People still watch the news?

Yes, people still watch the news. My wife and I only watch CBC’s The National. Everything else is Pablum.

Sad to say but CBC is slowly sinking as well. Linden MacIntyre is taking early retirement from the Fifth Estate due to budget cuts. 24 years at the CBC.

Alison Smith is also leaving the CBC this summer. She’s been with them since the 80’s.

The national. Lol. If the rest is pablum then the national is a value meal from Wendy’s.

CBC oh my!

Who subscribes to TV anymore? Cable TV’s demise will be the fact that you are force fed a package! Let the people pick what they want.

Ben’s got it right. The internet has rendered newspapaers and TV Newscasts as largely irrelevant.

Times have changed.

Yup times of changed. Sites like this one are partly to blame for that demise.

To blame , how can you blame where the truth comes out.

@Pylot: Is the the site’s fault? Or the people that access it?

Pylot Project, you only watch the CBC’s The National? You really do need to expand your viewing choices. I’d much rather watch Dawna Friesen on Global national than Peter Mansbridge,any day!!

Both Dawna Friesen and Lloyd Robertson worked at the CBC. Thankfully both saw the light and moved on to better networks, Friesen to Global and Robertson to CTV!!

CTV? Ha ha ha!!! Ya, that’s unbiased reporting (insert eye roll here)

I’ve watched them all Hart Guy. Most of them are complete crap. The only thing CTV produces of any kind of merit is W5.

JB… if the site wasn’t here, we’d still be reading newspapers etc would we not? Blame, cause, reason… use whatever word works best for you.

Freedom of choice, Pylot. Everyone’s got it. Most people seem to choose the internet to deliver their news. The site doesn’t make anybody do anything.

Instead you are seeing more and more segments on cooking, horoscopes, mixing drinks, fashion make over’s and other life style segments
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Good choice who needs to know all the mayhem that’s going on in our society. CBC used to be my home page but I couldn’t watch it any long. All it ever reported was rape and rampage. I have since switched to straight.com which has a lot of stuff about what’s happening in our society or no rape and rampage

The same story for TV. We switched to CTV Edmonton that had a lot more news about people and their Activities.
Cheers

Pylot Project, you’re correct that most of them are complete crap!

When I flip the channel to CBC, more often than not, I find myself thinking “who produces this crap, does anybody watch this crap, why are my tax dollars paying for this crap???”

Well said Mr Meisner, cannot disagree with you one iota.

When it comes to CBC you pay twice. Once to produce the crap and the 2nd time to have the cable company bring it into your home.

If you want to be infomercialized try our local CKPG on a Sunday morning. Surprised that station still has the doors open. When the featured programming is the Murdock mysteries it doesn’t take much to push the off button on the remote and grab a book.

When it comes to CBC you pay twice. Once to produce the crap and the 2nd time to have the cable company bring it into your home.

If you want to be infomercialized try our local CKPG on a Sunday morning. Surprised that station still has the doors open. When the featured programming is the Murdock mysteries it doesn’t take much to push the off button on the remote and grab a book.

In the age of globalization, only global newspapers and global tv channels will survive the competition. Canadian tv channels are already dominated by US programs, with the exception of news.

Even for the news content, the tv and newspapers are under threat from 24/7 sites like 250news and huffington post which provide the active participation of the news readers with their opinions in contrast to passive one way broadcasting. 8 PM news broadcasting is also stale with the availability of online news,
“hot out of the oven” of the media.

Don’t burn your mouth though …..

LiveLeak.com Redefining the media. Works for me and refines my cynicism. Real life. As opposed to left wing PC watered down points of view news organizations for those wishing to lead a sheltered life. Boko Haram haters are just Islamophobes in disguise.

I think the National is the best news service in Canada today. They bring us in-depth reporting on Canadian and international issues that are not covered by the others. The National also facilitate an open debate of the major issues that allows one to judge and form their own opinion.

I think the budget cuts to the CBC are because the Harper government can not stand the scrutiny. The corporate owned media only reports what is good from a corporate perspective and rarely provides a critical angle to the government agenda. I think it is telling that the Harper agenda with the CBC is all about trying to control the content and not about allowing for better content.

I fully support my tax dollars going to the CBC as a source of unbiased news. The corporate media is about controlling an agenda and maximizing profits, which often come at the expense of real investigative reporting.

The big problem as I see it is the monopolization of the news media. We were sold when it happened about 20-years ago that this would allow for better ‘synergies’ in the news room, but in reality all it did was allow for more cut and paste news stories and the death of competition through investigative news content.

The truth be told the reason why the internet is more competitive today is because it is a free enterprise model and not a monopoly capitalist model. People and advertisers are willing to support a diversity of opinion, but when ti comes to lazy journalism and cut and paste news stories most just tune out to the agenda being sold.

57Channels (And Nothin’ On)… Bruce Springsteen.

Eagleone, you state that you fully support your tax dollars going to the CBC as a source of unbiased news.

The biggest problem with that statement is your suggestion that the CBC is unbiased!!

I have the ability to turn off and not support CTV, Global, Sun News, etc if I do not agree with or support their views, their programming or their bias. Not so with the CBC. While I can choose not to watch their programming, I am still forced to support this network and it’s biased views.

