Outlines fresh approach to local news
OTTAWA – The national public broadcaster got a relatively easy ride at the Heritage committee on Thursday. CBC/Radio-Canada was given the opportunity to explain how its recent $675 million increase in funding would affect local news and its operations in general.
During its appearance, the broadcaster noted it is transforming its newsrooms to a multiplatform environment where there will be a single assignment desk for TV, radio and digital. The expectation is that all journalists will have to file for all platforms.
Decisions to shift news operations based on digital first mantra and adopt a multi-platform approach were made prior to Budget 2016 where the extra money was announced after years of near-neglect from the previous government.
As Conservative MP Kevin Waugh highlighted, “the budget was Christmas for CBC,” but he wanted to know the broadcaster’s plan.
Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor in chief for CBC News, noted that “the focal point of the money” is for news programming, including local news. Transforming to digital first has been ongoing, and the corporation will continue to invest in this area. In addition, investments back into news (after taking $10 million of the budget) will come to ensure sustainability and growth.
“We have announced that we will be adding a station in London, Ontario as part of our commitment to that new money,” she said. “Then obviously the investment for CBC goes beyond news. It will be invested in the television schedule, in our digital capabilities in terms of fixing some of the technology pieces and other programming initiatives.”
With respect to French services, investments will go to similar activities, noted Michel Cormier, general manager for news and current affairs for CBC’s French language services. This will include investing in regions where there were cutbacks as well as in digital and mobile because these are growing in importance.
“We don’t want to recreate what Radio Canada was before the cutbacks but we look to the future and we want to invest in as optimal a fashion as possible so that we can produce a product that is of best quality and accessible to all Canadians,” he said.
Part of the new investment from the federal government will also go to recruitment, added Marco Dubé, executive director of regional services for French language services. Outside of the major centres like Ottawa and Gatineau, the corporation is finding it difficult hire new talent so some of the money will go towards this to ensure services can continue in smaller markets.
“They’re engaging in news content, but they are not engaging in that content on television.” – Jennifer McGuire, CBC
There will be approximately $6.5 million reinvested in local news across all CBC/Radio-operations. French services will get $3 million to invest in regional services. English services will get $3.5 million, of which $2 million will be invest in local services. This doesn’t include the investment in the London TV station.
Waugh questioned CBC on its flip flops on news, longer newscasts and then shorter and then back to longer.
McGuire acknowledged that this was an issue but said local news services should be viewed as an ecosystem. As well, she added, going digital is about reaching new audiences over and above the strong audience for radio.
“Our radio services are very successful but they reach a set demographic and if we are going to provide public service journalism… to millennial Canadians and younger Canadians we have to reach them where they’re consuming content and that is on digital platforms,” McGuire said.
So far this approach appears to be working, according to the EIC. CBC reaches nearly 52% of millennials on digital platforms, so “they’re engaging in news content, but they are not engaging in that content on television.”
These investments in digital and the transformation of the newsroom to a multi-platform approach have allowed the corporation to reinvest in “augmented journalism” or investigative and enterprise journalism, noted McGuire.
