Poop deck

(This post has been slightly corrected.)

Just after midnight this morning on Todd Maffin's CBC Unplugged, the go-to site for news on CBC's pointless and destructive seven-week lockout of 5,500 members of the Canadian Media Guild, the word hit that there was an agreement in principle.

My computer went ka-boom from the joy that erupted in the blogosphere, one that has been greatly expanded thanks to the talents of many of those outlocks who went online with their news, views and concerns on the labour dispute, public broadcasting and CBC in general. Many of the blogs were anonymous, including one by a manager who was locked in. Some were quirky and funny (Go ahead. Click. It's worth it). Most were filled with comments by workers (and CBC fans) who got to say, cloaked by anonymity, what they could not, or would not, say publicly, either to their coworkers or their bosses, about the lockout, their union and/or management.

Then of course there were the streetfests, radio shows, podcasts, news sites, bus trips, rallies, concerts and more -- all expressions of the creativity of the people who were tossed out on their asses. These demonstrated imagination and innovation, much of it not so much in in support of restoring paycheques but in revitalizing public service.

True, there was a lot of whining and moaning. But it was understandable under the circumstances.

It's been an interesting ride for me. That's because, throughout, I was on the receiving end of many emails, most of them signed, offering tips and comments on what was going on -- but not for attribution. Some of those tips, especially the one about veteran foreign correspondent Paul Workman and, to a lesser extent, the one about Ottawa bureau chief David Walmsley, had a polarizing effect on the picket lines. Some of the fallout was downright ugly.

It does not bode well for the return to work.

Last night I commented here, and on other blogs, that my most sincere wish is that, when the padlocks come off the CBC's doors and the hired goons who guarded them go on to another labour dispute, it not be business as usual. The locked-out CBC workers proved that the corporation is not about managers with expense account lunches and fancy perks. It's about passionate people who carry on their public service even if they are not getting paid for it. They must now use their demonstrated solidarity and grit to repair and rebuild CBC into a national institution that all Canadians value. They must do that in spite of some of the managers who are little more than careerists who have never produced a frame of video or a single sound bite and wouldn't know an Avid from an Advil.

That's going to take a whole lot more grit and solidarity than walking the pavement did.
It's also going to take guts. It's not easy to look your boss in the eye and tell him or her they don't have a clue.

But CBC -- and I believe, Canada -- depends on it.

For the past two months, too many CBC critics got away with claiming that the private sector can do what CBC does. They should be reminded of some of the facts. For example, in Manitoba, in CanWest Global's own home province, the network ran U.S. sitcoms instead of live provincial election coverage. Twice.

But is CBC all it can be?

No way.

Indeed, in many respects, CTV has surpassed it, with top-rated Canadian programming such as Corner Gas and Canadian Idol. There's no reason why CBC could not have presented such populist fare along with its higher-minded docs, arts programming and big ticket TV movies.

But that takes money, and political will, and good management willing to fight loud and long for public broadcasting -- and not spend time designing flow charts and ''business models."

And so, I leave you with this comment, from "Captain Hook," who posted it on CBC Drone, a blogger who has been calling for a federal audit of CBC's management practices. I think it pretty much says it all:

How utterly typical of CBC management to completely do a 180 and capitulate so completely. They're even going to pay us for the time we were locked out. (Antonia sez: I shoulda left this bit out because it's wrong. See comments.) In the end, they accomplished nothing that they set out to do.

How utterly typical to get halfway through the journey only to turn back. This mirrors exactly how badly the place is run; indecision, bad judgement, lousy communication. This is what we're going back to.

Sorry for the cynicism, but I further expect that CBC mis-management will not say a word about the lockout when we get back; they'll just give their directives and pick up where we all left off. Don't expect any warm greeting. Expect a shitload of work to make up for what we've all just been through. They're going to have to re-establish territorial lines quick... Just watch how fast it will back to 'business as usual'.

I'm glad it's over because so many of us need the money and the benefits, but there's so much to be done in order to transform this place into a functioning unit. I don't believe it will happen. Management is simply not up to the task, they have no cohesive vision for the CBC or internal business practices and, even if they did, are not capable of transmitting it to the staff.

Again, pardon this negative outlook. I don't mean to rain on the victory parade. But it seems to me like we are a crew going back to the ship after a long time at port. The place is a mess, the sails are in tatters and the map has been lost. We'll be expected to clean up the mess, and then set sail once again... following the directives of the same bunch of drunken pirates who ran us aground in the first place.

