TORONTO – After a wave of criticism of its decision to suspend local newscasts due to the unprecedented challenges presented by the Covid-19 outbreak – which viewers and others complained providing coverage nationally and locally is what the CBC is for – the public broadcaster announced Tuesday it will restore lost local newscasts over the next two weeks.
As we’ve reported, CBC News decided to temporarily scale back local supper-hour English language newscasts “for operational reasons due to the surge in Covid-19 related live news stories across the country. To be clear, this was a temporary measure to ensure stability in our news service to Canadians,” says today’s statement. However, since the announcement, CBC News teams across the country have been restoring local news segments.
“Starting tomorrow (March 25), CBC will continue to restore our local TV news offer for local audiences with an expanded 30-minute local news segment on CBC News Network. Viewers in all our regions will see their trusted anchors back on air reporting the local news that pertains to their communities,” it continues.
“Over the course of this week and next, we will make every effort to have all of the dedicated local shows back up on the main network. We understand the frustration this has caused our viewers and thank them for their continued support and patience as we restore service.”
