CBC Ombudsman to do Internal Investigation

[August1991]

A journalist feeding questions to an MP on a 'story' that journalist is covering is unquestionably unethical. Even the CBC recognizes this and have launched an investigation, as any responsible news organization should. Kudos to them for that.

Journalists are supposed to ask questions. If a journalist manages to get someone else to ask the question, then so what?

This has happened before and it will happen again. There is no way to control it even if you wanted to. The only reason we know about this now is because, according to Jean Lapierre, some "influential MP" told him.

As to the CBC, it is investigating this because it has to. The Conservatives filed a complaint with the CBC Ombudsman.

This amounts to sniping bewteen the Liberals and the Tories and I think it implies that an election is not far off. They're like two brothers in the back seat. You just know that something's going to happen.

Edited December 15, 2007 by August1991

[Michael Bluth]

Journalists re supposed to ask questions. If a journalist manages to get someone else to ask the question, then so what?

Answers given in the committee hearing are given under oath. Answers given to reporters are not.

That's so what. The journalists question has added legal gravity when the journalist didn't ask it himself. Why is Rodriguez bestowing this benefit upon this journalist.

This has happened before and it will hapen again. There is no way to control it even if you wanted to.

That is why journalists, as supposed 'professionals', act under a code of professional conduct.

[Wild Bill]

Answers given in the committee hearing are given under oath. Answers given to reporters are not.

That's so what. The journalists question has added legal gravity when the journalist didn't ask it himself. Why is Rodriguez bestowing this benefit upon this journalist.

That is why journalists, as supposed 'professionals', act under a code of professional conduct.

There's been a growing amount of support among Canadians to disband or privatize the CBC. It's ironic that the CBC seems to be helping this meme grow...

[jdobbin]

There's been a growing amount of support among Canadians to disband or privatize the CBC. It's ironic that the CBC seems to be helping this meme grow...

Do you have a citation for that?

[Michael Bluth]

There's been a growing amount of support among Canadians to disband or privatize the CBC. It's ironic that the CBC seems to be helping this meme grow...

Absolutely.

CBC Watch is having service problems but they were by far the most diligent in pointing out consistent and ever present examples of CBC bias.

[capricorn]

A journalist feeding questions to an MP on a 'story' that journalist is covering is unquestionably unethical. Even the CBC recognizes this and have launched an investigation, as any responsible news organization should. Kudos to them for that.

How unbiased will this internal investigation be? It looks to me like the CBC will be investigating itself. Does this look like the case to you?

[Michael Bluth]

How unbiased will this internal investigation be? It looks to me like the CBC will be investigating itself. Does this look like the case to you?

Probably some bias in the investigation.

Still better than nothing.

As more and more of these blatant examples of bias occur the CBC will have to get stricter with the investigations. Or the cries for a change in their business model will grow until they are forced to change.

[Topaz]

Maybe they do, and who knows?

Which is kind of my point.

----

Let's separate the CBC's obvious bias (paid from our taxes) from the source of questions of an MP. Apples and oranges.

You say CBC is bias?? I say bias belongs to Duffy on CTV!!! If it was up to this conservative party, all the networks in Canada would be a servant to the Cons., like in the US, were more airwaves are run by Republicans! No Thank you. We need balance, the cons can have CTV and the rest of Canada will take CBC and Global!!

[Topaz]

IF CBC did give then some questions, they may have been from Canadians sent to CBC to find out the answers. Are the Cons going to sue the people that sent them?? I think the Cons should think more on the answers than worry were the questions came from. BTW, Mulroney answer was enlighting, admitting he does have contact with ministers with Harper's party. I guess I'd try to stop the answer too!

[jefferiah]

You say CBC is bias?? I say bias belongs to Duffy on CTV!!! If it was up to this conservative party, all the networks in Canada would be a servant to the Cons., like in the US, were more airwaves are run by Republicans! No Thank you. We need balance, the cons can have CTV and the rest of Canada will take CBC and Global!!

Private networks can be left or right. There is no ethical issue there because they are privately owned. The CBC is government run and tax funded, like a public school. It is not the job of a public school to promote one political party, right? Same with the CBC.

Maybe you disagree, but to me it is quite apparent the CBC is left-leaning. And that makes a great deal of sense in a way because the existence of CBC itself (as a government network) is a leftist thing.

If CTV were conservative that would be OK. But that is a ridiculous assertion anyway. CTV is pretty centrist, probably left of center overall, and if even they were blatantly right wing that should be no problem. It is privately run and not a government entity. Likewise if CBC were privately funded they could be as left as they want.

