The CBC is facing a period of upheaval and uncertainty as it pushes ahead with plans to integrate its television, radio and online operations.
The Tea Makers blog, run by an anonymous CBC staffer, raises some big questions about the process of bringing together the three mediums.
It argues that while the idea may make sense on paper, it overlooks the differences between TV, radio and online in Canada:
Radio is a terrific service. But, as Richard noted, it exists in a non-commercial and largely non-competitive environment. Television exists, as Richard has previously noted in speeches, in a totally commercial and largely competitive environment. On-line is confused as all get out. Does it continue as a re-write and re-purpose service, or does it actually send people out of the building? So you have one non-commercial service, one commercial service and one confused service. Within these three, there are three singularly distinct audiences, three singularly distinct services, and three singularly distinct story selecting and story telling priorities. And now we are merging, based on some hazy uninformed recollection of mid-90′s double-assigning, and a vague uninformed notion that everything is content and therefore an indistinct porridge that can be dolloped onto any platform plate.
The Canadian broadcaster is following the example of the BBC, who announced similar plans last year. And the BBC itself is facing similar dilemmas in terms of what integration means for the day to day work of journalists.
The idea of converging editorial teams is an attractive business proposition, as it suggests that you could do the same with fewer people.
In reality, integration requires an acknowledgement that radio, TV and online are different. While there will be opportunities for journalists to collaborate across media, each medium has its own needs and audiences, so the notion of one editorial size fits all is misguided.
(Photo by kk+)
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