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PRIVATIZING THE CBC

N

northwoods

Earlier this year a debate was raging in Washington DC over whether funding should be cut off for NPR over the controversy of the firing of Juan Williams on his opinion about his fear Muslims on The O'Reilly Factor.

My opinion is that it should have been cut off and privatized (same with PBS) for the reasons that it has a liberal bias and that the taxpayers should not be funding it not only for the reason of it's biased tendencies, but also due to the fact that the country in fiscal shambles, it's not a luxury the american taxpayer can afford anymore. Most importantly, the government shouldn't be in the broadcasting business.

Which brings up the point of whether the CBC should be privatized for the same reasons.

Interested in all thoughts and opinions.
 
As the Old Man says on Pawn Stars, "Not only no -- hell no." If there are any bias one way or another, why not equate it with the other sides, or offer neutral views. Privatising it would not only not work, but it won't solve the bias problem.
 
Leave the CBC alone. As a Canadian taxpayer I don't mind that miniscule amount of the overall federal budget being directed towards keeping the CBC alive. Sure beats the billions wasted on Harper's fighter jets.
 
Are we talking about CBC T.V. or radio or both ? CBC T.V. the last time they cut back the CBC there was a big change in programing and not for the good. CBC radio I never listen to it. I have tried both CBC 1 and CBC 2 . But I do know a lot of people do enjoy the CBC and I also think some people tune in because they pay for it. But if it was up to me I would give CBC TV more money and make a new CBC radio with a little local Advertising and still getting tax dollars but not as much. each transmitter would get 5 or ten minutes of local news per hour. I would take CBC1 and CBC2 and make it one and have only the top programs from both CBCs . I know this is a little flawed but it's a thought.
 
CBC Television should be left alone. It's a safety net for employees let go from other television stations. ;)
(ie Dwight Drummond, former employee of CityNews on City TV Toronto)
 
I think that CBC Television and Radio should be restructured to become less reliant on federal government funding but remain in public hands. Other funding sources should include provincial governments and greater private involvement, whether it be commercial sponsorship or underwriting.
 
They'd might as well run commercials on Radio 2 now. Nothing wrong with that, other state broadcasters do the same with their 'entertainment' services.

~BG
 
Privatizing PBS, NPR would only make the bias problem worse. They'd have no reason to try and appear neutral and would instead do what their donors and advertisers wanted.
 
Dan said:
Leave the CBC alone. As a Canadian taxpayer I don't mind that miniscule amount of the overall federal budget being directed towards keeping the CBC alive. Sure beats the billions wasted on Harper's fighter jets.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

As an American frequent listener of CBC Radio One - LEAVE IT ALONE.

First, Americans (especially those on the political right) like to say NPR stations are "too liberal" and scream about how their precious tax pennies (which when you break it down in total amount of tax funding for NPR is actually how much people are actually spending individually on NPR/CPB from their income taxes - just PENNIES per year) are being spent to uphold something straight out of Communist China.

And then spit on the laid-off guys who's jobs got shipped to Shanghai on their way to Wal-Mart to pick up a super cheap HDTV imported from Guangzhou for $500.

Go figure........
 
spunker88 said:
Privatizing PBS, NPR would only make the bias problem worse. They'd have no reason to try and appear neutral and would instead do what their donors and advertisers wanted.
Click to expand...

If they can't stand on their own two feet in the free market system and are unable or unwilling to compete for listeners, then they shouldn't be subsididzed by the taxpayers.
 
[/quote]
First, Americans (especially those on the political right) like to say NPR stations are "too liberal" and scream about how their precious tax pennies (which when you break it down in total amount of tax funding for NPR is actually how much people are actually spending individually on NPR/CPB from their income taxes - just PENNIES per year) are being spent to uphold something straight out of Communist China.[/quote]

Is it about the bias? Yes. Is it about the how much of the taxpayers money is being spent to support it? Yes.

I oppose my tax dollars going to support government run media, regardless of whether it's biased toward the left or right. When the government controls the media, they control the message.

As Voltaire was once quoted as saying " I may detest what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". I don't think Voltaire had taxpayers money in mind when he said this.
 
northwoods said:
Dan said:
I think you've been watching too much Sun-TV pal.
Click to expand...

Why would I watch a TV channel out of India that I don't even receive?
Click to expand...

He was referring to Sun News, a news channel that many refer to as "Fox News North" (never mind that they carry international news from CNN) Sun News is the successor to CKXT-TV in Toronto, which was previously known as "Sun TV". CKXT will be going dark at the end of October, so that Sun News would truly be a Cat-2 channel everywhere, including Toronto.
 
Public radio exists where corporate radio fails. Besides, if government funding for NPR ended, where does that leave radio stations in deepest Alaska that NO corporate behemoth would TOUCH. Or WAY up in the Yukon and Nunavut if the CBC were ended?

They wouldn't survive. And that's not a good thing.......
 
azumanga said:
northwoods said:
Dan said:
I think you've been watching too much Sun-TV pal.
Click to expand...

Why would I watch a TV channel out of India that I don't even receive?
Click to expand...

He was referring to Sun News, a news channel that many refer to as "Fox News North" (never mind that they carry international news from CNN) Sun News is the successor to CKXT-TV in Toronto, which was previously known as "Sun TV". CKXT will be going dark at the end of October, so that Sun News would truly be a Cat-2 channel everywhere, including Toronto.
Click to expand...

Since I live in the lower 48, I do not receive Sun News. However I am a huge fan of Fox News Channel. I checked out Sun News website and if I received it, I most likely would watch it.
 
I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I find it absolutely absurd how someone in "the lower 48" who doesn't even pay taxes in this country can rant & rave about privatizing the CBC.
 
I think northwoods is really a troll bought and paid for by the Heritage Foundation. Or at least a volunteer for their party line. Hence the all caps and the provocative headline on this thread. !!!

He has no clue about the historical mandate for the CBC, to bring Canadians together with a national identity, with Canadian programming, and why it still is important, regardless of the dumbing down many of us find in the presentation and content of CBC TV and radio in the past few years.
Likewise, whens someone claims that NPR and PBS are "government broadcasting," they betry that haven't a clue how it works in the USA, either. It's nearly an opposite structural arrangement to the CBC, and both seem to work reasonably well in each country, despite the need to establish a trust fund to de-politicize the funding for CBC and CPB, and to help local stations in the US have a facilities program again that will help with digital conversions, emergency tranmitter replacement, etc.

Complaing about your hard earned taxes going to "support NPR" is like complaining about government funding of your local IGA grocery store. The NPR system is more like a co-op, and "government" grants for the arts and for technical facilities (that one was just removed this year) are channelled thru the CPB, which has been headed by Republican-appointees for many years now. And to think that Juan Williams was in any way significant to either his past gig at NPR, or to anyone else, shows that Fox has done a great job of setting a fantasy agenda that just won't fade away, since it serves to perpetuate myths that have no relation to how things really work or are funded.

I guess to be a true believer Foxhound conservative and to even suggest this thread, you have to have no idea how the world works -- outside of the rules of the game in your own imagination. Sorry, fella, but just because you don't like classical music or straightforward news that doesn't cheerlead the Koch Brothers industries, doesn't mean there isn't a need or an audience for non-commercial public broadcasting.
 
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