In celebration of CBC.ca’s tenth anniversary, Cory publishes an essay on the future of the CBC with similar themes to those I recently explored in a column.
Post Tagged with: "CBC"
Rethinking the Public in Public Broadcasting
My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) assesses potential reform of the CBC. Canadian stories are being told in record numbers, yet they are not found on the CBC. The blossoming of citizen journalism, blogging, digital photo-sharing, and user-generated content is reshaping the way the public is informed and entertained. Millions of Canadians are no longer merely consumers of the news and entertainment. Instead, they are active participants – one expert recently labeled them as "the people formerly known as the audience" – who create, report, comment, and analyze their own content that vies for the attention of a global audience.
The CBC’s future may therefore lie in further blurring the difference between conventional broadcast and the Internet by establishing an integrated approach that brings more broadcast content to the Internet and more Internet content to broadcast. The CBC has developed an impressive online presence, yet the majority of the content is based on the traditional broadcast model that places a premium on control. The next-generation CBC would do well to partner with the public by loosening restrictions and encouraging the dissemination of Canadian content from a broader range of sources.
Indeed, public broadcasters in other countries have already begun to reinvent themselves in this way.
CBC Introduces New Podcasts
Good news from CBC as they’ve introduced a host of new podcasts, including some of their most popular shows. I still think that they can get even more innovative by offering customized podcasts based on subject interest, but this is a nice step in the right direction.
CBC’s The Hour: iTunes in France
Video of segment on CBC’s The Hour to discuss the move by the French government to legislate interoperability for Apple iTunes. [link no longer works]
The Hour on iTunes in France
I recently appeared on CBC's The Hour to discuss the move by the French government to legislate interoperability for Apple iTunes. The segment from March 22nd is available here.