Time for some folks to walk the plank.

Comments

Captain Hook is wrong about being paid for the time we were out. He's confused retroactivity with being paid during the lockout. Just so no one's confused - retroactivity means that you will be paid an increased amount FOR THE TIME WE WERE WORKING AND COLLECTING A SALARY back to April 2004. It does NOT mean we will be paid for the weeks we were out. We've still lost that money.

[Bill-Muskoka]

Seems Captain Hook said all there was to say...and quite well indeed. Even if the piece had one error on lost wages.

Welcome back CBC creative and technical people.

P.S. Antonia: Loved the line about management not knowing an Avid from an Advil. LMAO!

Actually we get PARTIALLY paid for our time spent walking the lines in that we get a $1000 signing bonus. However this is pretty typical of a lot of agreements so don't get too excited about it. Also not a lot of money for 7 weeks and may not even pay for the shoe leather.

I don't want the public to think that we are going to have just had a 7 week paid "vacation"!! That's why I thought it important to refure the point about being paid while we were out.
Antonia please keep digging around to find out the truth about how the money's spent by the top brass at CBC. Just on the face of it someone who increases the number of high-salaried vice-presidents from 7 to 11 during a time of shrinking budgets has the wrong idea. At the same time I've worked for shows that couldn't afford to buy pens!

[Dana]

In light of the rampant cronyism we've been witnessing from below the 49th perhaps it's appropriate for some enterprising journo to have a focused look at the connections to the PMO these bozos must have. Something's gotta be explanatory in all this. How are these guys qualified, given their complete lack of broadcast or journalism or entertainment backgrounds, if they don't have major suck with somebody in a high place.

[Robert McClelland]

All I can say is thank God CBC news will soon be back. I don't think I could take another week of the "Look who's dissing Harper now" or "Dingwall and the philosopher's gum" stories we've been served up by the "private" media over the past 7 weeks.

[ameridiot]

AZ - I love most your writing & ideas, but Canadian Idol on the CBC? Please! Maybe if we had a CBC 1, 2, 3 & 4 - akin to BBC 1, etc., and could really broaden from low brow to high brow with lots of wiggle room. I agree that CBC and Canada in general need more (tons more) financial support for cultural expression in the form of the arts & entertainment. As it is now, I can't watch most of it & end up with Showcase & DVDs from the UK for Brit dramas & comedy. I visit the BBC website way more than CBC's. The exceptions for me are 22 Minutes, Rick Mercer, Wonderland & Da Vinci. I'd be more than willing to pay more taxes for a better CBC and less for the military & bio-engineered agriculture.

I really appreciated your blog & CBC Unplugged during the lockout! What I learned about the underbelly of CBC helped to grasp the situation so I can write more clearly to my gov reps. CBC management's emphasis on institutional business training (or whatever they're calling it these days) at the expense of ongoing training & supplies for hi-tech, journalism, the arts & the ins & outs of international events (and pens!) really galls me. Not to mention a real biggie - hearing & following through on input and ideas from the audience. Cronyism from the US is distressing to hear about. I'm not surprised, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be fought tooth & nail. Good luck to the workers going back to the ship! Sounds like you'll need it.

[Dana]

I sent this today to Marlene Catterall (Catterall.M@parl.gc.ca) who chairs the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage

"I write from the left coast, the riding of North Vancouver-Seymour represented by your colleague Mr. Don Bell.

I wish to express the severity of my displeasure not only at the length of time it has taken for some kind of rapprochement to be achieved in the CBC lockout but also at the innapropriate labour relations strategies utilized to such ill effect by the current CBC management team.

I am pleased that the government didn't simply sell off the CBC as that was what I believed the intent was at the beginning of all this. Almost every strategic initiative Rabinovitch engineered had about it the stink of a corporate hawk preparing a company for takeover. So I'm glad that didn't occur.

Of course, Mr. Martin might yet take it into his head to steal that bit of Conservative thunder. He's done such a good job of playing to the Conservative benches in his annual annihilation of the CBC budget that I wouldn't put it past him. An aspiring PM who sees no ethical objection to registering his companies off shore would likely not see any ethical objection to off shoring the CBC either. Or if it appeared to offer a political advantage in some corner of the country I suspect Martin would sell Parliament Hill to the Disney Corporation.

But I digress.

Rabinovitch's leadership of the CBC absolutely must be reviewed.

Soon another election will be upon us and I for one wil be making this fiasco and the government's insomniac response to it an issue. As loudly and as often as I can.

