Diversity of Voices process “a sham”: Union exec

Reactions to the Diversity of Voices ownership policies announced by the CRTC on Tuesday has certainly been mixed. While some organizations are praising the guidelines and others are electing not to comment, the Communications, Entergy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP)'s VP of media Peter Murdoch questions the merits of not only the DoV proceeding, but all the broadcast decisions of the current commission. "I think it was a sham," says Murdoch. "Diversity? That title's laughable." The commission's news policies limit a company to controlling only two media in one market (e.g. a radio station, television station and/or local newspaper). The rules also prohibit transactions that would leave an entity control of more than 45% of the television audience share or control of all forms of television service distribution in one market.Murdoch says the policies still allow Canada's media giants to grow in a market where media consolidation is already too prevalent. While he realizes the commission would almost certainly not have ordered divestment of the large media corporations, he says it could have put in safeguards to potentially increase the number of editorial voices down the road. " if CanWest was going to divest itself of its newspapers they shouldn't go to CTV and result in exactly the same kind of setup there is now," says Murdoch. "It seems to be there's been no acknowledgement that there is a problem now...and they've opened the door for even further pyramiding of media power. There's nothing here that says Rogers shouldn't be able to buy CTV."More frustrating, says Murdoch, is the DoV policies once again show that the commission is choosing the interests of business over culture. "The decisions that are coming down by the CRTC, one right after the other, are becoming alarming, because there has not been one decision that I have seen yet that has been in the interest of public policy, only in the interest of shareholder," he adds. "The CRTC is not the Toronto Stock Exchange." Not everyone aggress with Murdoch. Ian Morrison, spokesperson for the advocacy group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, says he's pleased with the decision, particularly in that it set quantitative guidelines going forward. And contrary to Murdoch, he tells Canadian Communications Reports that as the first lasting policy implementation set by Konrad von Finckenstein, the DoV policies show the commission's new chair is sensitive to the necessity of broadcast regulation. While many believed a von Finckenstein-led commission would let market forces alone dictate, Morrison says this ruling proves that is not the case. Some broadcasters welcome the new policies as well. "We applaud the CRTC for recognizing the value of maintaining the greatest possible diversity of television programming," said Bill Roberts, president and CEO of S-Vox. "The commission has laid the groundwork for future measures that will ensure Canadians continue to enjoy real choice when they watch TV." The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) also commended the policies, but lamented that they overlooked the issue of conventional broadcaster expenditure requirements and benefits monies. "It is unfortunate that consideration of these issues has been postponed once again to the time of the licence renewal hearings, which could be a year away," said Monique Lafontaine, DGC general counsel and director of regulatory affairs.As for the national networks, CanWest MediaWorks Inc. declined to comment saying it was still reviewing the new policies and CTVglobemedia Inc. did not return a call by press time. Rogers Communication Inc. also declined to comment saying the policies have no effect on the media company. Morrison adds that Rogers, at this point, is more preoccupied with the CRTC's BDU and specialty review scheduled for April. The CEP, no doubt, will intervene at that public hearing as well, but Murdoch says its frustrating to continually make a case before the commission only to feel you've been ignored. "As these decisions come down it is clear to me that the chair and the CRTC is simply doing the bidding of the ideological and economic desires of a right-wing government. A government that is not interested in regulation and wants deregulation, that would like to see foreign ownership, and is not interested in protecting Canadian cultural policies," he says.

Diversity of Voices process “a sham”: Union exec

Broadcast | January 17, 2008

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