Pull the plug on this greedy, wasteful dinosaur already!

Surprise surprise all the crazies come out to shout down any voice of reason that doesn’t fit their world view.

News flash for you Hart Guy. Canada is a very large and diverse country and without the CBC many areas would get no local news coverage at all. Drive much on the highways in the north and the CBC is the only radio station we have because ‘private’ money doesn’t have the market for the profit margins they require. The service of up to date news doesn’t revolve around the whims of Hart Guy.

If the Sun News is such a great service then why can’t they compete to be the number one and service all areas of Canada equally? The facts are they are full of biased one sided BS owned by a separatist that is bent on breaking up the country… good company to keep for some I guess. No wonder why some don’t like the CBC.

Also the CBC receive less than half of the public funding per capita that the BBC receives, and Canada is what 50 times the size of Britain. At least in Britain one does have a choice if they so choose, not so in many vast areas of Canada where private operators do not even exist.

Cue the foaming at the mouth neo-conservatives.

Yeah, Hart Guy, enjoy the CBC, because you paid for it. Only a billion+ to keep this relic running year after year.

Hockey was the only thing the CBC did well and after this year, they’re losing it.

The CBC is very biased, no doubt about it. THose who say it’s unbiased might be more truthful in saying that the CBC aligns more with their own biases.

You are probably right Johnny that the CBC is not a neo-con rag like Sun News. Does that make it biased… its all relative I guess.

My tax dollars don’t pay for Sun News that I’m aware.

Looking at cancelling my Bell sat subscription and just having the two free stations, You can stream anything else if you have internet. As long as I still have CBC radio 1 I’m a happy camper.

Anybody has read “the medium is the mAssage” book by Marshal McLuhan? In Understanding Media, he describes the “content” of a medium as a juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind. Try: http://individual.utoronto.ca/markfederman/article_mediumisthemessage.htm

You’re going to see/hear what they want you to. Canada has some of the most concentrated media in the world. Free Press is dead.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/HOC/Committee/372/HERI/Reports/RP1032284/herirp02/images/fig11.4-e.gif

Eagleone, if you would untie your knickers for a moment instead of leaving them tied in a bit fat knot, you would see that I have not offered any support for Sun News. You lefties hate Sun News, now don’t you!!

What I said is that I have the ability to choose not to support CTV, Global, Sun News, etc, if I don’t want to. However, I resent having to pay taxes for this crap that we call the CBC. IMHO the CBC is nothing more than a bunch of overpaid left wing hacks that probably couldn’t get a job in the real world.

Let’s cut off their support and then let them earn it from people that WANT to support it!

Eagleone, you state that Canada is a very large and diverse country and without the CBC many areas would get no local news coverage at all. Drive much on the highways in the north and the CBC is the only radio station we have because ‘private’ money doesn’t have the market for the profit margins they require. The service of up to date news doesn’t revolve around the whims of Hart Guy.

Here’s a news flash for you Eagleone! Many, many people in the north, in the far reaching areas outside of regular broadcast signals now have access to a wide selection of broadcasts via Satellite Radio! Please tell me that you have heard of Satellite Radio! It’s been around for a while now!

Many in the north, including the far north also have access to as much diversity in their television viewing choices and you and I do. How you ask? Satellite Television!!!

So much for CBC’s monopoly in outlying areas! Time to remove the funding and let them make it, or break it on their own merits.

If you want it, then you pay for it! I don’t want it, I don’t need it and I sure as heck am tired of paying for it!!

Freaking left wing nuts!! Just as bad as us right wing nuts!! Just a matter of perspective, isn’t it Eagleone!!

@Hart Guy, if you’re against the CBC, you must naturally be for Sun News, right? ;-)

The way it should be — The CBC should adopt the PBS model of funding. Appeal to the people who use it to fund it.

So which national media outlet is right down the middle with their coverage?

JB, the lefties tell me that I need to support the CBC!! Whether I want to or not!!

But I would much rather watch Sun News! However, if I want it, I have to pay for it over and above a basic cable package cost!

NMG, I’ve always thought that the best solution for most problems is somewhere in the middle, although my bias is “right” of middle, haha!

On another note, what’s wrong with a bias? I try to seek out news and opinions from multiple sources in order to get different opinions or takes on a particular issue. I think that’s a useful exercise. Some news is obviously right, some is obviously left. Most of it, however, is obviously NOT NEWS.

One thing I can say about the CBC is that they at least try to inject some thoughtful content over the airwaves. They had a series on a few years back where each week they discussed a genre of music, its history, how it evolved, etc. I have also enjoyed many of their segments on science, political discussions, global affairs, etc. This stuff is mostly on the radio though.

I have no issue with my tax dollars funding that stuff. I don’t see it being any different than my tax dollars going to fund some other service that I may not particularly like, but that has some value to the public somehow.

Canada has been a colony of the UK and the private print, tv and media is monopolized by the right. You can see strong left leaning newspapers like Independent in the UK or the news channels in the US (like CNN) in competition to FOX, but in Canada you have CBC. Why?

