Speeches and Interviews

October 23, 2003

Speaking Notes for Tony Burman to the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications

Speaking Notes for Tony Burman, Editor in Chief, CBC News, Current Affairs and Newsworld, CBC Radio, TV and cbc.ca to the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications, Ottawa, Ontario

Good morning, Honourable Senators. It is a privilege to discuss these important issues with your Committee.

As Editor in Chief of CBC's English Services, I oversee the news and current affairs programming on CBC Television, CBC Radio, Newsworld and CBC News Online.

For more than fifty years, CBC News services have been keeping Canadians informed about their community, their country and the world at large. During that time, the CBC has moved from being a radio-only service to a multi-platform service to Canadians around the world.

The CBC/Radio Canada coverage of the Iraq war, for example, was seen and heard in every corner of this country - on Radio and Television, in French and in English- as well as through cbc.ca. But it was also distributed throughout the world to much acclaim.

+++ via shortwave Radio, it was heard in dozens of countries- in French, English and other languages- on Radio-Canada International.

+++ Teléjournal and other Radio-Canada television programs were seen throughout the French-speaking world on TV-cinq.

+++ and all of the most important CBC Television programs and news specials, including The National, were seen every day on our international cable service, Newsworld International. This is available in more than 15 million homes in the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Our coverage of the Iraq war was a model of cooperation among our various news services of CBC/Radio-Canada, French and English. Viewers in both languages saw the award-winning reporting of Céline Galipeau, Michel Cormier, Don Murray and Patrick Brown.

French- and English-speaking listeners in Canada and abroad heard Akli Abdallah, Manon Globensky, Mike Hornbrook and Steve Puddicombe.

International information makes up for an increasingly important part of programming throughout CBC/Radio-Canada's media lines. More than ever, we strongly believe that it is essential that Canadians be provided with a window on the world to be able to fully grasp new realities that keep unfolding. The events of September 11th sharply brought to light the urgent need to comprehend such new realities. Together with my colleagues in French Radio and French Television, we reacted to those events by offering relevant programming to explain the world to our audiences.

And we are doing that for a reason. The entire media environment is undergoing profound change. The ground is moving beneath our feet, not only in Canada but around the world.

In the early spring of this year, CBC News and CBC's Audience Research Department went into the field to talk to Canadians across the country. The question was crucial: "What do Canadians want from the news media today, and from the CBC in particular?"

Two respected outside research companies under CBC supervision conducted the research. It is the most extensive study of its kind in Canada and draws on the views of thousands of Canadians from all across the country, surveyed in a multitude of settings.

As this committee well knows, the changes in the next five years in the way that news is ‘consumed' and ‘produced' may exceed what we have seen in the past 50 years.

Allow me to give you some of the key observations from this cross-Canada survey of news consumers. We have only just received its preliminary findings. In the weeks ahead, we will submit a draft of the report to your Committee.

This report — although very positive about the CBC overall — identifies several areas that will require work. And this will be the challenge for CBC NEWS over the next one to three years.

+++ Canadians seem to have a far greater interest in more international news than is widely acknowledged. According to the report:: "the need for international news is almost universal" - and the study argues that this is perhaps the biggest potential area of audience growth.

+++ According to the data, there is a desire among many Canadians for more diversity in CBC's news and current affairs story selection and treatment; and more openness in the way that we do our work.

+++ There seems to be a new and stronger sense of Canada's place in the world: a perception that 'we're the best place in the world to live' with a far more important role abroad than currently acknowledged. This is coupled with the notion that 'Canadians should get better at self-promotion' about the country, with CBC leading the way.

+++ And — finally - there seems to be a genuine interest in Canadian political affairs — more than widely acknowledged - but a deep skepticism about "the way the whole subject is handled" by the news media, including the CBC.

It is important for us not to forget what this report emphasizes: that in this exciting ‘new world', the CBC is incredibly well positioned and highly respected. We are blessed with a gifted and dedicated staff and a rich and unique history. And what we learned confirms the current direction we have set in CBC television, radio and on the Internet.

More than ever, CBC.CA is ensuring that Canadians, wherever they are, can log on for the most up-to-date news about Canada and the world. In Radio, a significant initiative in program development is creating more diversity in its programming, while continuing to strengthen its connection in local communities. In television, efforts are underway to strengthen its service to local audiences with both daily and special high-impact regional programming. And throughout CBC NEWS, a renewal process is transforming it into a more integrated, streamlined and decentralized organization.

The study's intent was not to affect sudden or abrupt change. Instead, it will accomplish something that is far more profound. It will to help us create a long-lasting CBC News blueprint for years to come that will enable us to answer the crucial question: Where do the best opportunities exist for us to enhance CBC's value with Canadians and win over new, untapped audiences?

From all this research, it is clear that CBC news and information has everything it takes to become an even more attractive, vital and potent force in Canadian society today. But it will mean taking some deep breaths and more than a few risks. And that is a challenge we welcome.

Thank you, Honourable Senators, for your attention. I now introduce my colleague at Radio-Canada, Claude Saint-Laurent.