{"id":6405,"date":"2013-05-02T12:27:29","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T16:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=6405"},"modified":"2013-05-02T12:27:29","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T16:27:29","slug":"thoughts-after-the-canadian-rcicbc-senate-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/thoughts-after-the-canadian-rcicbc-senate-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts after the Canadian RCI\/CBC Senate hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/CBC-RCI-Hearing.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6406\" alt=\"CBC-RCI-Hearing\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/CBC-RCI-Hearing-300x207.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/CBC-RCI-Hearing-300x207.png 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/CBC-RCI-Hearing-100x69.png 100w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/CBC-RCI-Hearing.png 872w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Last night, I listened to a live stream of the Canadian senate hearings regarding last year&#8217;s <a title=\"RCI Cuts\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/tag\/rci-cuts\" target=\"_blank\">Radio Canada International cuts<\/a> to shortwave radio. CBC president Hubert LaCroix and RCI director Michelle Parent met remarkably little criticism or resistance in the hearing, and it appears the report to the senate will be nothing short of cheerleading for the CBC. Indeed, the hearing&#8217;s tone overall was one of self-congratulation.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to cut RCI in this manner is a prime example of a few officials with all-too-limited knowledge making decisions in the absence of experts&#8217; input.\u00a0 The business decision seemed to them essentially sound, and yet the impact of the decision has far-reaching negative consequences&#8211;for Canadians and as well as the rest of the world&#8211;that these officials may never fully comprehend.<\/p>\n<p>Notes from the hearing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>All but one senator patted CBC and RCI management on the back for becoming more innovative in the wake of devastating budget cuts; only one suggested that such innovation could have been achieved <em>prior<\/em> to them<\/li>\n<li>No one asked if the CBC explored the possibility of scaling back shortwave services <em>without<\/em> closing the Sackville, NB transmitter site and eliminating shortwave broadcasts altogether, which would have been a much better use of funds as well as maintaining foreign relations and domestic security<\/li>\n<li>Hubert LaCroix basically suggested that people living in\u00a0oppressed\u00a0regions could gain access to RCI via mobile platforms (sadly, this is not the case)<\/li>\n<li>When asked how cuts to shortwave have effected their listenership and demographic, LaCroix basically shrugged his shoulders and pointed out how difficult it is to judge how many people listen on shortwave.\u00a0 (My response: What areas of our world lack a power grid infrastructure? <em>Fully 1\/4 of our planet.\u00a0 <\/em>These are the underserved who rely heavily on shortwave)<\/li>\n<li>No one inquired about the impact upon their Chinese audience, as RCI&#8217;s website is blocked in China; meanwhile, shortwave continues to be comparatively impermeable to firewalls and is untraceable in restrictive countries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Monsieur LaCroix made it clear that the primary CBC mandate is to be a creative, innovative media force <strong><em>within<\/em> Canada<\/strong>. For him, and most of CBC management, Radio Canada International must have felt like a leech to their dwindling budget. Were I in his position, with limited information and a mandate to protect his main &#8220;client&#8221; set (Canadians living in Canada)&#8211;I might have made the same decision.\u00a0\u00a0 And yet&#8230;it was the wrong one.<\/p>\n<p>What would have solved the problem in the first place?\u00a0 Radio Canada International should have been its own entity, with its own budget to manage, however modest&#8211;and if anything, funded through the foreign office rather than the domestic public news\/entertainment body. After all, what RCI accomplished on shortwave was far more humanitarian and diplomatic in nature.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve written\u00a0<a title=\"RCI Cuts\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/tag\/rci-cuts\" target=\"_blank\">at length about the RCI cuts<\/a>\u00a0and will not go into them further on this post. But I do believe RCI\u00a0Sackville could have been a more efficient and productive operation if it employed some sensible changes. Sackville had just finished installing a (paid-for) technology infrastructure to remotely operate the entire transmitter site. Moreover, Sackville management told me they had planned to cut their staff to a skeleton crew (of three people, if memory serves), only to be there if something mechanical on site needed service. These new adjustments were not even tried.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, using a market model, RCI\/Sackville could have offered their relay services to more broadcasters at <em>competitive<\/em> (even market) rates. Their hourly rate to broadcast on shortwave was simply too high, thus potential customers sought more efficient cost-effective transmission sites. Sackville was never given the tools to become a self-funding operation like so many private broadcasters have become.<\/p>\n<p>Sackville&#8217;s infrastructure was an<em> incomparably<\/em> valuable resource in which many millions in taxpayer money was already invested and paid in full; sadly, these cuts have destroyed this investment.\u00a0 The Sackville site, moreover, had the potential of a sleeping army, both in foreign affairs&#8230;<em>and<\/em> in Canadian security.\u00a0 But it&#8217;s gone.\u00a0 Simply because a few politicians doing their near-best didn&#8217;t have all the relevant information.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rcinet.ca\/en\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6417\" alt=\"RCI\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/RCI-300x135.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/RCI-300x135.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/RCI-100x45.jpg 100w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/RCI.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>For what it&#8217;s worth<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>RCI still has some great talent on board<\/strong>. Canadian expats living abroad, and those\u00a0 who are connected to the web, can still enjoy RCI via the website or on mobile platforms. That is an audience that may actually expand through a social media presence&#8211;something they could have done more effectively prior to the budget cuts last year.