A conversation starter: welcome to the Editor's Blog

Many people have an idea of how journalists work.  It might be based on personal experience with reporters, your own analysis of what they produce, or even what we've seen in movies or television shows.    One of my main goals as General Manager is to increase the transparency and accountability of CBC News.  Simply put, I want to pull back the curtain and do a better job of explaining to Canadians how we do business.

We at CBC News are quite comfortable doing this. All media organizations, and all public institutions, are facing legitimate questions from individuals, organizations and governments, to account for their actions.   As Canada's national public broadcaster, the CBC probably receives more attention of this kind than most; we are conscious that the bar is higher for us.

CBC News is guided by a set of Journalistic Standards and Policies with four goals:  fairness, balance, accuracy and transparency.  Over the coming months, I'll elaborate on the many practices we use to make sure we achieve them.    Balance and fairness go well beyond politics.  CBC News must ensure that cultural and regional balance and diversity also be reflected in its coverage.  Studies and focus groups have shown that CBC News provides balanced coverage, but when we do make mistakes, we are committed to correcting them openly. This will be a space for that purpose as well.

Canadians no longer need to turn on their radios at the top of the hour for the latest news, or tune in at 10pm to watch the National.   Technology has allowed us to make our news programming available on various platforms, when it's convenient for you.   To meet that opportunity we have had to re-invest our resources and it has meant many changes to how we work and how we use our limited resources. This blog will be a place to highlight some of those practices.

Finally, CBC is a modern public broadcaster guided by a mandate to enlighten and inform. Canadians expect original content, tough journalism and context from us.   And unlike many other media organizations, we won't be putting up any paywalls for our online content.  CBC News content is available to, and owned by, all Canadians, and we are looking for ways to extend its reach of that content, and provide more value, again with existing funding.

We have had an amazing run in the past two weeks. We have led the way on several big stories, including two international ones that have also been recognized by other media outlets.  In a post later today,  we will go behind the scenes and give you a peek at how those stories happen and  what challenges journalists face when mounting an investigation and shaping a story.

But for now, one last note:  I don't want this blog to be a one-way conversation.  I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions of topics for future posts.  I will also be making observations on media-related stories and developments, whether they directly affect the CBC or not.