By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA — The Attorney General of Canada has told the Federal Court of Appeal that it intends to file an application for the court to hear its arguments against a decision by the CRTC forcing CBC/Radio-Canada to apologize for a program’s use of the slur, saying the regulator was not in its statutory right to do so.
Last month the public broadcaster appealed the June 29 decision, stating in arguments filed to the court that the CRTC had no jurisdiction under Section 3 of the Broadcasting Act and failed to take into consideration Charter values…
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GATINEAU – Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced today the reappointment of Michael Goldbloom as chairman of the public broadcaster’s board of directors.
Goldbloom’s second five-year term is effective March 29, 2023, five years to the day after he was first appointed by the Governor in Council.
“I am very happy to congratulate Michael Goldbloom on his reappointment as Chair of the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors,” Rodriguez said in a release. “With his vast expertise and firm grasp of the ever-evolving broadcasting and digital environment, he will continue to guide the work of our national broadcaster’s Board of Directors and provide quality advice and…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – The Senate transportation and communications committee pushed forth more amendments on the last leg of its clause-by-clause review of the Online Streaming Act, approving an age verification requirement for explicit material on the internet.
“Online undertakings shall implement methods such as age verification…to prevent children from accessing programs on the Internet that are devoted to depicting, for a sexual purpose, explicit sexual activity,” according to a committee-approved amendment this week.
Bill C-11 would give the CRTC the power to further regulate digital platforms, so platforms will be subject to scrutiny to implement those measures.
Other amendments adopted by…
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OTTAWA — The Broadcasting Accessibility Fund (the Fund) announced last week it will award $398,016 to three new projects, approved by its board of directors, that will advance the accessibility of Canadian broadcasting content.
“These three innovative projects represent the completion of the Fund’s eighth round of grants, with a total commitment of approximately $4.4M to date, to address gaps in broadcasting accessibility,” a press release explains.
The CBC is receiving $107,467 for a project designed to optimize closed captioning for children with disabilities. “This project aims to advance the current state of accessibility to…
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By Howard Law, former director of media locals for Unifor, who writes in mediapolicy.ca
The Australian finance minister’s overdue anniversary review of the groundbreaking News Media Bargaining Code (NMBC) gives Canadians some welcome pointers on how to think about, improve or critique our bill C-18, the “FaceGoogle” Online News Act.
The report does two things well, the first being an evaluation of how well the Australian legislation was implemented. The other is that finance minister (‘Treasurer’ in Oz lingo) Jim Chalmers unapologetically backs the code as an anti-oligopoly law and downplays using the code…
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By Connie Thiessen
Canadian Heritage Min. Pablo Rodriguez has announced a newly-reconstituted independent advisory committee that will recommend candidates to serve on the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors.
In a statement issued late Wednesday, Rodriguez said the government is committed to ensuring that the process is “independent, merit-based and results in the recommendation of high-quality candidates” as some current board members near the end of their mandate.
The new non-partisan body is tasked with conducting a selection process for Governor in Council appointments and providing Rodriguez with recommendations “of highly qualified candidates that respect gender parity and truly reflect Canada’s diversity,” according to the Canadian Heritage release.
The members…
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By Connie Thiessen
CBC News Explore has launched, the public broadcaster’s new free ad-supported streaming (FAST) news channel, available on digital and connected TV platforms.
The channel, announced today, will feature a curated selection of CBC journalism from across the country in addition to original programs, led by new Andrew Chang vehicle About That – a look at the day’s most compelling stories in a blend of conversation and feature interviews.
Other original programming includes This Week in Canada, a weekly show featuring original CBC News stories chosen for their ability to resonate with audiences across the…
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OTTAWA — The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) announced today the election of three new members to its board of directors — Melissa McAvoy, Shane O’Neill and Sandra Hines.
All three were elected to two-year terms by CRFC members at the organization’s annual general meeting held on Nov. 22.
McAvoy is chief financial officer at Pacific Tubulars Ltd., a position she has held since 2019, overseeing the accounting, business support, financial planning and analysis, treasury, investor relations, internal audit and tax functions within the company, a press release says. She was previously chief financial…
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OTTAWA – The Senate Transportation and Communications Committee defeated five of six amendments introduced by a Conservative senator intended to define parameters in bill C-11, a proposed around proposed legislation that would allow the CRTC to further regulate online streaming platforms.
The bill, also known as the Online Streaming Act, went through a clause-by-clause process at committee on Wednesday.
Saskatchewan Conservative Senator Denise Batters introduced six amendments, five of which did not survive. The first was to amend the definition of community channel to use “language of their choice” rather than “language used in a…
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PUBLIC FUNDING FOR and independence of public broadcasters around the world is under increasing threat, according to the Global Task Force for public media.
The task force, which is chaired by CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Catherine Tait and serves the purpose of promoting and defending public media values, met recently for its first in-person meeting in Tokyo ahead of the annual conference of Public Broadcasters International (PBI).
“Public broadcasters’ public funding, operational and editorial independence, and media freedom and safety are all under increasing threat in too many parts of the world — and the consequences are damaging democracy,” reads a…
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