• Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    I think it’s a safe bet that most Canadians consider CBC primarily a news organization.

    Maybe. Maybe not. The fact is, the CBC doesn’t do only news, so we are funding their large entertainment wing, too.

    Either way, comparing their budget to organizations that can bill customers directly is incredibly dishonest.

    Well, CBC also has alternate revenue streams, including direct billing for their paid services (like Netflix or Disney).

    What’s dishonest is the CBC claiming that their News Network is not publicly funded.

    • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      I agree, that is dishonest. All CBC services should be free for all Canadians, even if that requires a larger budget.

    • charles@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      If you read the article you linked, you’ll see at the bottom that News Network is not allowed to receive public funds due to rules by the CRTC.

      You’ll also see that even the CBC acknowledges that News Network benefits from the other CBC services that do receive funds, but that it doesn’t mean that News Network is publicly funded.

      • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        It quite literally says, “As such, while CBC News Network does not receive public funds directly, it does, in fact, operate using publicly-funded resources.”.

        We can split hairs, but they were not being very transparent or honest.

        • girlfreddy@lemmy.ca
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          11 months ago

          As such, while CBC News Network does not receive public funds directly, it does, in fact, operate using publicly-funded resources."

          Seems pretty transparent and honest to me.

    • Victor Villas@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      Maybe. Maybe not. The fact is, the CBC doesn’t do only news, so we are funding their large entertainment wing, too.

      That’s true. Out of curiosity, do you know how each branch fares in terms of income generation? Because it may very well be that their entertainment wing is helping subsidize the news part. - not saying this is the case, I don’t know, just considering the possibility that cutting the entertainment part might make it harder to do the news part

      Also, some of the entertainment also serves a social good purpose… not saying all of it, but definitely some of it. It’s hard to really call the whole thing wasteful just because it’s categorized as entertainment. Providing access to culture is one of the things that a broadcast corporation should be doing.