CBC boss says broadcaster must extend helping hand to struggling news outlets

Canada's public broadcaster has an obligation to help news organizations gutted by shrinking advertising revenues and rounds of layoffs, the corporation's president says.

The message from Catherine Tait comes as the CBCis accused ofunfairly fightingfor advertising dollars with news organizations that aren't funded by the government tonearly the same degree.

"What we want to ensure is that CBC is not the only voice of news in any community in Canada,"Catherine Tait said in an interviewMonday forCBC Manitoba'sInformation Radio.

Thebroadcaster is considering"a meaningful way" to increase the volume of news coverage in a fragmented media environment, Tait said.

The CBC can collaborate with news organizations on investigative journalismand offer advertising support, Tait said.When asked for clarification about theadvertising idea, CBC spokesperson Leon Mar said Tait was referring topublic service-type announcements that would promotetrusted news sources and encouragepeople to buy subscriptions.

The CBC wants tomake sure people are"getting the maximum amount of news, but also to ensure that those news organizations that may be facing financial difficulties are supported also by the CBC/Radio-Canada," Tait told Information Radio host Marcy Markusa.

Working with Winnipeg newspaper

Recently the CBC entered anews-sharing agreement with the Winnipeg Free Pressthat has the two media outlets linking to each other's websites.

On weekends, each outlet's websitepublishesafew paragraphs from a news storyon the other's websiteand then encourages readers to continue reading the story on the original publisher'swebsite.

The two-month pilot project began in December. Thearticlessay the two news outlets "recognize each other as trusted news sources."

Winnipeg Free Press publisher Bob Cox said heapproached CBC Manitoba management about the idea last summer.

People are clicking through from the CBCwebsite to finish reading the story on the Free Presswebsite, he said.

"The intention is to improve access to local news and we all know that there's fewer resources in newsrooms now," Cox said in an interview, explaining the partnership does not extend to picking stories or assigning reporters.

"We know our overall goal is to serve the Winnipeg community with local news, sowe share the same goal as the CBC."

The federal government plans to pushthe CBCto collaborate. A recent mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls on Heritage MinisterSteven Guilbeaultto encourage morelocal news from the network and require CBC/Radio-Canada to "open up its digital platform."

Cox,who is also the board chair of News Media Canada,which lobbies for newspapers, said thecollapse of local news outlets increases the need for the CBCtoteam up with other news outlets to ensure the public can access truthful journalism. Traditional news advertising revenues have dropped drastically with the advent of the internet and its relatively inexpensive ads.

TaitvisitedCBC Manitoba this week for the first time sinceshe was named the corporation's president inApril2018.

She discussedthe company'snew strategic plan, which includes prioritizingdigital services, reaching youth audiences and sharing Canadian content with the world.

The CBC is working to customize its digital platforms, but it's trying to make sure its audiences aren't fed only content they're predisposed to seeing, she said.

Discouraging an echochamber

"We do not want to be guilty of creating filter bubbles," she said.

Tait called local news the "beating heart" of the CBC anddeflected claimsthe companyhas an unfair advantage over other media outlets with its significanttax funding of$1.1 billion a year. Other national broadcasters don't haveto serve all of Canada, Tait said, butthe CBC is required under the Broadcasting Act to servecommunities where it wouldn't make financialsense for private companies to operate.

In 2019, the federal government pledged nearly $600 million over five years for tax credits and other incentives to prop up struggling news outlets.

The licence forCBC/Radio-Canada is currently under review by theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, a lobby group that defends public funding of the CBC, is criticizing the CBC for asking to decrease the number of hours of local programming it puts on the airwaves.

The corporation is proposing that it increaseits overall hours of mandatedprogramming, but be allowed to broadcast less of that ontelevision and more through digital devices such as CBC Gem. The networkis currently obligatedto air up to sevenhours of local programming ontelevisiona week in Winnipeg, but 14 hours in bigger markets like Toronto.

The CBC says the CRTC, which only regulates television and radio, should be crediting the networkfor its investments online.

"We're not saying abandon television, absolutely not," Tait said.

"What we're saying is we need to shift some of the credit that we get, as producers and commissioners of Canadian content, to acknowledge that we're doing so on other platforms."

Tait, asked about the one thing theCBCmust change, said the broadcaster must betterconnect with youth audiences.

The CBCmust foster a lifelong engagement, beginning with preschool shows, moving on tosocial media platforms like Snapchatand beyond.

The CBCloses youth when they tune in to big-budget American programs instead, Tait said.

"If we don't work to engage with them all through their lives, when they become teenagers, they will abandon us."