Source : Globe & Mail

Welcome back to the little drama that unfolded during my visit last week to CBC HQ. (The HQ is now called "The Fort" by many of those who toil there. I don't know why. It's sooooooo last year.) Today's instalment features intrigue, mystery and money.

Remember the scene - yesterday I was telling you about being splayed, almost supine, on a nightclub-style couch in the company of Richard Stursberg, boss man in English CBC Television, Radio and online operations. Actor R.H. Thomson arrived, sat and set in motion a debate about CBC and Canadian culture.

It was both fascinating and disconcerting. The last time I'd seen Thomson, he was onstage at the Tarragon Theatre, busy being Willy Brandt, the late German chancellor, in Michael Frayn's play Democracy. The play is about truth and illusion, evasiveness and symbolism in politics. It's about how the seemingly large issues that dominated Cold War politics became tiny footnotes in the larger swell of historical events.

In the matter of CBC, the drama is, I think, similar. It's about show business. And the question in this: "Is CBC in the showbiz racket or a crucible of Canadian culture?" Will history remember CBC for its tiny success in showbiz, or for something else? Anyway, as soon as the distinguished actor was shooed away, I asked Stursberg about the situation of News and Current Affairs at CBC-TV. This, too, is about showbiz and culture. Believe me, it really is.

Let's be clear here. Stursberg is easily and often demonized, especially by CBC's own staff. He's a lightning rod for disgruntlement. He admits that he's taking CBC in a more populist direction. He wants CBC-TV to air hit shows. That's his vision and he's the boss. Under his direction, CBC-TV is putting greater effort into finding, producing and airing popular TV series. That's the way it is.

But, for much of the CBC's core audience, CBC is primarily a news source, the fount for documentaries and investigative reporting. It's what sets CBC-TV apart. It ensures that CBC-TV is never, ever commes les autres. For CBC staff, their mission is to deliver more and better news and current-affairs coverage. They are proud of that, and rightly so.

For months, I've been hearing from CBC staff that the budgets for various programs - CBC News Sunday, Marketplace, the fifth estate - and the news operation, had been cut. People were steamed. They said they couldn't perform their mandated role. They said there was friction inside CBC on the matter. I heard about "a rancorous newsroom scrum" in which Stursberg was confronted about budget reductions, acknowledged them and complained about the failure of various CBC News "platforms" (that would be radio, TV current affairs, The National) to co-operate on newsgathering. I heard that Pastor Mansbridge had told Stursberg he was incorrect in his assertions and used an indelicate expression.

I'd heard that the Documentary Unit at CBC was in crisis thanks to a peculiar accounting practice, in place for many years, and the unit had less money than it thought.

So I asked Stursberg if there had been budget cutbacks for current-affairs programs. He said, "No. The budgets were not cut for this season." I asked him if the budget had been cut for TV newsgathering, specifically for The National. He said, "No. We feel we can mange our resources better. The news department is being restructured. We aim to have the news gathering resources feed all the platforms, not just one show. That way we can cover more stories."

I also asked Stursberg if my impression of problems in the Documentary Unit was correct. He acknowledged that, indeed, there had been an accounting problem, but emphasized that it was a matter of "interpreting the value" of CBC's existing documentary inventory. He said the problem had been dealt with and would probably be resolved this week.

That's it. The answers are "no" and "it is being sorted out." And yet there is obviously something amiss. Maybe those complainants in News and Current affairs exaggerated. Maybe that "rancorous newsroom scrum" never happened. Maybe Stursberg was being very careful in his choice of words about "restructuring."

But there's no "maybe" about the vital importance of news and current affairs at CBC-TV. It is the benchmark by which CBC is measured and the marker of value to its core audience.

Newsgathering and investigative reporting are not American-style showbiz. Sometimes, it ain't sexy at all, but it matters. It's not just part of the CBC culture, it's part of the Canadian culture. We are news and current-affairs addicts. Look at the numbers for CBC shows over the first 10 weeks of 2008 and it's Rick Mercer Report that's at the top, both in overall viewers and in the younger 25-to-54-year-old demographic that CBC craves. That's because Mercer's blend of whimsy and caustic commentary is anchored in news and current affairs. In Canada, news and current-affairs coverage morphs into showbiz. We're funny that way.

When we finally extricated ourselves from that nightclub-style couch I saw that some money had fallen from Stursberg's pocket. Two dollars and 25 cents, to be exact. He retrieved it and joked about needing it later. Sure. Every penny counts. Not just in making hit shows, but getting news and current affairs on the air.

© Globe and Mail

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March 31, 2008 - Globe & Mail: Dust-up at the CBC: Culture, 1 by John Doyle
Columnist describes an interesting encounter between Canadian actor R.H. Thomson and CBC's Executive vice-president of CBC English Services over the role of Canada's public broadcaster.