Sunday, December 03, 2017
Is the CBC Becoming Even More Con?
If you're a progressive in Canada, this is the kind of CBC News panel that can really ruin your day.
Old, grim, predictable, boring, and as Con as they come.
And like all the other CBC News panels and opinion pages, so totally biased the people's network might as well be a branch of the Con propaganda machine.
As a strong CBC supporter I really didn't think it could get worse.
But sadly I was wrong.
For that is apparently the new host of Power and Politics. The pompous right-wing National Post correspondent and Postmedia minion Andrew Coyne.
Who although he believes the CBC is done like dinner, and that it should be defunded, apparently wants it to fund or feed HIM...
And maybe even make him the new Rex Murphy...
Just another right-wing blowhard In a country where the right-wing influence of those who own the Con media, is starting to resemble the influence Rupert Murdoch has in Britain...
With the emphasis on cloaca.
So while the Con media give the sleazy Con Pierre Poilievre a bully pulpit to smear the decent Bill Morneau, day after day after day...
It refuses to examine the links between the Cons and Ezra Levant's Rebel, or even question Scheer's decision to hire the Rebel director Hamish Marshall as the Con's new campaign manager.
Or ask him and Marshall whether they agree with their buddy Ezra Levant when he accuses Justin Trudeau of being a terrorist supporter.
Ask them whether Levant is working just for himself, or for the Cons as well?
Demand that the Cons sever all ties with The Rebel.
And ask the CBC when will it start taking Andrew Scheer seriously?
Instead of just playing along with him, and making him look dumb but harmless...
When in fact Scheer aka Schmear or Schmeagol, is a sinister religious fanatic and alt-right groupie, a miserable misogynist and a ghastly bigot.
Who would take this country to a very bad place.
It's time to tell the useless CBC managers we need more progressive voices to balance out their right-wing bias.
Not more right-wing hacks.
It's time to tell Andrew Scheer and his mini-me Hamish Marshall that the CBC does not belong to them...
The CBC belongs to all of us including Jerome the Giraffe.
It's our CBC.
And we want it back...
I would like to see "everyday Canadians" for once on such shows.....or don't OUR opinions matter?
ReplyDeletehi Kathleen...yes, that's the problem the views of most Canadians who are progressives not Cons are not being reflected by the CBC for some bizarre reason. They seem to think that if they favour the Cons, those beasts will stop calling for its destruction. Right.
DeleteWhile we who support it are being totally ignored. It makes absolutely no sense...
Radio one is the same. News stories start off with audio quotes from con clown before we even know what the story is about. I mean literally, I didn’t know the story was about the Phoenix pay system until after the quote which was vile and the start of the piece.
ReplyDeleteI’ve always loved the CBC because it was critical of the government but from a human perspective whether is was cons or liberals. I now just turn it off.
hi anon...yes, the bias is all over the place, from the political panels to the comedy shows. It's like a Con cult has taken over the place. But don't give up, we are more than them, and we will take it back...
DeleteBy now, Trudeau could have appointed 2/3rds of the members of the CBC board, including the chairman. He hasn't. That means either he is satisfied with the way things are currently running or he's incompetent. Take your pick.
ReplyDeletehi anon...is that the Con or the NDP view, because these days it's hard to tell them apart. And the idea that Trudeau loves an institution that attacks him all the time is just crazy. In fact, the Liberals have changed the appointment criteria, and at least one big Con has left the board. But you have to let their contracts expire or be tied up in court for years, and potentially have to pay those Cons millions of bucks. In less than a year they should all be gone, and we can start rebuilding the CBC...
DeleteThe directors' contracts have already expired, Simon, in some cases long ago. There are currently 4 unfilled vacancies, some of which have been open for 2 years. Five directors continue to sit on the board even though their 5-year terms have expired, because Trudeau hasn't appointed replacements. Those 5 directors include the president and CEO Hubert Lacroix and board chair Remi Racine - both of whom donated to the Cons. If Lacroix had been shown the door in October when his term expired, you likely wouldn't be posting today about Coyne being hired to host P&P!
DeleteThere is no reason why these positions couldn't have been filled by now with Trudeau appointees - absolutely none. You can't blame Harper and his Cons for the incompetence of the current Liberal government - a government I voted for, unlike you.
Hi anon 11:39....thanks for the info, I thought that only the board chair had departed. However I believe that the Liberals only came up with the new criteria for choosing board members a few months ago, so hopefully those vacancies will soon be filled with competent people instead of partisan hacks. The Trudeau government has had its hands full with all kinds of other projects, so I'm not too worried that the new CBC board is not in place yet. And the reason I'm not is because the decision to hire Coyne would almost certainly be made by the CBC news managers not the board. Most of the slaves who work there have no respect for those managers whi by hiding behind the board are getting away with murder. Their defence of Rex Murphy was so lame, it tells me that is where the problem resides....
DeleteCanada and Britain are fake democracies. The CBC and BBC have always been elitist propaganda. Since the upper-crust doesn't want to pay taxes, they should fund their own fake state news!