For me the bigger issue is that CBC is irresponsible. Some people will say CBC actually makes money. Or August might say there is a little less commercial time. But they are receiving funding from every single Canadian and using that funding in a way which is basically useless.

I will wager that there are more Canadians who would rather sit through the endless commercials to watch an episode of CSI (although I am no fan myself), than those who would sit through an episode of The Hour or Dragon's Den or Little Mosque. I have watched The Hour and I think George Strombolopolous is a nice fellow and all, but his show does not do well. And it costs alot to produce. That is antithetical to good business and this is an example of how CBC spends money. If CBC wants tax payer dollars they should function in a way in which they provide the programming the majority of those tax payers would watch (even though they are probably mostly shows I would never watch). I also think CBC could stand to be cut in many aspects. Perhaps CBC radio....?

Edited December 15, 2007 by jefferiah

[Michael Bluth]

IF CBC did give then some questions, they may have been from Canadians sent to CBC to find out the answers. Are the Cons going to sue the people that sent them??

If the questions came from the general public the CBC would have been acting appropriately in urging those citizens to send their questions directly to their MP of choice.

That's a pretty big IF though.

[capricorn]

If CTV were conservative that would be OK. But that is a ridiculous assertion anyway. CTV is pretty centrist, probably left of center overall, and if even they were blatantly right wing that should be no problem. It is privately run and not a government entity. Likewise if CBC were privately funded they could be as left as they want.

Agreed.

IMO, the primary objective of a news agency is to increase it's base of appeal in order to rise in the ratings. A strictly left or right news perspective thwarts that objective. Advertising is the primary source of income for private news agencies. When ratings go down, advertisers look somewhere else for maximum exposure to the public.

That's why the CBC need not concern itself about balanced news reporting because it's primary source of funding, i.e. public money, remains untouched. CBC ratings are peripheral to its operations.

[jdobbin]

Perhaps CBC radio....?

Perhaps CBC Radio what? CBC Radio One in some urban markets has climbed to be one of the top 5 stations of all the stations. And that is done with no commercials and mostly not competing with the majority of the music based stations.

[Michael Bluth]

That's why the CBC need not concern itself about balanced news reporting because it's primary source of funding, i.e. public money, remains untouched. CBC ratings are peripheral to its operations.

In return it is fair to ask that the CBC and its reporters not engage itself in such blatant political gamesmanship as to supply questions to an MP on a commons committee conducting hearings.

[Canuck E Stan]

Perhaps CBC Radio what? CBC Radio One in some urban markets has climbed to be one of the top 5 stations of all the stations. And that is done with no commercials and mostly not competing with the majority of the music based stations.

And those "some urban markets" are..... where?

[Topaz]

In return it is fair to ask that the CBC and its reporters not engage itself in such blatant political gamesmanship as to supply questions to an MP on a commons committee conducting hearings.

IF CBC did give questions to LIbs, then they should have gave them to the Cons and then the Cons wouldn't complain. I really think what this is all about is CBC Fifth Estate series on Mulroney and Schreiber. I also know when the Con appeared on CBC with Don Newman, Don asks tough questions to all parties and he doesn't like any of the parties to have more time than the others and the Con on Newman show that day, didn't like the way he was treated by being cut off, but he was talking too long., and he did come out as say, he didn't think there needed to be a public inquiry because Schreiber was lying and Mulroney was not. Then about later , we heard on CTV's Duffy, the same Con on Duffy's, saying how the Libs got questions from CBC.

[jdobbin]

And those "some urban markets" are..... where?

Winnipeg: Number 2 radio station.

Thunder Bay: Number 1 radio station.

Ottawa: Number 1 radio station.

Calgary: Number 7 radio station.

Edmonton: Number 6 radio station (best ratings in decades and prior to their move to FM).

Vancouver: Number 2 radio station.

Victoria: Number 4 radio station.

Toronto: Number 1 morning show. Number 1 weekend show.

http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/...7/radiobbm.html

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/e...d4-5b75bb3e5be0

http://www.lastlinkontheleft.com/r020a20071spring.html

http://www.radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2651

http://www.radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2652

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/t...is-lessing.aspx

http://www.friends.ca/News/Friends_News/ar...les12030704.asp

Edited December 15, 2007 by jdobbin

[Argus]

That comparison is incorrect.

The committee is not a law court and the MPs are not judges. Rodriguez can get his questions from whatever source he wants. I just don't see this as an issue at all.

Don't be naive. The court is the court of public opinion, and that's the only court the MPs on the committee are interested in. This whole farce is designed to dig up dirt and smear the conservatives. The MPs are partisan. The media, which conveys the message to the public, is not supposed to be, but clearly is. Especially the CBC. How would you feel about them sitting there behind the bench with the Liberal MPs, openly whispering advise and telling them what to say? That wouldn't bother you either?

