Worth the Money?

It's amazing to me that people would even question whether the CBC is worth the money. I think, as an institution, a provider of information and Canadian entertainment the CBC is worth far more than what it gets. It is interesting to me that the people who bash the CBC and question whether or not it's worth the money do not question the tax money that goes to say... CTV, City, Global, Alliance Atlantis, Warner Brothers, Universal, Fox, and countless others.

I've listened to Hollywood producers rattle off lists of what is required ( % that must be shot in Canada, % of cast and crew that must be Canadian etc., in order for them to get money from Telefilm. So, the reality is that everyone - every major film studio (inside and outside Canada) and many independents as well as most, if not all, of the privately owned television stations, and television production companies in Canada get 'tax money'. The difference is that CBC has a mandate to provide quality reliable programming as a public service and that, being publicly owned, the tax money that the CBC gets does not go into the pockets of people who are already very wealthy. Everything is spent on operations, acquisition and production.

Just a little reality check. Now, before you start going after Telefilm and the Heritage Department, which has many other subsidy programs for the arts; I would point out that, relative to its population, Canada has an unusually large number of internationally known actors, recording artists, comedians, authors, film makers, etc., I believe that it is in part because of these program, and in many cases thanks to CBC that this is true and I believe it's worth every penny.

In other news, a document has surfaced that was produced in 1996 by the Cable Television Ass'n - which was headed at the time by Richard Stursburg. Please see Robin Rowland's Blog for details - this is the must read of the day.

Also, a TTFN to Ouimet who is departing for the time being saying "It's a long, strange story and kind of hard to explain. " but is also encouraging others in the building to take over.

If you have some extra time, pay a visit to Conway who is filling in for 'Locked Out Employee 100000223' while she takes a long weekend. You might also want to say hello to I Said Walk in Windsor, who is has recently taken up blogging.

Finally, just as a reminder, for anyone who doesn't know there is a yahoo group for locked out CBC employees and their supporters at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cbclockout/ .