The public broadcaster, CBC refuses to run an advertisement which says the government is encroaching on its independence. The lobby group, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting created the ad. CBC said it would not air it because that might imply the broadcaster endorsed the campaign.
The ad campaign targets a law which allows the government to sit in on the labour negotiations of Crown corporations including the CBC. Several unions, journalists groups and academics sent a letter to the prime minister in early June saying the measure threatens the independence of the corporations.
“Effectively the government is introducing itself into the decision-making of the CBC,” said Ian Morrison, spokesperson for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. He called the move a dramatic departure from the traditional independence of the CBC as guaranteed in the Broadcasting Act.
says CBC must remain at arm’s length from
government. © Patrick Tam
Risk to CBC’s independence,says Morrison
“There’s the risk that the CBC will become less independent, will not be part of the forces keeping a watch on the government in the interests of democracy and public knowledge, but will become more a mouthpiece of the government and, as in non-democratic countries, a state broadcaster,” said Morrison.
CBC’s lead news anchor, Peter Mansbridge has scoffed at the notion that CBC journalists’ day to day integrity is negotiable calling it “pathetic.”
The government would not comment on the ad but told the Globe and Mail the law would not affect “the independent operation” of the CBC.
As part of its campaign the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting released results of a public opinion survey which it says support the CBC and its independence.
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