeed, but have come reasonably close.
Global TV produces nothing, rebroadcasting US content. They deserve the bankruptcy they earned.
CTV produces almost nothing, buys some Canadian content, and rebroadcasts what seems like a lot of US content.
Various provincial broadcasters are substantially government funded and they are excellent at producing local content.
No criticism of the above, endless criticism of the CBC.
I believe those who criticize the CBC as worthless fall into several behaviours:
- upset the CBC doesn't explicitly condone their point of view, a polarizing viewpoint currently rampant in the US.
- watch US content from other broadcasters, therefore assume CBC is useless.
- susbscribe to the general ethos that public funded + unionized = I hate it, regardless.
The CBC has only partially sunk into the vacuous trap of most other broadcasters: salacious muck raking, make the interviewee cry, shock and horror via innuendo at anything slightly risque or vice related. Other broadcasters are insulting with their complete adoption of these practices. One of the few things I admire Stephen Harper for is his complete contempt for the news media: they've earned it.
CBC produces and buys a lot of Canadian content, much not to my or your liking, but many people like it. Some of their content has supposedly sold well into other markets. Their broadcast of select arts events from around the country is often excellent. In a case of only do what you're good at, they've dropped or otherwise lost most sports for HNiC.
Live and / or travel the world and observe other national or similar broadcasting companies, sometimes complete government operations. It is very true that the BBC and CBC are simply the best national broadcasters operating today.
Global TV produces nothing, rebroadcasting US content. They deserve the bankruptcy they earned.
CTV produces almost nothing, buys some Canadian content, and rebroadcasts what seems like a lot of US content.
Various provincial broadcasters are substantially government funded and they are excellent at producing local content.
No criticism of the above, endless criticism of the CBC.
I believe those who criticize the CBC as worthless fall into several behaviours:
- upset the CBC doesn't explicitly condone their point of view, a polarizing viewpoint currently rampant in the US.
- watch US content from other broadcasters, therefore assume CBC is useless.
- susbscribe to the general ethos that public funded + unionized = I hate it, regardless.
The CBC has only partially sunk into the vacuous trap of most other broadcasters: salacious muck raking, make the interviewee cry, shock and horror via innuendo at anything slightly risque or vice related. Other broadcasters are insulting with their complete adoption of these practices. One of the few things I admire Stephen Harper for is his complete contempt for the news media: they've earned it.
CBC produces and buys a lot of Canadian content, much not to my or your liking, but many people like it. Some of their content has supposedly sold well into other markets. Their broadcast of select arts events from around the country is often excellent. In a case of only do what you're good at, they've dropped or otherwise lost most sports for HNiC.
Live and / or travel the world and observe other national or similar broadcasting companies, sometimes complete government operations. It is very true that the BBC and CBC are simply the best national broadcasters operating today.
CBC radio is a piece of shit compared to NPR, you can tell they're strapped for cash by the cheap phone-in gardening, appliance repair, wine discussion and closet organizing shows. Even while 9/11 was happening they didn't stray from their usual crap programming for several hours.
Well, as one of those knuckle-draggers who would like to privatize the CBC, I will just say this: I wish the people who love CBC so much would be willing to pay the bill for it. I have no objection to a station with a left-wing bias. My objection is to the fact that I have to pay my tax dollars to support it, when I don't want to watch it or support it.
So many CBC lovers seem to regularly mock Fox News in the U.S. -- but at least the people who oppose Fox News aren't forced to support it.
I might make an exception for CBC Radio, due to the issues raised about reaching rural communities. But CBC Television and Newsworld -- privatize 'em. Those of you who claim to love CBC Television so much can pay for it out of your own pocket.
Ahem...that's *Julie* Nesrallah. Or as I prefer to call her, "The Future Mrs. ducttape".
He will soon return to his home state to marry her...........................of course we are talking about his state of mind, where the skys are not blue in his world.
There's a huge leap in logic in this line of thinking. Probably because the CBC's defenders can't think of a good reason why CBC shouldn't be privatized.
I have no difficulty with the fact the CBC appeals to a select audience. And that some of you think that people who don't like it -- like me -- are intellectual pygmies.
Fine with me. But given that we all seem to agree that CBC isn't for everyone, then we must also agree that it doesn't meet the test of a "public good," such as health care and education, which are supported by tax dollars because everyone benefits from a strong health-care system and quality education (whether the systems actually meet that test is an argument for another thread).
CBC serves a select audience. And the people who treasure it should pay for it. The pygmies like me, who apparently are too stupid to learn from the CBC, shouldn't be forced to pay for it, since we clearly don't get any benefit from it.
and those who dont want their taxes going to the military or the new fighters they can use it for the cbc then?
