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UNPLUGGING THE CBC
In 2003, two private sector research companies
carried out a study of the CBC. It was the most extensive
of its kind, drawing on the views of thousands of Canadians
from coast to coast.
It is no surprise that the respondents to
this survey believe that the government-owned broadcasting
system, CBC, which receives $850,000,000 annually from the
Canadian taxpayer, is politically biased and supportive of
the Liberal government.
This bias of the CBC is perhaps one of the
most important reasons why this broadcaster is no longer attracting
viewers as it once did. In fact, CBC's viewership has dropped
precipitously for the past quarter century. According to a
study in 2001, the CBC's viewership dropped to 7% from the
13% it had held between 1991 and 2000. This is a far more
significant drop than that experienced by the private networks.
The CBC's left-wing bias is so obvious that
it has now become a national joke.
The most recent example of the CBC's left
wing interpretation of events is its coverage of the capture
of Iraq's former President, Saddam Hussein. In its coverage
of the event, the CBC showed an angry group of Saddam loyalists
reacting to the capture, and predicted that it would make
little difference to the lives of Iraqis, and for good measure,
added that the former dictator's capture was militarily meaningless.
The viewers were then taken to Kabul, Afghanistan, to remind
Canadians that, although Hussein was caught, Osama bin Laden,
"who was far more dangerous", was still at large.
It was a pathetic display of the CBC's leftish, elitist propaganda
- a reflection of the Toronto and Ottawa-based elitists who
run the corporation, but do not have, or care to have, a clue
about the views of rank and file Canadians. CBC's desire seems
to be to get its left-wing message out.
Further, the CBC all but salivated over the
statements by Alliance MP Larry Spencer (see "Alliance
MP Larry Spencer and Freedom of Speech"), that homosexuality
should be re-criminalized. Not only did Spencer's comments
serve as a bonanza for the CBC to attack "redneck"
western Alliance people at a sensitive time in the party's
history, (just prior to the vote on the question of amalgamation
with the Tories), these comments also provided a golden opportunity
to shore up politically correct thinking on homosexuality,
i.e. speak of it only in glowing positive terms.
At the same time, however, the CBC all but
ignored the politically incorrect statement by Liberal MP
and junior cabinet minister, David Kilgour (Edmonton Southeast),
who said that same-sex marriage could lead to incest and polygamy.
This conclusion is based on the plausible grounds that if
the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a
woman can be changed to two people of the same sex by the
courts, then the definition can also be changed by the courts
to include other relationships as valid for entering into
a legal marriage. Such relationships would include that of
an uncle and niece, for example, or three or more persons.
In this regard, it is significant that an announcement was
placed in the homosexual newspaper Capital Xtra (Dec. 4, 2003
issue) announcing a meeting of lesbians and bisexual women
to discuss issues and experiences surrounding the "polyamorous
lifestyle." So who says this will not happen?
This inconsistency was too much for at least
one Ottawa viewer who e-mailed CBC ombudsman, David Bazay
as follows:
Would you be so kind as to explain to
me why yesterday (Nov. 27) your network was so happy to
revel in the glory of hearing that a Saskatchewan Alliance
MP had some anti-gay remarks, whereas today I get absolutely
no mention of David Kilgour (Liberal) and his anti-gay remarks??
I studied your website, "The National" and CBC
Radio Ottawa (my backyard) and come up with nothing. Does
the word "agenda" mean anything to you?
As one who was once told (verbatim) by
a CBC Radio reporter that "The reason you don't think
left-wing is because you're not educated enough" I'm
a little sensitive to the subject.
To his astonishment, he received a response
from none other than Tony Burman, Editor in Chief and Executive
Director, CBC News, Current Affairs and Newsworld, who for
once admitted to the CBC's unbalanced coverage.
Mr. Burman stated:
You wrote to take us to task for covering
Canadian Alliance MP Larry Spencer's comments to The Vancouver
Sun on homosexuals, but failing to cover Liberal MP David
Kilgour's comments on same-sex marriage made the same day
to an Alberta newspaper. You felt that it was unfair to
cover one, but not the other.
I appreciate your point and I fully agree
with you.
… However, the reason had nothing
to do with a CBC "agenda" as you feared. The CBC
is famously proud of its editorial independence. And I think
you will find that independence amply and publicly demonstrated
over the years.
Regrettably, in this case, our news gathering
system failed. It did not work efficiently enough in bringing
the story - and its importance - to the attention of the
editors and producers preparing news programs. We should
have done better. As a result, over the last few days we
have undertaken a thorough review of the reasons the system
failed in this instance with a view to taking the appropriate
steps to ensure that it does not happen again.
One isolated apology, however, does not mean
any change in the CBC's outlook. (One will notice that Burman
also misstated the CBC's so-called "agenda".)
At one time, the CBC was the only broadcaster
to bring the nation and the world to millions in our far-flung
country. This is no longer the case. Cable, satellite and
the Internet provide almost every person in Canada today with
access to at least a few dozen TV stations - many of them
Canadian.
Therefore, CBC English TV is no longer essential
for the "public good," and, because of its demonstrable
political bias should lose its government subsidy. The millions
of taxpayers' dollars the CBC now receives should be spent
on more than just the 7% of Canadians who now watch the network.
Please write to the Minister of Canadian Heritage,
Hélène Scherrer, to object to the bias of the
CBC, and to request that the taxpayers' support of this corporation
be withdrawn. Her address is as follows:
The Hon. Hélène Scherrer,
P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
12th Floor, 15 Eddy Street
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M5
Fax: (819) 994-1267
E-mail: Scherrer.H@parl.gc.ca
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