CBC AND SHOWRUNNER Leslie Norville (below) announced yesterday the public broadcaster has greenlit eight-part docuseries Black Life: A Canadian History.
Black Life “seeks to inform audiences of the vital role that Black Canadians have played in shaping our country while presenting an unvarnished examination of the picture mainstream culture has painted of Canada as a sanctuary,” a press release says.
“While tracing the complex and hopeful stories of Black Canada, the series reveals the truths of a history fraught with violence, racism, hardship, and perseverance. Black Life: A Canadian History illuminates the struggles…
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Five little words and a world of difference
By Doug Barrett
It’s hard to say how much the detailed party platforms matter in an election. In this one, each of the main platforms contains dedicated sections on the arts/culture/broadcasting sectors and it’s instructive to have a look at them.
To start, there appears to be complete unanimity on the question of ensuring the “foreign web giants contribute to the creation and promotion of Canadian stories and music” (Liberal); requiring “digital streaming giants to reinvest a significant portion of Canadian gross revenues” (Conservative); making sure that “Netflix, Facebook, Google and other digital media…
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WINNIPEG and TORONTO — The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) announced today a new broadcast special, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, produced in collaboration with Insight Productions, will air on APTN and CBC/Radio-Canada on Thursday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. ET.
“In recognition of the new federal statutory holiday, also known as Orange Shirt Day, this unique one-hour, commercial-free primetime special honours the stories and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples affected by the tragedies of the residential school system in Canada, with musical tributes and ceremonies in Indigenous communities across the land,” reads a press release.
The special will…
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Five white men debated culture – at least the national debates had more diversity
By Denis Carmel
MONTREAL – With a week to go until the election, a debate on culture was organized, entirely in French, by the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) and the University of Montreal’s Department of Communication, and was aired today by CPAC. The five major parties sent candidates to debate: Steven Guilbeault, for the Liberals, Steve Shanahan, for the Conservatives, Martin Champoux, for the Bloc Québécois, Alexandre Boulerice, for the NDP and Mathieu Goyette for the Green Party.
SRC’s Catherine Perrin was the host….
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Says five federal parties agree a thriving media is important
TORONTO – The Canadian Media Guild (CMG), a trade union representing over 5,000 members, today published the answers to five election questions it asked five federal political parties.
Four of the five parties – the Liberals, NDP, Green Party and Bloc Québécois – “support a strong and stable media, with increased funding for the national public broadcaster,” a CMG press release reads.
“A vague response by one national party however raises concerns about the future of CBC/Radio-Canada, and the nationwide services it currently provides.”
CMG is referring to the Conservatives. The party did…
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OTTAWA – Media Technology Monitor (MTM) released a new MTM Jr. report showing anglophone youth under 18 consume online audio across several platforms, and that over three quarters of them consumed audio in some form last month.
“Music streaming services are the most popular form of audio content for children, particularly among anglophone teens aged 12-17. Spotify is the top music streaming service across all anglophone children,” according to the report.
A little fewer than half (45%) of children reported listening to terrestrial or online radio in the past month, the report says. One in 10 children listen to podcasts with…
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CBC/RADIO-CANADA ANNOUNCED today nine titles the public broadcaster has supported have been selected to participate in this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 2021).
The lineup features CBC original series Sort Of, which will have its North American premier at TIFF. Viewers will be able to watch it on CBC Gem on Oct. 5 and on CBC TV on Nov. 9 when back-to-back episodes air at 9 p.m. ET. The series is a “comedy about a young gender-fluid caregiver, whose life plans are disrupted when tragedy strikes the family they help to maintain,” according to a CBC press release. Sort…
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Three new opera and classical music hosts announced
TORONTO — CBC Music announced today new hosts for three of its weekend opera and classical music programs following opera tenor Ben Heppner’s retirement as host of Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and Backstage with Ben Heppner.
Heppner (above) hosted his farewell show over Labour Day weekend.
According to a press release, during the show he said: “I’ve decided to move into a new phase of my life. Although I won’t be working anymore — there’s lots of things that I want to do…and I want to thank you for making Saturday Afternoon at…
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CBC ANNOUNCED TODAY six new original podcasts across multiple genres will be released throughout the fall.
“Our talented team of producers, investigative journalists, authors, filmmakers and more helm the various series, taking us deep inside other worlds and delivering podcasts that are top of class on the world stage,” said Arif Noorani, executive producer of CBC Podcasts, in a press release.
Three of the new podcasts are part of what CBC refers to as their ‘Red, White, Blue’ trilogy. The podcasts each take “a smart, curious in-depth look into subcultures of the radical right,” Noorani says.
The first podcast from the trilogy,…
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And will the next government modernize the Broadcasting Act?
By Amanda Oye
THE ELECTION MAY have killed Bill C-10, the legislation designed to modernize the Broadcasting Act, but its memory lives on in the pages of the official party platforms released by the Conservatives, the NDP and the Liberals.
All three parties address issues related to the Broadcasting Act and to funding Canadian broadcasting in their platforms. They outline plans to protect Canadian media, tax digital giants, move forward with (or without) CBC/Radio-Canada, and of course, modernize the Broadcasting Act.
Protecting Canadian media
The Conservative party acknowledged there is a crisis in…
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