<\/p>\n<p>I was also encouraged to hear that there is a serious effort to distribute RCI&#8217;s online audio content&#8211;free of charge&#8211;to broadcasters in local radio stations around the world. This is very positive: FM, though not as accessible as shortwave in Africa, has a strong community following and stations are appearing everywhere. I hope RCI has a dedicated employee whose sole focus is to identify and build connections with these local outlets for their content.<\/p>\n<p>Barring a takeover or drastic re-organization, it sounds like Radio Canada International over shortwave is now destined for the history books. To honor this history, I sincerely hope the new RCI innovates and penetrates new markets. And I hope RCI employees, many of whom have long memories, find challenge and renewed confidence going forward. We certainly appreciate all of the years during which they graced the shortwaves, and wish them all the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last night, I listened to a live stream of the Canadian senate hearings regarding last year&#8217;s Radio Canada International cuts to shortwave radio. CBC president Hubert LaCroix and RCI director Michelle Parent met remarkably little criticism or resistance in the hearing, and it appears the report to the senate will be nothing short of cheerleading [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,56,3,43],"tags":[15,1899,1898,631,30,1039,1197,1044,920,1045],"class_list":["post-6405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-broadcasters","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-canada","tag-hubert-lacroix","tag-michelle-parent","tag-radio-canada-international","tag-rci","tag-rci-cuts","tag-rci-sackville","tag-sackville-closure","tag-sackville-nb","tag-sackville-transmitter-site-closure"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1Fj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3202,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/radio-canada-international-to-end-shortwave-broadcasts-sackville-to-be-closed\/","url_meta":{"origin":6405,"position":0},"title":"Oh, Canada: Radio Canada International to end shortwave broadcasts, Sackville to be closed","author":"Thomas","date":"April 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This is another sad day for international broadcasting. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has announced sweeping cuts that will eliminate 650 jobs over the course of 3 years. In a strategic plan called, Same Strategy, Different Path, they specifically outline their cuts of shortwave and satellite transmissions which will also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/CBCbuilding-300x168.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5041,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/senator-hugh-segal-has-issued-this-statement-on-the-unanimous-vote-in-the-senate-to-have-a-special-committee-enquiry-into-the-cbc-decision-to-slash-the-rci-budget-by-80-per-cent\/","url_meta":{"origin":6405,"position":1},"title":"Senator Segal&#8217;s motion receives unanimous vote: special committee enquiry into RCI cuts","author":"Thomas","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"An excellent development in Canada:\u00a0Senator Hugh Segal's motion for a special committee enquiry into the CBC decision to slash the Radio Canada International budget by 80 per cent has\u00a0received a unanimous vote in the Senate. Committee hearings will begin as early as February. Below is the full press release I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/SEnatorHughSegal.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3214,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/helene-parent-two-out-of-three-rci-employees-will-lose-their-jobs-by-the-end-of-july\/","url_meta":{"origin":6405,"position":2},"title":"Helene Parent: &#8220;two out of three RCI employees will lose their jobs by the end of July&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"April 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It appears that the cuts at Radio Canada International will be deep and swift (see below). (Source: RCInet.ca) Spending cuts announced last week in Canada's latest federal budget have reached Radio Canada International. Speaking to employees at RCI's headquarters in Montreal on Wednesday, RCI director Helene Parent declared that two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/RCI-300x93.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3335,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/rci-listener-comments-carry-common-theme\/","url_meta":{"origin":6405,"position":3},"title":"RCI listener comments carry common theme","author":"Thomas","date":"April 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On RCI's Listener Letters and the RCI Action committee's website, you can read listener reactions to the looming RCI cuts. To their credit, I've noticed that RCI programs (like The Link\u00a0with Marc Montgomery) are continuing \"business as usual.\" I've noticed no degradation of their content or quality.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/TheLinkRCI.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3217,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/the-link-talks-about-the-cuts-at-rci\/","url_meta":{"origin":6405,"position":4},"title":"The Link talks about the cuts at RCI","author":"Thomas","date":"April 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In this interview with Levon Sevunts, producer for RCI's The Link, we get a little more insight into the impact of these cuts at Radio Canada International. One notable quote from the audio interview:\u00a0Sevunts states rather bluntly, \"RCI is getting out of radio altogether.\" RCI's last day of broadcasting will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/TheLinkRCI.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3292,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/the-gazette-tributes-to-rci-pour-in-from-around-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":6405,"position":5},"title":"The Gazette: Tributes to RCI pour in from around the world","author":"Thomas","date":"April 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A sampling of messages to The Gazette in response to the cuts to Radio Canada International (RCI): (Source: MontrealGazette.com) \u201cThis is absolutely dreadful. RCI has been one of the best shortwave radio stations and a much-needed voice of solid, objective reporting. I\u2019ve been a loyal listener from the mid-1990s and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/RCI-300x93.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}