No one elected technology journalist/futurist Tod Maffin president of the embattled CBC, but he’s willing to share his ideas for how he would make some changes if he were put in charge.
Maffin’s Sept. 13 podcast My thoughts on the future CBC vision is one of the best items posted on www.cbcunplugged.com, the popular blog he maintains devoted to exploring all sides of the CBC lockout, now well into its fifth week. From the beginning Maffin has made it clear he is not limiting debate to one side or the other. But his podcast is a stinging indictment of a senior management group that claims to want flexibility, but shows none itself.
"…[This] is where I find myself today — locked out at CBC Vancouver and truly heartbroken," Maffin says in his downloadable essay. "I am shattered by the indifference, the active apathy that it seems CBC’s senior executive are showing about the public broadcasting ethos.
"It’s as if they don’t realize what’s at stake."
Maffin goes on to offer a vision for a revitalized CBC, using the talent, imagination, energy and innovation of its existing workforce.
Maffin recognizes that management thinks it’s doing the right thing. But he refuses to believe the statement that only through hiring people on contract can the corporation be the flexible, vibrant media company it needs to be.
His three-point plan calls for a focus on content, strong funding commitments and the attraction of new voices to CBC. And (not surprising, coming from a technology geek), Maffin would upgrade the corporation’s technology to reflect the new era of podcasts, MP3 files, blogs and other new media.
Maffin on the flexibility issue:
"For all the belly-aching CBC senior executive make about needing flexibility in their workforce, remember this: current locked-out CBC employees in 4 weeks have self-organized, learned new technologies like podcasting, set up training programs, tweaked FTP settings, launched interactive web sites and exploited new technologies to connect with Canadians.
"And through it all, management has one web site: cbcnegotiations.ca
"If the CBC is looking for a flexible workforce, they don’t have to hire outside. They just need to unlock the doors."
Go Tod. Tell it like it is.
(Note: my spouse is a CBC employee and a member of the Canadian Media Guild.)