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Saturday, April 24, 2004
Definitely Not Worth Funding
For reasons I cannot remember (probably an infomercial on Rawlco Talk Radio) I am listening to CBC radio's perenially insipid Definitely Not The Opera. Funny of the hour: "DNTO listener picks for Worst Canadian Ever". A wavery, high pitched female voice that streams past vocal cords like warm meat in a sausage making machine announces the "top 5". In ascending order:
#5 David Frum
#4 Don Cherry
#3 Conrad Black
#2 Ben Mulroney
#1 Brian Mulroney
I used to think we should sell the CBC. These days, I think we might just haul it out on a barge until it's far enough into the gulf stream that we can be certain it won't float back to shore.
Posted by Kate McMillan on April 24, 2004 in Canadian Politics | Permalink
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Comments
Well we can sell the material assets of the CBC, but you are right - it must go.
It no longer serves any purpose but its own revisionist agenda.
Its budget should be allocated to true social needs, like medicare, education and the like.
When the so-called "socialists" and Liberals to defend it, they show their own lack of priorities.
The entire concept of a separate and distinct Canadian identity (from what remains an open question) is a fraudulent waste of taxpayers' money and a tool in the hands of corporations like Indigo Books and Bell Canada to restrict competition.
Should the Tories win the upcoming election, I would like them to eliminate the entire Ministry of Canadian Heritage, the CBC, the National Film Board, and Telefilm Canada, eliminate all subsidies and tax credits to production companies, open the cultural industry to foreign (mainly US) competition and ownership, and limit funding to $500 million exclusively for parks, museums and monuments.
The CBC should be especially condemned for showing Maple Leaf games to Westerners. It is a cruel and unusual punishment.
The more the cultural elite cries about this, the more encouraged we should be in destroying their privilege.
Scott M.
Calgary
Posted by: Scott M. | 2004-04-24 4:32:58 PM
I almost forgot:
Even though the Tories are currently in opposition, they should boycott the CBC - refuse them interviews, bar them from press conferences, and condemn its very existence at every opportunity, and urge people to boycott it too.
This way we can turn people away from the CBC and make it into the elitist Eastern institution it truly is.
If only Premier Klein could remove CBC radio and TV from Alberta on the grounds of air pollution.
Posted by: Scott M. | 2004-04-24 4:44:55 PM
Here's something worth checking out if you're as fed up with the CBC as Kate and Scott are:
http://www.cbcwatch.ca
Posted by: Frank | 2004-04-24 5:04:14 PM
You can be honest with us, Kate. You don't need to make excuses. You were listening to CBC Radio because you were tired of the recyclable pop songs, the superficial news, and the repetitive ignorant call-in shows found on commercial radio.
Its leftist tendencies are frustrating, but CBC Radio is still the most thoughtful and informative network on the air. Where else are we going to hear a half-hour discussion of Cervantes, or Richard Gwyn and Lewis Mackenzie on the war in Iraq? It's a shame that David Frum was on the DNTO list, but at least he got an in-depth interview on Sunday Morning when his last book come out.
I don't mind having my tax-dollars support CBC Radio. The TV on the other hand...
Also, I'm a little surprised to see the Western Standard apparently defending Mr. Mulroney. I thought that he remained a bete noire for the West?
Posted by: Marc | 2004-04-24 5:46:37 PM
I think an argument could be made for keeping the CBC radio component, but it would have to live within a tight budget and replace the ideological stuff with arts and culture.
The US National Public Radio is rather good, and could serve as a model for a new entity.
If I were Minister of Communications, I'd have Howard Stern on every morning, Rush and Liddy on in the afternoons, and classical music all night.
But in reality, the entire CBC should be disbanded and scrapped. It is a waste of money no matter how you slice it.
Posted by: Scott M. | 2004-04-24 6:09:04 PM
Do like I do, Kate, just listen to the music and turn it low as soon as the loony lefty gums start flapping. Seriously, though, I was rather disappointed not to see Mark Steyn's name on the CBC's list. Mark has done so much that is richly deserving of CBC disapproval. Long may he reign.
Posted by: alvis | 2004-04-24 6:26:59 PM
Entirely agreed on the CBC. The private sector will pick up the slack -- in the US there are actually private classical music stations?
Love the shotgun, the only thing missing is email addresses for the contributors! Most good newsblogs get some of their best heads-up alerts this way.
Posted by: CrankyCrunchyCanadian | 2004-04-24 6:57:16 PM
Re: classical music stations in the US.
There are several. WQXR - FM 96.3 in NYC - is classical. http://www.wqxr.com
It has commercials too.
Here's a more extensive list:
http://www.classical.net/music/links/musradio.html
Keep in mind that there isn't a lot of money in these stations, so many of them are NPR or APR affliates, or associated with other institutions like colleges.
There is no reason to believe the CBC cannot survive on its own. Its proponents are just unwilling to compromise. Well neither are its opponents.
Posted by: Scott M. | 2004-04-24 7:39:35 PM
HI! I'm Buffy!
I'm the gal you chat with late at night after your wife has gone to bed.
Hey- like, uuh...got any qualludes?
Posted by: Buffy | 2004-05-13 9:14:47 PM
How is it the bias of the radio show when it details a list that was supposedly picked by its listeners? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that this poll (depending on how the data was gathered), more accurately reflects the bias of the listeners?
When the questions is couched in that frame set, any reasonable interpretation of a seemingly unscientific poll changes. Yes, the network may still demonstrate a bias, but I think trying to shoehorn the results of what essentially sounds like a Web poll into your anti-CBC argument is weak.
For example, there was poll released a few months ago showing that a signifigant number of FOX News Channel viewers believed, among other things, that Saddam Hussein was connected to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Of course that theory has largely been debunked. My thoughts center more on the type of viewer that watches FOX News instead of the news presented by FNC (although that is a secondary thought).
BTW, there are a few privately owned classical music stations in the U.S. However, they have decreased in numbers over the past decade. It's not because they aren't popular (quite the contrary, San Diego's classical station was once in the top 10 stations), it's because the market isn't interested in the demographic.
So it's not because there isn't demand for classical music, it's just a sign that the commercial market (which is what everyone seems to want) doesn't want to meet that demand. That to me is a sign that demonstrates the failure of private broadcasters to act to serve the public interest.
Posted by: Ryan | 2004-05-27 8:55:48 PM
Come on, at least Ben Mulroney deserves to be on that list. Conrad Black could stay if they added Adrienne Clarkson.
Posted by: Chris | 2004-05-27 11:37:37 PM
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