IIC 2011: Pubcasters around the world challenged by economy, technology

By Perry Hoffman

OTTAWA - “It’s a very important time for public broadcasters,” CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Hubert Lacroix told an audience during his opening keynote at the International Institute of Communications Canada (IIC) conference earlier this week. This is perhaps an understatement as the national public broadcaster is faced with the prospect of having to cut 5% to 10% of its budget. But it’s not only the CBC, which is facing some hard decisions, public broadcasters around the world are in an equally financial precarious situation as government’s grapple with the requirement to tighten the fiscal belt as a result of tough...