OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The rising number of media outlets, many of which are controlled by the same conglomerates, isn’t evidence of a diversity of voices on radio and television, the CRTC was told Wednesday.
Several media unions on Wednesday stated the pooling of media resources from different cities across a chain of stations under the same ownership didn’t equate to more perspectives in the news. Also, requiring a reporter to produce a story for multiple platforms – TV, radio and the web – is contributing to lower quality reports as journalists aren’t left with enough time to research background documents and check with multiple sources.
Canadian Media Guild communications coordinator Karen Wirsig noted there “is a mind-numbing amount of repetition of programming and repurposing of content” despite an ever increasing number of stations and websites. She also complained to the CRTC about a shortage of good quality local programming.
“Repurposing content doesn’t count as diversity,” Mary Agnes Welch, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, told the CRTC. “It’s the same content regurgitated through the various platforms.”
Welch pointed out the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC)’s Journalistic Independence Code “does little to limit content-sharing among newspapers and television stations owned by the same company.” She also expressed concerns about the broadcasters’ ability to self-police.
For example, she noted, the Sun Media chain has consolidated its national coverage so that content is created centrally and farmed out as “must-run” to the newspapers in its chain. Welch contends that as a result, there are fewer beat reporters and fewer local columnists.
The converged media companies in a bid to cross-promote across multiple platforms are also contributing to fewer media voices, stated the unions. Media Guild national president Lise Lareau called “insidious” the requirement for print journalists to write about programming on a related TV station as news.
The union representing media workers at the Journal de Montreal noted, for example, that Quebecor used its numerous platforms to promote its commercial TV interests, namely the show Star Academie on TVA. Some 28% of television-related articles in The Journal de Montreal in 2006 were about Star Academie, while only 5% concerned Radio-Canada’s hit talk show Tout le monde en parle, noted the Syndicat des travailleurs de l’information du Journal de Montreal.
Even producer Stephen Ellis, appearing on the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) panel, noted that the “repeat factor” on television wasn’t regulated. He noted that companies with a horizontal array of channels are trying to get each TV show on a maximum number of TV channels for the maximum amount of time.
He pointed out that broadcasting TV shows across many channels not only devalues the product, but also takes up a lot of shelf space, leaving less for other programs that would provide more diversity.
The CFTPA once again pressed for terms of trade agreements with broadcasters, and advocated for any disputes being adjudicated by the CRTC. One of the issues holding up terms of trade discussions the CFTPA is having with CTV Inc. is provisions over payment for second-window broadcasts.
The CFTPA is also pushing to have the percentage of priority programming that major broadcasters must source from independent producers increased to 85% from 75%. With 400 independent production companies across the country, this increase would contribute to more diverse voices making it onto the small screen, according to CFTPA president and CEO Guy Mayson.
The CRTC’s Diversity of Voices hearing resumes Thursday, with Rogers Communications, Corus Entertainment, the Writers Guild of Canada and the Directors Guild among the interveners.
Norma Reveler is an Ottawa-based freelance writer and is covering the diversity of voices hearing all week for Cartt.ca.
