Why I Love The CBC

There are probably a lot of non-Canadians who wonder why us Canucks are so attached to our federally-funded tv and radio broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. How can we trust a news source that is funded by the government?

Here's the thing. We know they are government-run. We know that the vast majority of the employees are probably of the liberal persuasion. We also know that being liberal doesn't stop them from making fun of the government, no matter who is in power.

The CBC produces the best political satire in Canada, bar none.

Here's some great clips from the undisputed champion of Canadian satire and long-time CBC employee, Rick Mercer:

A Public Service Announcement from the Liberal Party on Missile Defense

Rick's Rant: October 10, 2006

Rick takes Liberal leadership hopeful Bob Rae fishing

Rick takes (former) PM Paul Martin to Canadian Tire

As much as I agree with intrepid and his previous thread that The CBC, a tool for the sitting government, I would have to say I am a fan of CBC at the same time.

Damnit chissler, make up your mind!

But I am a huge fan of Rick Mercer's weekly report. And well, who can forget Hockey Night in Canada.

Next to Jon Stewart, I'd put him second with Colbert. Thats good company.

[edit on 12-10-2006 by chissler]

The CBC: The station we love to hate!

Stewart and Colbert are definitely good company to be in. I'm biased towards Mercer because I think he's cute and I love Newfie accents. Unfortunately, he's into guys.

Hockey Night in Canada is unsurpassed in it's greatness. Just because I'm a little obsessed with YouTube at the moment, may I present to you Canada's other national anthem.

I will have more to write on the subject when I have a little time eh. That being said, BRAVO! Duzey, Duzey, Duzey - those unique sensibilities rock, totally.

Yes, the majority (not as large as it used to be) of non-management are to the left of center. I'd take issue with management being anything other than - biased to whatever the current government of the day wants.

Did you ever notice how many CBC'ers turn up on other networks? There's a reason for that. More later, the history of this is worth exploring from NPR to ABC and all in between ('cept FOX) you will find Canadians - lots of Canadians.

Why do I love the CBC? Journalistic integrity and accurate timely reporting, plus we do own it being a public institution. I am so glad they are re-deploying resources to the local level again - local stuff was gutted by Rabinovitch a few years back. The comedy and documentaries are premo - award winning in fact.

I like Mercer too... especially when he jumps out of a perfectly good airplane attached to Forces Chief of Staff, General Hillier. You know I actually stopped using so much electricity as a result of "the one ton challenge" commercials that Harper seems to think were a waste of money and has said so quite disparagingly and publicly.

Great thread, more later,

Victor K.

41'

We have PBS & NPR here too (funded partially by the U.S. gov't) with its own boatload of liberal hacks on the "news" that attack the present administration all the time, so just being gov't funded doesn't really equal gov't control in all cases, definitely. Still I don't see much reason for a gov't funded channel anymore with the vast array of commercial programming available. Shows I love on PBS such as Nova and Nature would easily be picked up by commercial stations, while the stupid stuff nobody watches yet our tax dollars fund, would die a deserved death.

My $0.02

The CBC is equal opportunity. They make fun of all the politicians, not just the ones in power. We don't have much of that liberal vs. conservative thing going on up here, except between the politicians.

There are many, many Canadians who simply do not have access to cable in their igloos. The CBC is all they get. And to deprive any Canadian of hockey would be completey un-Canadian. In fact, giving all Canadians equal access to hockey games is one of the most important things the CBC does. If the CBC went out of business tomorrow, there would be 15,000,000 Canadian men sitting in front of a blank screen on Saturady night, with a tear in their eye.

The Duzey is right. Depriving people of watching the Maple Leafs fail to get yet another Stanley Cup is just cruel.

Personally, I don't mind the CBC. Their satire is second-to-none. They have some decent shows, too- dramas, mostly, and the odd one-off like Dragon's Den. Unfortunately, tehy tend not to keep them due to the fact that they murdered their ratings with the leftist crap they pull all the time.

PBS...PBS is great. We have WNED up here, and it's fantastic. masterpiece theatre, FRONTLINE, NOVA, British Comedy, For King and Empire...I love it. If only you could somehow merge the two...

DE

The Leafs... back in the day, brings a tear to my eye, and that poor Bobby Orr, knees. On a brighter note here's another good reason to add to the pile... more Gold, this time from a an American festival for radio:

For the CBC, "13" is indeed a lucky number. The New York Festivals has awarded them the 2006 Broadcaster of the Year Award

from the Festival Press release at the following link: www.newyorkfestivals.com...,7,56

BTW: The Fifth Estate is breaking a "2nd Mole" story according to a Toronto Star article.

I like CBC radio... no commercials... AAhhhh.

Victor K.

41'

[edit on 13-10-2006 by V Kaminski]

I personally enjoy all of the CBC documentaries and it's like Canada takes a far more professional approach to such contrivances of network programming than their American counterpart. My favorite show is hands down Venture and I don't know why that show is just so darn brilliant, but it is nevertheless so there.

Ya damn our igloos only getting cbc..but hey cbc is good enough its better then watching polar bears walk.

I love the CBC too eh!

Seruously, we picked up a CBC station from Kingston (barely) when I was growing up in upstate NY. I'll never forget watching Hockey Night in Canada, The Beachcombers, Curling all afternoon on Sundays etc. Great stuff, great memories. Nowadays I never miss "As it Happens" on CBC1.

Love ya Canada

More good stuff. Some CBC stuff is "bleeding-edge". Some is "ultra-orthodox professional journalism". I like the variety and the "price is right".

Strombo's "The Hour" has a next day "web-out" for their show in a couple of formats, I prefer WMP for most stuff: www.cbc.ca... - "street" enough to count as hangin'-ten, or as good as you'll get and still count as journalism in a traditionalist sense.

CBC News' "Backgrounder" features are a great resource for historical context stuff, for instance I wanted to check out what's up at Bombardier, so I looked on CBC's website and what I found was quite In Depth and I learned a lot...

CBC's Radio services are "world-class" and I really enjoy the pieces they air from other public broadcasters from around the globe overnight on CBC Radio One.

For those who wish a more local flavour to their news the regional and local customizations that they have on the CBC website can tailor your news scope to your liking... folks from "down-home" can dial-in the settings from anywhere they happen to be on the planet.

The CBC's Fifth Estate keeps knockin' 'em out of the park: This week a statistical anomaly in lottery tickets salespeople winning... illegally. Last week it was breaking the Second Mole in the Toronto Terror conspiracy.

The best stuff on CBC this week (besides) Mercer, no, better than Mercer, was Stephen Puddicombe's report on his embed experience South of the 'Har with our servicepeople. Uh, pretty interesting and moving stuff, interviewing during sustained incoming and out-going "larger than small arms" fire while choking on dust and sweating duty and honour, all documented in a dignified and secure manner.

Truly "good" stuff... tax-bucks well spent, did a bunch to let me know more about what our best are facing. We have very, very good people and seem to be carrying an increasing stress admirably well.

I still have some use for the BBC, Reuters, AP, CP, NPR/PBS, CTV, Global and CITY... but more and more I'm finding the CBC "portal" concept to my liking. In fact besides Google, it's the site I find myself most "sticky" on.

Victor K.

43'

[edit on 25-10-2006 by V Kaminski]