If your Committee can demonstrate some leadership where Martin and the Cabinet have not and rake Rabinovitch thouroughly enough that either he resigns or Martin rescinds his appointment extension you will go a long way toward proving that the CBC matters to you."

[MLP]

Reading this morning about the CBC's "Gang of four", I'm reminded of another gang Mr. Rabinovitch belongs to: the Claridge Gang. The one that specializes in transfering public funds to "foundations" that operate in the USA in the entertainment business and in politics, with their own outfit in NYC that puts out its own "foreign policy" towards Israel. You want to talk about nepotism, suspicious management spending, etc? Then look to the Montreal based firm who counts the likes of Axworthy, Kolber and others in its midst for power peddling.

[CBCFan]

Management at CBC is responsible for not being able to take on Canadian Idol?

Why do you think the union was locked out? The ridiculous inflexibility of union rules means in order to take on a series like Idol, they would need to hire a raft of full-time employees to work 7-months a year. The economic realities of benefits, pensions, etc, would make this a losing proposition.

It's awfully fun for you to rip the folks on the inside of the issue but you're beginning to sound about as intelligent as the guy writing the CBCDrone blog.

[Antonia Z.]

Hey CBC Fan ...

Of course management is responsible. Who else makes programming decisions? Who else sets the schedule? Who else decides which production to fund?

Canadian Idol is in fact essential an INDEPENDENT production, by Insight Productions. CBC already takes on many indie productions and co-productions. This Hour Has 22 Minutes, for example? Why not Canadian Idol?

I don't mind taking criticism but kindly do your homework first.

Thanks for stopping by.

[CBCFan2]

Hear hear, CBCfab. Ms. Z, you're starting to sound a bit off your rocker.

Canada will be a better place if CBC union members tell their bosses they don't have a clue? Huh?

Many of those bosses -- most, I would venture -- were promoted from within union ranks and will continue to be, as is the case at most news organizations. Nobody suddenly becomes retarded with a promotion. Most people inside didn't like the lockout any more than the people outside, but had no choice but to either quit or to live with it.

Lose the rhetoric and be responsible.

[Dana]

By the way, Ms.Z, excellent piece on the front page of the online paper today. Didja get the front of the pulp too?

G&M editorial today basically calling for Rabinovitch's head was good.

[Antonia Z]

Thanks CBCFan2 but please keep up with the program. Perhaps you missed this recent column?
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1127167830150&call_pageid=970599109774

Here's a snip:

"Now, CMG's members are represented as the last levée against the floodwaters of crass commercialism. They're a cultural Alamo, a journalistic Masada. They're the ones who care about CBC.

And yet, many CBC middle and lower managers are also dedicated public broadcasters who are equally disgusted by the hardline stance of president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch, executive vice president of TV Richard Stursberg, radio vice president Jane Chalmers, and human resources vice president George Smith. (Among them, only Chalmers is a programmer who rose through the ranks. The others have been there six years or less.)

But we don't hear about them, nor from them. Perhaps they're too busy trying to figure out how to make the microphones work. More likely, they've been ordered to funnel all media requests for comment through the official CBC corporate spokesperson.

And so, the CMG holds the high ground in the public relations war which it has brilliantly waged."

OF COURSE, I wasn't talking about every freaking manager. Duh. I have many friends among them. I was talking about the top guys, the ones lacking the vision thing.

Kindly lose the attitude. If you're so smart then stand up to the morons and fix the place. Bitching here isn't going to do a damn thing.

[bob]

Antonia:

You recently wrote in your print column: "I confess that, mostly, I have been taking the workers' side because, after all, they are the ones who are locked out."

Does this mean that if they had gone on strike, you'd support management? Logically?

Just asking.

[Antonia Z.]

Not necessarily. It would depend on what led up to the walkout. But we'll never know now.

The lockout was out of bounds really because:

(1) the workers had not launched any job actions (work to rule etc.) to deserve it. The lockout was nothing but a strategic move that failed, badly.

and

(2) management locked out the audience as well as the workers, with no financial penalty.

In private companies, inventories would have dried up as assembly lines stopped. Ergo, no revenue. CBC continued to get revenue. Management did not suffer financially. In fact, many of them will get bonuses. It would be like paying the strikers their full salary and benefits plus extra to walk the line.