“These commodities shaped both the economy and culture of Canada — a colonial economy, an outlier country on the Western margin whose fate was tied to the demand for fur hats or dried fish in European capitals. ” [James W Carey]

Now demand for wood, gas, oil to Asian capitals has replaced fur hats or dried fish to Europe.

All media is biased to some extent, and there is nothing ‘wrong’ with it. The great (and not so great) thing about getting your news from the internet is that you can pick and choose what you consume. For some, that just means only looking at sites that already agree with their points of view.

Like Hart Guy, I have a problem with my tax dollars funding the CBC when it has outlived its relevance. Producing television that hardly anybody watches, and listening to the mostly crap that comes from CBC radio, where everyone seems so full of themselves… not my cup of tea.

I like CBC because it has Canadian content and political discussion. Most other Canadian media does not offer that. Sometimes I like Sun media too although I am often outraged at the none sense they pass for news.

I enjoy the Global news broadcast, but I agree with Ben that it is but a shadow of its former relevance to hard news. In the evening if I’m home nothing beat the National for great Canadian and global coverage.

I try to catch CKPG for the local stories as well.

On CBC I can’t stand Even Solomon, and Q with Jian Ghomeshi. They just don’t float my boat. But on the CBC radio nothing beats their noon hour call in talk show (the almanac), and the Current has some of the most insightful discussions on radio, Cross Country, World at 6, Radio West, As It Happens, and Ideas are all great insightful listening with content not found elsewhere. With what they get paid its better than paying them welfare.

Funny thing is Hart Guy slams CBC as pinko commie, but the vast majority of their viewers and listeners are rural areas that ironically vote Conservative. Ironic indeed considering the cuts the conservative have made to the CBC.

On the internet I mostly read intentional news sites. Washington Post, Ottawa Citizen, Independent, Gaurdian, RT, Press TV, Haratz, Voice of Russia, Taiwan Times, Spiegel, Foreign Policy, Swiss Info, and ABS CBN Philippines are all almost daily visits for a broad perspective.

Of interest lately is the German papers reporting on Blackwater reincarnate ‘the Acadamy’ mercenaries doing all the action for the Ukrainian government in East Ukraine funded by Washington because the Ukrainian troops are not reliable to fight for a government empowered by a coup. They have shoot to kill orders from Kiev and the locals resent this fueling the high turnout for the referendum to establish political sovereignty withing a federated Ukraine. The western media in North America of course reports an entirely different slant on this.

Ya Johnny PBS is now funded by the Koch brothers. How is that working out for America? Home of the oligarchy and screw the rest.

Eagle: “Funny thing is Hart Guy slams CBC as pinko commie, but the vast majority of their viewers and listeners are rural areas that ironically vote Conservative.”

How do you know this?

Generally speaking, I think that CBC Radio is far more engaging and interesting than CBC Television. I could probably live without the latter to be honest. The former? I’m not sure if there is really anything else like it on Canadian radio and to me, that’s what makes it valuable. It has its own niche for that type of content and I think it does it pretty well.

As for Global? I don’t know. I seem to recall it just being the same re-hashed news stories that every other network had with maybe the odd Vancouver story thrown in. 10 minutes of actual news, 10 minutes of Hollywood, 10 minutes of stuff that everyone else had, 5 minutes of weather and 5 minutes of sports. I didn’t find it all that compelling to be honest.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/current-affairs-information/the-current/

I would honestly find it hard to believe that there isn’t something in this list of downloads that most people would find interesting or at least thought provoking.

What will NDP do without CBC?

Australia, like Canada is also a staple economy (exporting raw materials) and a UK former colony of British queen. Is the situation in Australia as bad as the situation of Canada in monopoly of media by the right? Or the situation in Canada is due to the North American capitalism and the dominance of advertisement money in survival of news media?

Eagleone, thanks for taking the time to thoughtfully post your thoughts of the CBC which mirror my own of the broadcaster.

The news is far superior to any of the others, and their prime-time shows are the only broadcast TV I’ll watch, outside of Netflix. There’s no political satire funnier than Rick Mercer and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. This house howls with laughter at Mr. D, and Ron James.

All the other broadcasters are just regurgitating Made In The USA garbage.

You are welcome Pylot. I’m glad I could help. Its important to defend what we value.

Prof, I enjoyed the mind exercise of the medium is the message. Very unique way of looking at it, and hard to argue its not a very true insight. A classic example of that would have been the Colbert Report and the way they reported the days news.

Sort of like identifying a mime before we are even aware the mime is born, so as to influence the direction of the mime itself into its own kind of niche. A relevant thought exercise for the topic at hand. Goerbbels would have loved it and Cobert made an art out of it (medium is the message).

Johnny how do I know that? Its an educated guess, but makes perfect sense.

In a rural area options are often limited to CBC radio and TV content. In urban areas with hundreds of options that would negatively influence the per capita viewers, and one would think it is substantially less than a captured market as the viewership is diffused among the many content providers.

When one looks at where the conservative get elected it is almost always in the rural areas, and they are locked out of Canada’s three largest cities.

Hence where would one assume the conservative voters are getting their daily news content from….