[Michael Bluth]

If CBC did give questions to LIbs, then they should have gave them to the Cons and then the Cons wouldn't complain.

Why not simply behave ethically? Report what happened in committee, not try to influence it.

I also know when the Con appeared on CBC with Don Newman, Don asks tough questions to all parties and he doesn't like any of the parties to have more time than the others and the Con on Newman show that day, didn't like the way he was treated by being cut off, but he was talking too long., and he did come out as say, he didn't think there needed to be a public inquiry because Schreiber was lying and Mulroney was not. Then about later , we heard on CTV's Duffy, the same Con on Duffy's, saying how the Libs got questions from CBC.

Maybe you think you are making some point, but it's really difficult to judge what you are saying when you refer to an unnamed 'Con'. Maybe add a name so we can figure out what your rambling is about.

[Canuck E Stan]

Winnipeg: Number 2 radio station.

Thunder Bay: Number 1 radio station.

Ottawa: Number 1 radio station.

Calgary: Number 7 radio station.

Edmonton: Number 6 radio station (best ratings in decades and prior to their move to FM).

Vancouver: Number 2 radio station.

Victoria: Number 4 radio station.

Toronto: Number 1 morning show. Number 1 weekend show.

http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/...7/radiobbm.html

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/e...d4-5b75bb3e5be0

http://www.lastlinkontheleft.com/r020a20071spring.html

http://www.radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2651

http://www.radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2652

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/t...is-lessing.aspx

http://www.friends.ca/News/Friends_News/ar...les12030704.asp

That's great news.

It just shows they can make it on their own without taxpayers having to foot the bill.

[Argus]

Winnipeg: Number 2 radio station.

Thunder Bay: Number 1 radio station.

Ottawa: Number 1 radio station.

Calgary: Number 7 radio station.

Edmonton: Number 6 radio station (best ratings in decades and prior to their move to FM).

Vancouver: Number 2 radio station.

Victoria: Number 4 radio station.

Toronto: Number 1 morning show. Number 1 weekend show.

http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/...7/radiobbm.html

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/e...d4-5b75bb3e5be0

http://www.lastlinkontheleft.com/r020a20071spring.html

http://www.radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2651

http://www.radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2652

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/t...is-lessing.aspx

http://www.friends.ca/News/Friends_News/ar...les12030704.asp

It's nice to play games with statistics, isn't it? What you're doing is imputing ratings to the stations because of people scanning the dial listening to the news and sports during rush hour. However, while not bothering to look into other markets, I can tell you that the CBC radio station in Ottawa has about half the ratings share of Ottawa's talk radio CFRA overall, and most of that comes from rush hour drives. The rest of the time it's ratings are in the toilet.

[jdobbin]

It's nice to play games with statistics, isn't it? What you're doing is imputing ratings to the stations because of people scanning the dial listening to the news and sports during rush hour. However, while not bothering to look into other markets, I can tell you that the CBC radio station in Ottawa has about half the ratings share of Ottawa's talk radio CFRA overall, and most of that comes from rush hour drives. The rest of the time it's ratings are in the toilet.

The BBM ratings book is how the radio stations assess their ratings. You can take up your concerns with them.

The industry goes by these numbers. They obviously don't dispute them even if you do.

It is here if you care to look.

http://www.bbm.ca/en/BBM_Canada_S4_2007_To...eport_final.pdf

Edited December 15, 2007 by jdobbin

[Canuck E Stan]

The BBM ratings book is how the radio stations assess their ratings. You can take up your concerns with them.

The industry goes by these numbers. They obviously don't dispute them even if you do.

It is here if you care to look.

http://www.bbm.ca/en/BBM_Canada_S4_2007_To...eport_final.pdf

So why isn't CBC funded by it's supporters if it's as rated as good as you say it is?

[jdobbin]

So why isn't CBC funded by it's supporters if it's as rated as good as you say it is?

It is funded by its supporters: the taxpayers. It leaves the commercial radio market to the private broadcasters.

[August1991]

It is here if you care to look.

CBC-1 gets a whopping 8% of the Toronto market. It gets a larger 10% of the Winnipeg market and about 9% of the Vancouver market. It does better in Ottawa - around 16% or so on average. (All those civil servants... )

Come to think about it, the CBC-1's market share is not far from the NDP's popular vote in federal elections.

Bear in mind that CBC radio has no advertising and has resources that other stations can only dream of.

It is funded by its supporters: the taxpayers.

All taxpayers pay for the CBC but only 1 in 10 listens to it. Edited December 15, 2007 by August1991