March 31, 2009
 

We should worry about the smaller number of TV broadcasters
across Canada due to the financial downturn, not just the
CBC.

CBC's problems are political, not financial. Governments
prefer a state broadcaster that is the mouth of ministers.
Viewers want a public broadcaster that is sometimes critical
of government. Since governments fund the CBC, not viewers,
tension is inevitable and stable funding uncertain.

Private broadcasters have to be run as a business and that
makes local programming especially vulnerable. This is
especially true for small cities like Kamloops where there
is only one TV broadcaster. We depend on CFJC for local TV
news. Like all local media, TV news provides a source of
information that we use to shape our community and inform
our decisions.

In an ideal world, our window to the world would not shrink
during hard times. Rather, that window would open wider in
times of crisis to allow a clear view of problems and
potential solutions.

In this ideal world, a public broadcaster would step in to
provide more news when private broadcasters fail. But
that's not going to happen in a political climate that is
antagonistic towards publicly-funded broadcasters.

The bedrock of information is local news. There is no other
source; national news is seeded by local news sources.

Private broadcasters were in trouble when financial times
were good. Now that their large conglomerate owners are
suffering from bad investments, small stations pay the
price.

While Kamloops has the dubious distinction of being the
first city in Canada to lose over-the-air reception of CBC,
Brandon, Manitoba may be the first to lose it all.

Like Kamloops before 2006, Brandon's local private TV
station carries CBC programming. Now their only station is
about to turn off the transmitter; one of many station
licenses across Canada that the station's owner, CTV, will
not be renewing.

Brandon has a viewing audience about the same size as
Kamloops. Now they have 30 days to find a buyer. Citizens
are alarmed at the prospect. Nathan Peto of the Brandon
Chamber of commerce laments the loss of local news: "The
news service that CKX provides is something we wouldn't get
on the bigger stations."

One resident of Brandon relies completely on free
over-the-air TV: "I watch CKX news to get local coverage.
Something we won't get if we lose CKX. I do not subscribe
to cable so it is the only way to get that local news. I
understand the dollars and cents, but it will be a sad day
if CKX closes."

Brandon may end up worse off than Kamloops: paying twice for
CBC through taxes and cable, without any local news at all.

TV stations used to be money machines when they were the
only game in town. Now dozens of TV channels are available
through cable and satellite. Many viewers go to the
internet to get their news.

But most internet news is about someplace else, not
Kamloops. The only way to get local news on the internet is
to go to local media websites. If newspaper, TV and radio
reporters didn't probe the news, the stories wouldn't be on
the internet.

Ah yes, there are always the internet bloggers. But can we
seriously rely on someone sitting at their computer to
investigate local issues in an ethical, balanced and
responsible manner? Bloggers are a valuable source of
opinion but opinions (like mine) are cheap. Local colour
doesn't substitute investigative reporting.

Reporting is work, that's why reporters are paid to do it.

From marketing viewpoint, why should we worry whether a
local broadcaster goes under? "Let them fail," is one
uncompromising opinion. If a business makes bad decisions,
why should governments bail them out? However, what
happens when the "product" local broadcasters provide is
like no other? News is indispensible in a democratic
society. Only an informed public can make educated choices
to shape society.

If we don't fund our public broadcaster; and if private
broadcasters are subject to the whims of economic cycles,
who will pay for the news and stories which inform and shape
our sense of community and nation?

Maybe we would be better off knowing nothing. If ignorance
is bliss, we can sit at our TVs and computers watch all the
pretty pictures, immerse ourselves in the faux-news of the
celebrity scene, and let comedians like Rick Mercer and John
Stewart interpret world events for us.

David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca

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