OTTAWA – Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (FCB) has launched a new social media campaign designed to head off a new round of programming and service cuts at CBC.
According to the self-proclaimed independent watchdog of Canadian programming, CBC executives will present a plan to the board on June 17 and 18 that will recommend pulling the plug on CBC Radio 2 in favour of distributing music exclusively online, and propose further cuts to CBC TV’s primetime and children’s programming. FCB credits unnamed sources within the CBC for the information.
The campaign, called ‘Free the CBC’, is highlighted by a satirical video that skewers Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“These upcoming cuts and those announced by the CBC at the beginning of April are the direct result of the Harper Conservatives’ punishing budget cuts”, said Friends spokesperson Ian Morrison, in the news release. “This campaign is intended to demonstrate that his government cannot drown out the voices of Canadians who support the CBC – that is to say, the vast majority of us.”
Formed in 1985, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent, Canada-wide, non-partisan voluntary organization whose mission is to defend and enhance the quality and quantity of Canadian programming in the Canadian audio-visual system.
