Ouimet's Hiatus: Reflections

So my friend Ouimet has decided to take a vacation, probably an extended one. It's really not surprising to me. There isn't alot left to say that hasn't been said already. Personally, I'm not going away, but I also won't post unless I have something to say - which I do at present.

When I started this during the lock out there were some serious problems at the CBC, there still are - but there has also been progress on several fronts and it has become clear that some of the problems are simply not easily solved.

In no particular order of importance:

Problem 1: Staff vs. Contract Employees (what the lockout was really about) - this one is more or less resolved. The ratio of staff to contract is pretty good and cemented in the union contract. The reality is that there are contract employees with no desire to be staff. There are also contract employees who do want to be staff, but if they hang around long enough and do good work, most of them will get there. Related to this is the fact that there are staff people who obviously don't want to be there - to listen to them they seem to hate their managers, most of their co-workers and the corp itself. If this is you, please step aside. Life is too short to work in a job you hate. there are alot of contract people who want your job and are much more enthusiastic about it.
Please note, I will publish no comments with the word 'package' in them unless you're talking about the upcoming holidays.

Problem 2: Senior Management Well, Rabinovich will be gone by 08 - Stursberg will be gone when he is forced out by the board or passes away and likely not before, the rest - who knows, they may be working for CTV or Alliance Atlantis next year. There is no guarantee though that either will be replaced by someone better it could actually be worse and some of them are, I think, doing a pretty good job. My advice would be live with it. No amount of griping is going to change anything on that front I don't think. Liking your manager, or agreeing with their decisions is neither part of the job description or the mandate. When parliament revisits the mandate, hopefully some better guidance will emerge.

Problem 3: How to handle New Media and Emerging Technology: Here they are actually moving in the right direction, more blogs, more pod-casts more on demand video. Could it get better? Yes - they really need to revise their feed rules and be less obsessively possessive about content. The more people that see it the better and the more you let go the more people will see it. More programming needs to be made available and 'streaming' really isn't a substitute for downloads but the market will teach all these lessons sooner or later and it is still the right direction - even if it's by back country roads rather than the freeway.

Problem 4: Involving the public more in public broadcasting: Again, the CBC seems to be moving aggressively in the right direction. The blogs and pod-casts I mentioned are a good start, inviting more citizen participation, user content etc., sounds like it's in the pipe and this will all help no only strengthen democracy by involving the public more in news and current affairs but, if handled fairly and openly will build stronger audience loyalty. I still think a big push behind a reinvigorated Zed would be a good idea though.

Problem 5: Content I don't like everything on CBC, but that was never a requirement. Like everyone else I get to vote with my remote, my radio tuner and my mouse and things that don't get enough votes will die. I'd rather see less British and US programming and I'd like to see the CBC add free (in all mediums) but it seems the public, or at least those in the public that I've heard from, don't agree. They like the Simpsons, they like Coronation Street and Doctor Who and they don't mind the ads. Besides, going add free or all Canadian would take alot more money and we haven't gotten to that bit yet. Can we have a Canadian film night though? I mean show whatever on Saturday and Sunday but maybe on Mondays or something - award winning and nominated Canadian cinema, that would be cool.

Problem 6: Local Content at least in terms of news it sounds like this is beginning to be addressed. In terms of other content, we're back to money and that's next.

Problem 7: Money The CBC doesn't have enough money, and there is little that management can do about it. That is something that I'll continue to harp on and work on.

Problem 8: Bringing the Audience Back: The radio audience is fine, better than fine it's doing exceptionally well. As for television, let's face it - prior to the lockout it wasn't exactly Beatlemania and since the lockout it's fairly anemic. But, Canadians love the CBC, I talk to people every day who will go on forever about how much the Ceeb means to them (and they mean television too) - so I think it's really more a matter of building awareness of what the CBC does, what it offers and the various ways it's now offered and I'm working on that as well.

The CBC is not now, nor will it ever be, what I'd ideally like it to become. I'm not in charge of it, and even if I was I'd have some constraints to deal with that would make creating 'an ideal CBC' very difficult. But, many of the problems that existed when I started this blog have gone away, or are simply not winnable battles. I am going to be working on a project - or two in 07 that I think will be worthwhile and still in the spirit of public broadcasting.

I am not going on hiatus, but I will certainly be listening more than I speak and I will be alot more involved in doing than talking.