Why the CBC's Purpose Matters

 The CBC is broken: how should it be fixed? Defund the whole thing? Refund the whole thing? Double down on digital? Stop chasing digital relevance?

The list goes on and on. You've heard them all. But for a moment, forget about funding or even political bias. Just ask: why does the CBC exist? 

What is its underlying ideology? Not its political ideology, but its philosophy for why we need it. Does it have one? Does it need one? If it does have one, is it working or is that what needs to change?

David Cayley spent over 40 years at the CBC as a journalist and producer. For 30 of those years he worked on CBC Radio’s Ideas program. He's now published a book, The CBC: How Canada's Public Broadcaster Lost Its Voice (and How it Can Get it Back). It's both an ideological history of the CBC's past and a manifesto for the CBC's future.

In it, he puts his finger right on the root problem. The CBC is there for everyone. It's supposed to speak to all of the Canadian public. However, if the public has splintered beyond recognition, what's left to speak to?

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor and Publisher)

Featured Guest: David Cayley

Fact checking by Julian Abraham

Additional music by Audio Network

More information:

• The CBC: How Canada's Public Broadcaster Lost Its Voice (and How it Can Get it Back) — Sutherland House
• David Cayley

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