ReplyDeleteIf the Cons want to kill the CBC, I'd fake-vote for them just for that! (But only online voting. I'm not going to wait in line to waste my time.)
hi anon...I'm sorry but I totally disagree. The CBC provides services to remote communities that otherwise would be left in the dark. It's a unifying force in a country that is more fragile than many people imagine. And it does help keep our TV programming from being a carbon copy of the garbage TV of private stations in the U.S....
DeleteEzra Levant is a deranged stalker of the prime minister, and for all his protesting (literally and figuratively), his Tru Colors are showing bigly. But so are the CBC's, which appears to also stand for Clueless Broadcasting Corporation. While they're still fuddle-duddling with themselves over old fake news about Morneau instead of zeroing in on Scheer's connections to Ezra and his band of loonies, they're ignoring the fact that the Deplorebel Commander is so obsessed with his target, he actually thinks the Conservative Bullshit Corporation is competing with him for affections that simply aren't there! I saw this yesterday on another blog. It turns out that awhile back (about a year, year-and-a-half ago), Ezra held a poll on his Twitter account asking which CBC personality writes the best erotic fanfic (!!!) about Justin Trudeau.
ReplyDeletehttp://mcclernan.blogspot.com/2017/12/ezra-levant-asking-for-friend.html
Uh...... seriously? Is he even bothering to hide his obvious hate-crush on the PM at this point? I've said it here before: there's a good chance he's got a shrine to Justin in the closet he hides in, and a copy of Common Ground tucked under his pillow with the pages stuck together. Someone should send him that "Canadian Boyfriend" calendar as a Christmas present with a note reading "Fuddle-duddle, you crackpot hoser," and a drawing of his celebrity idol giving him a good ol' Salmon Arm Salute.
I'm starting to think that Ezra's gambit to be the Steve Bannon of Canada isn't even entirely about "power and politics," but is first and foremost an elaborate ploy to get within striking distance of his unrequited crush. You just know he wants Justin to snap at his proxy boy Scheer in the House of Commons, and bring out the party whip. Call him Ezra Gaga. I'm your biggest fan, I'll troll on you until you love me... I'm a, I'm a Nazi...
The CBC should use Rex Murphy's departure to correct their CPC bias, and at least bring in some progressive voices to balance their right-wing ideology. If they don't we must organize boycotts and protests all over the country to get their attention.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to protest something remember: a) stay focused on a specific set of viable demands; b) no pussy hats!
Deletehi anon...that's all we are asking for, more progressive voices on the CBC to better reflect this country. And yes, I understand that some people are planning both boycotts and protests. I'll let you know if I hear from them. But you can let the CBC know how you feel by writing to the Ombudsman or the head of TV News. And of course by not watching their programs until they clean up their act....
Deletehi anon 4:31 pm...I think the demands are simple: correct your Con bias by hiring or soliciting opinions from more progressive journalists. And you don't have to wear pussy hats to write letters, organize protests, and boycott programs. Although I must admit, if I could get a pussy hat I would definitely wear one because I think they're cool...
DeleteAfter a near decade of Harper stacking the CBC to suit him I am not surprised, saddened, but not surprised.
ReplyDeleteAs to the fix? Sorry, got nothing at the moment, been too busy taking care of family and when following news paying much more attention to the much more important Russian story in the USA, given the naked interference and aid in sending Trump to the WH and in the defeat of HRC from the primary on to the general.
We are living in a dark time of history, the CBC is but a faint aspect of the much greater darkness that surrounds us all IMHO. That is not to say it doesn't need dealing with, just that in my case my plate is full enough between security/political issues I have a long term interest in and taking care of my sick parents this year that I have nothing and frankly do not care much at the moment although I do understand the importance of the matter and agree to that extent in the wider sense. That health issues with the folks too is going to make me a bit more pointed than I might once have been, sorry, Simon. This has been a rough year, both on the personal and on the professional/political level for me, and frankly the CBC is something I stopped watching because I could no longer stand the level of imbalance in political analysis and coverage. Glad to see you are keeping an eye on it, better you than me at the moment...*dry chuckle*
Thankfully Trudeau has majority, and probably will repeat in 2019 thanks to if nothing else watching where right wing insanity gets a nation with our American cousins, as well as still remembering that wizard of warmth, that sultan of schwing, Stephen Harper! If it were not for that I probably would be much more focused on CBC than I am at the moment. Still though, it is always good to pay attention to these sorts of things, and if I cannot, at least I know I can check with you Simon for a rough feel/outline of what happened and where things are at if only as a starting point for my own catching up. I do thank you very much for that Simon.
hi anon 4:18 pm...The thought of Ezra Levant having a crush on Justin Trudeau is too horrible to even imagine. But the classy Trudeau does bring out the beast in Levant. I don't know if you remember the day Justin had his picture taken with a group of young women, and the Levantine accused him of sexually assaulting them and blamed that on his slutty parents. They guy is an absolute pig, and should be locked up...
ReplyDelete