I used to be a big CBC supporter, but in the last few years that has waned. This is particularly because of the very heavy political slant and political messaging that has come from the news division since the beginning of this decade. I have too often heard interviewers openly scorn interviewees who they do not agree with, and give a greater amount of leeway and time to those they do agree with. The media slant has become very biased, with the views of the reporters and anchors very clearly "broadcast" in their body language and intonation. News is very often carefully selected to support a narrative, with opposing viewpoint buried or ignored. That is one thing for a political party to do (and they will pay for it in the next election), but not the sort of games the supposedly unbiased media should be engaging in. As much as I agree with the concept of a national broadcaster, our cherished CBC has lost it's way.
For sure. The framing employed by media outlets like CBC can contribute to polarization and echo chambers. When stories are consistently framed through a particular ideological lens, it can alienate audiences who feel their perspective is not represented. This drives a wedge in public discourse, making it difficult to find common ground or appreciate differing viewpoints.
If it's bothering classical liberal creative people like you and I, imagine what it's doing to (maybe the vast majority of Canadians) who track more conservative values.
This kind of framing is not unique to CBC—it happens across the media landscape. However, as a public broadcaster funded by taxpayer dollars, CBC is expected to serve as a more neutral arbiter, providing a balanced presentation of facts that caters to the diverse range of Canadian viewpoints. When framing leans too heavily in one direction, it can foster distrust, especially among those who feel their perspective is underrepresented.
The problem is extreme framing is now so persistent it's hard to recall and imagine what 'straight news' even looks and sounds like and how it could compete. But I believe it can. Pursuit of The Truth has its own gravitas and import that can be even more dramatic and compelling than a comparatively easy pitch to the cheap seats of political ideology.
It would be great to find a place to have input. I'm not at all a supporter of the most extreme views on the conservative side to get rid of the cbc. I think there are reasonable people within the conservative Spectrum who would welcome a reform of the CBC.
The worst part of the identitarian agenda is that they create one-dimensional monolithic and cartoon like identities for those identity groups. In other words the indigenous experience is all about victimhood. You will never hear voices like Ellis Ross or the countless First Nations people who write counter narrative editorials in a venue like the National Post. You will never hear from a young black Canadian like the American political commentator Coleman Hughes. You will never hear from my friend Doug who is gay and who calls CBC the Cry-Baby Channel and his concern about the trans phenomenon in the school context where he works.
By creating monolithic identities, you do a disservice to the very identity groups that you think you are serving.
And I honestly don't even know where to start on the about face on Canadian history and all the sins that need atonement as you describe.
Anyways thanks for sharing your article and for responding!
Thanks for the long deep dive. You are describing exactly what I feel and what so many people I talk to feel about the CBC. A lifelong fan but I rarely listen or watch . A couple months ago I remember listening to some Ideas program where someone was talking about how queerness was going to help prevent climate change. I laughed out loud and stared into the middle distance and just thought *holy f*ck this is quintessential CBC bullsh*t today." It is laughable how ideologically single-minded and woke it has become.
As I've lived in different places in canada, whether it's Edmonton or Lunenburg, or Yellowknife or Halifax, CBC Radio mostly gave me a strong sense of a unified country. Now, I'd be happy to see its budget cut drastically, forcing it to rebuild its mandate.
Thank you Mathew. Thanks for sharing your thoughts—it’s clear that you’re not alone in feeling this way. So many people, like you, remember a CBC that truly connected Canadians from coast to coast, from Edmonton to Lunenburg, Yellowknife to Halifax. Now, that sense of unity has been replaced with something narrower, more ideological.
Your moment listening to that Ideas program hits home—many of us have had that same realization, seeing the CBC shift from being a voice of common ground to an echo chamber for a particular worldview. It’s frustrating to watch an institution that once celebrated all of Canada’s stories focus instead on telling us what to think. My friends and I have a running game to turn on CBC and catch it NOT being cartoonishly woke then get the others to listen. No winners so far.
But there’s a real chance here to make things better. Change is coming. Not just in the government. The change in the industry is profound. CBC could be depoliticized. And the notion of decentralizing could go further than ever before creating a people's news room in every province, and a creation lab that wasn't also an arbiter of ideology. We'll see what happens. Maybe we'll even get to help.