[mel]

I agree with 90% of your comments on the CBC debacle Antonia. But on the issue of popular fare like Corner Gas and Canadian Idol, I just don't get your point. If the private sector can turn out quality middle-brow entertainment, why do we need to spend our tax dollars competing with them? If that is part of the CBC's mandate, then shouldn't we exempt private broadcasters from that particular can-con obligation?

It's one of the peculiar things about this country that I've never understood. The idea of taxpayer-financed, -subsidized or -backed corporations competing directly against private firms in the same industry. CBC/CTV, Air Canada/Canadian, Petro-Canada/Esso, Purolator/Fedex. In contrast to American-style entrepreneurial culture, we seem to have a fetish for stacking the deck against private enterprise. If CBC spends our money producing popular middle-brow entertainment, the least the CRTC should do is exempt private broadcasters from having to air the same kind of product!

[Antonia Z.]

You ask a good question, Mel.

Here's the thing: As long as CBC-TV's value to Canadians is measured in ratings, then it had better present a few programs that people watch.

If CBC were to stick only to elitish programming, then its critics, who now complain that the TV network's share is shrinking, will say it's even more irrelevant.

It's a catch 22.

As for your last paragraph, nobody has stacked the deck against the private networks. They make tons of money (although Global has had a relatively bad year because it couldn't pick the hits), and benefit from all sort of regulatory protection. There is a place for public broadcasting. All civilized countries have it.

[Dana]

Either CBC fan1 or 2 have any recollection of ever seeing Rabinovitch at an anchor desk, in front of a camera doing a news story, in front of a camera in a costume acting in a drama or maybe see his name as having been a camera operator? How about as a floor director or maybe a line producer or a writer? Maybe a lighting tech or a dolly operator? No?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

He's a bureaucrat bean counter. That's why you haven't seen his name on any credit rolls or in front of any cameras or microphones. He's professionally unqualified for the job of heading a broadcasting company beyond being a bean counter with an obssessive penchant for faddish bidness mottos. He's a crony of the senior liberals who appointed him and re-appointed him. He's a corporate hack in a $1000 suit with a shiny pen in his pocket. Full stop.

Here's what he has up on his office wall.

http://despair.com/elitism.html

[Disputacious Dan]

The road map for the CBC should be the same as for PBS.We dont need a taxpayer funded mouthpiece for the Liberal Party or any political party.Were the CBC to adopt the PBS model with good quality programming I might even donate to it as I do PBS.
Just one more thought if the CBC employees were willing to sell their talents so cheaply perhaps a fairly large wage cut for them is in order now that the employer strike is over.

[Antonia Z.]

A regular reader, with whom I almost always agree, just emailed:

"Although I do not not what has gone on at cbc picket lines, I do not think it is fair to call people (I assume you meant the security guards) who are probably making minimum wage, 'goons'

"They are just ordinary people trying, and barely succeeding, to making a living."

My reader is absolutely right.

[Dana]

Oh, yes, the road map for PBS is so pure, so non-partisan, so je ne sais quoi.

The new head of the joint is named Ken Feree, a former top advisor to Michael Powell when he was the prevaricator-in-chief at the FCC. Feree is a staunch Republican who's already launched PBS on a new search for "objectivity and balance". Sound familiar?

Established leadership with Democratic affiliations is already being dismissed. New board members are buddies of Rove's and are big Republican donors.

Bill Moyers is gone and been replaced with Tucker Carlson and the efditorial board of the Wall Street Journal.

The network gets attacked by the Secretary of Education because a bunny rabbit from one of their kids shows visited a lesbian household in Vermont.

I won't send them another penny and I watch waaaaay fewer shows than I used to. Keep your eye on how many get axed. Science shows especially - can't have no Enlightenment based programming in the land of the faithful and delusionally free. No siree, BobbyJack.

Great model. That's definitely what we should be doing here. Oh yeah. Good suggestion.

I can out disputatious anybody, believe me.

Canada does not have the population base to operate a public broadcaster in the same mode as PBS, so even if you'd been able to make a compelling argument for CBC to operate in the same way Dan (which you haven't), it just wouldn't be possible.
Most European countries have public broadcasters that are funded through taxes and/or licensing fees. It's the hallmark of a civilized society that welcomes open dialogue.... something which is foreign to the US under the current administration.

[CBCEmployee]

I comment on what CBCFan2 wrote in defense of management:

"Nobody suddenly becomes retarded with a promotion."

True, but at the CBC no manager ever promotes anyone smarter than they are. Therefore management ranks are subject to a kind of reverse Darwinism that is slowly but surely eroding the CBC gene pool. This lockout a case in point.