Canadian Broadcasting Case Study

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In a nation as big and diverse as Canada is, there is so much happening spread over so many different locations that the government felt that there was a need for programming that could deliver “enlightening” and “entertaining” content nationwide. It had to be accessible to people of many cultures and backgrounds, and in more languages than just english. An example of this kind of public broadcasting is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC’s mandate was that it be predominantly and distinctively Canadian, contribute to shared national consciousness and identity and so on. The CBC and broadcast companies like it were meant to help spread awareness of Canadian culture and news of important and relevant subjects to Canadians everywhere…show more content…
In order to do this, the government receives nearly 1 billion dollars every year with nearly all of this 1 billion being collected from the taxpayers of Canada. A common question asked however, is why does it take so much funding, and where exactly does the money go? A Senate committee has been studying some of the challenges facing the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and some of the information they have been looking at is about salaries. On average, an ordinary on-air CBC employee earns anywhere from $50,000 - $90,000 every year, while the average journalist earns between $26,000 - $77,000. Not only is the starting salary for 1,067 on air employees $24,000 more than the average for workers of a similar profession, but four top on air employees earn an average of $300,000 a year, not including compensation. $300,000 dollars is only $20,000 less than the Prime Minister makes, and there’s four of these salaries our taxes are paying for! In 2005, the CBC’s operating loss before government funding, taxes and non-operating revenue was $1,168,126,000. That means that annually they lose our 1 billion tax dollars plus an additional $168,126,000. We are literally being forced to pay for a corporation that over pays its employees with money collected from the Canadian…show more content…
In a world that is growing and changing and expanding as fast as ours is, cultures and identities need to be protected and acknowledged before they are forgotten or lost completely in the midst of the growing popular monoculture. However, there are better ways to do it than through government run, publicly funded broadcasting. This media that is being provided by the government through the CBC and broadcasters like it is simply not up to par with the cultural media Canada needs and deserves. In the 20’s when Canada started this broadcasting, it was one of the only ways to spread Canadian media and influence to combat the ever popular American media. Though, in today’s day and age there are many alternative ways that Canadian culture can be spread instead of just over the airwaves. For example, groups such as SAGIT (Cultural Industries Sectoral Advisory Group on International Trade) are making sure Canada’s cultural and linguistic diversity is being protected whilst trading and interacting with other countries. Others throughout the country are holding events to promote our culture through many different foods and stories of Canada’s journey to being so diverse and multicultural. Perhaps an alternative to broadcasts such as the CBC would be a smaller, strictly culturally focused news source such as a website or radio broadcast which could be funded by the people through optional
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