Art's blog

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has an e-mail box (pov@cbc.ca) to which distracted, irritated and fractious viewers and listeners, even those offering praise, might write. It even has a web site devoted to the topic, which turns out to be a clever way of garnering viewer (and listener) reaction to its programming. This tactic is probably true of broadcasting corporations worldwide. What happens to these messages of tribute or criticism is not known. The public is assured that the CBC reads all comments and takes appropriate action. What the appropriate action might be is likewise unknown, for no one in the CBC replies to messages received. To write therefore must be construed as a waste of time; it is like writing a prayer to Jehovah and burying it in the Wailing Wall. So many are stuffed in it is logical to assume that someone removes them by the bucketful when no one is looking. How else is room made for the next day’s crop? It’s easier for the CBC. Incoming messages are deleted en bloc with the ‘Delete’ key.

It is a pleasure to hear Jay Scotland, stand-in weather forecaster for the CBC national tv, deliver the weather forecast. He reports the prevailing climatic conditions from coast to coast to coast and tells listeners what to expect. In short, his delivery is clear spoken and straight-forward minus the jokiness that characterises the weekday evening weather report under Ms Anne-Marie Mediwake and Mr Dwight Drummond. These comedians – sorry, announcers – cannot let a single moment pass without a fatuous exchange with the weather reporter, invariably accompanying the chitchat with hollow laughter. What banter, what natter, chatter and blether. Let us hope that, in pursuing his degree in climatology, Mr. Scotland does not do a minor in buffoonery.

One listens with growing dismay to supposedly educated and articulate members of press and commentators on radio and television. Those who lace their observations and opinions with frequent interjections of ‘you know’ are a disgrace to their calling. Is it not enough to hear ‘Dunno’, ‘Wanna’, and Toronna in newspeak? The all too frequent assertion of ‘you know’ is worse. Use of this filler reflects poorly on those aspiring to prominence in their field, quite apart from causing the toes of listeners to curl. My reaction each time I hear that ‘you know’ delivered is to say aloud ‘No! I don’t know’ meaning I don’t want to be told what I know.

Enough time has passed to give the CBC’s revamped news presentation fair and careful viewing. The conclusion, it is found wanting.

For clarity’s sake if for no other reason, news reports should be plain, straight-forward and unadorned. Instead, in the new format the viewer is faced with a screen cluttered with subsidiary messages, duplicate images and distracting graphics. A battery of graphic blocks includes the prominent CBC tv logo, a second rectangle with a distracting rolling colour, and a message to remind the viewer that this is the news show; not programme, show mind. These graphics sit on what one takes to be weather information, yet unreadable. Beneath this is a rolling message, also too small for easy reading while, behind the presenter, a larger, constantly changing graphic tells the viewer this is the CBC news.

Really! This is more than overkill. It is dumb, dumb, dumb. Talk about multi-tasking; the viewer needs a doctorate in split-concentration for comprehension
Normal news viewing is a pathetic experience enough, but facing the Power & Politics show is an ordeal of endurance calling for fortitude and patience. Hosted by an aggressive presenter competing with the same battery of puerile graphics that characterize news show requires stamina. More depressing is the journalist’s raucous competition with those he interviews; boastingly called the ‘power panel’.

It appears more than the presenter can bear to ask a question and listen to the answer, but insists on automatically mouthing his own opinion. From where did the CBC draw its latest generation of journalists? What is CBC tv sinking to if not into a quagmire of despair?

I’ll turn to CTV for the news. What about you?