I used to be a big CBC supporter, but in the last few years that has waned. This is particularly because of the very heavy political slant and political messaging that has come from the news division since the beginning of this decade. I have too often heard interviewers openly scorn interviewees who they do not agree with, and give a greater amount of leeway and time to those they do agree with. The media slant has become very biased, with the views of the reporters and anchors very clearly "broadcast" in their body language and intonation. News is very often carefully selected to support a narrative, with opposing viewpoint buried or ignored. That is one thing for a political party to do (and they will pay for it in the next election), but not the sort of games the supposedly unbiased media should be engaging in. As much as I agree with the concept of a national broadcaster, our cherished CBC has lost it's way.
For sure. The framing employed by media outlets like CBC can contribute to polarization and echo chambers. When stories are consistently framed through a particular ideological lens, it can alienate audiences who feel their perspective is not represented. This drives a wedge in public discourse, making it difficult to find common ground or appreciate differing viewpoints.
If it's bothering classical liberal creative people like you and I, imagine what it's doing to (maybe the vast majority of Canadians) who track more conservative values.
This kind of framing is not unique to CBC—it happens across the media landscape. However, as a public broadcaster funded by taxpayer dollars, CBC is expected to serve as a more neutral arbiter, providing a balanced presentation of facts that caters to the diverse range of Canadian viewpoints. When framing leans too heavily in one direction, it can foster distrust, especially among those who feel their perspective is underrepresented.
The problem is extreme framing is now so persistent it's hard to recall and imagine what 'straight news' even looks and sounds like and how it could compete. But I believe it can. Pursuit of The Truth has its own gravitas and import that can be even more dramatic and compelling than a comparatively easy pitch to the cheap seats of political ideology.
It would be great to find a place to have input. I'm not at all a supporter of the most extreme views on the conservative side to get rid of the cbc. I think there are reasonable people within the conservative Spectrum who would welcome a reform of the CBC.
The worst part of the identitarian agenda is that they create one-dimensional monolithic and cartoon like identities for those identity groups. In other words the indigenous experience is all about victimhood. You will never hear voices like Ellis Ross or the countless First Nations people who write counter narrative editorials in a venue like the National Post. You will never hear from a young black Canadian like the American political commentator Coleman Hughes. You will never hear from my friend Doug who is gay and who calls CBC the Cry-Baby Channel and his concern about the trans phenomenon in the school context where he works.
By creating monolithic identities, you do a disservice to the very identity groups that you think you are serving.
And I honestly don't even know where to start on the about face on Canadian history and all the sins that need atonement as you describe.
Anyways thanks for sharing your article and for responding!
Thanks for the long deep dive. You are describing exactly what I feel and what so many people I talk to feel about the CBC. A lifelong fan but I rarely listen or watch . A couple months ago I remember listening to some Ideas program where someone was talking about how queerness was going to help prevent climate change. I laughed out loud and stared into the middle distance and just thought *holy f*ck this is quintessential CBC bullsh*t today." It is laughable how ideologically single-minded and woke it has become.
As I've lived in different places in canada, whether it's Edmonton or Lunenburg, or Yellowknife or Halifax, CBC Radio mostly gave me a strong sense of a unified country. Now, I'd be happy to see its budget cut drastically, forcing it to rebuild its mandate.
Thank you Mathew. Thanks for sharing your thoughts—it’s clear that you’re not alone in feeling this way. So many people, like you, remember a CBC that truly connected Canadians from coast to coast, from Edmonton to Lunenburg, Yellowknife to Halifax. Now, that sense of unity has been replaced with something narrower, more ideological.
Your moment listening to that Ideas program hits home—many of us have had that same realization, seeing the CBC shift from being a voice of common ground to an echo chamber for a particular worldview. It’s frustrating to watch an institution that once celebrated all of Canada’s stories focus instead on telling us what to think. My friends and I have a running game to turn on CBC and catch it NOT being cartoonishly woke then get the others to listen. No winners so far.
But there’s a real chance here to make things better. Change is coming. Not just in the government. The change in the industry is profound. CBC could be depoliticized. And the notion of decentralizing could go further than ever before creating a people's news room in every province, and a creation lab that wasn't also an arbiter of ideology. We'll see what happens. Maybe we'll even get to help.