A longtime resident of Uxbridge, Ted Barris has written professionally for 40 years - for radio, television, magazines and newspapers. The "Barris Beat" column began in the 1950s when his father Alex wrote for the Globe and Mail. Ted continues the tradition of offering a positive view of his community. He has written 16 non-fiction books of Canadian history and teaches journalism at Centennial College in Toronto.
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Awarding and surviving
I listened with great interest, the other night, to the pronouncements from the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission about what we're likely to be watching on our television sets in the coming years. Depending upon whom you believe, this week's CRTC pay-for-carriage decision is either a victory or a defeat.
“[It's] the key to our viability,” one broadcaster said.
“I'm fighting mad,” a cable executive countered. “We'll explore all avenues to contest it.”
What the two giants appear to be fighting over is what the broadcasters claim are appropriate payments to them for the on-air content they produce in their studios and production facilities. The cable companies call it “a massive tax grab by the broadcasters” to expect cash payment from them, when all they're doing is delivering the product to viewers.
The truth, in my view, is that neither broadcasters nor cable companies are entitled to claim sovereignty over content. Actually, it's the writers, researchers, producers, performers, journalists and the technicians who produce the content - they are the true creators. And I believe if both the corporate giants of broadcasting and cable delivery paid the creators their fair share, there might be more production money and content for everybody - including us viewers.
Coincidentally, last week, I attended a broadcasters' gala event in Toronto, where some of those same producers and journalists - the creators - received recognition for their year's work. The Radio and Television News Directors Association (a.k.a. the Association of Electronic Journalists) handed out excellence awards in such radio and TV categories as news information, new media usage, live coverage, videography, newscasts, features, commentary, diversity reporting and investigative reporting. My initial interest in attending the event was to applaud long-time broadcast colleague Ross Perigoe as he received the Michael Monty Memorial Award. The award honoured Perigoe - a professor at Concordia University in Montreal - as the country's most respected and proficient broadcast journalism instructor.
“There's no honour greater than from the students we mentor,” he told me.
Watching a life-long friend and working partner win recognition this way - essentially nominated by some of his student protégés - proved a wonderful highlight of the evening. Here among some of the best journalists, producers and managers from both the private and public broadcasting sectors in the country, a man I've known all my life earned national attention in his chosen field.
But that was just the beginning of the excitement. All evening long, as the up-and-coming journalists being recognized with other RTNDA awards paraded to the podium, Perigoe kept shaking his head. Not in disappointment, but in disbelief. It turned out that as many as half a dozen of the evening's winners were former students of his, and it was a total surprise to him. In particular, when Elizabeth St. Philip's name was announced as winning broadcaster in the short feature category, Perigoe really reacted.
“She almost didn't make it into the industry,” he told me quietly.
I looked at him expectantly and he explained that initially her credentials as an applicant for the Concordia broadcast journalism program (some years ago) weren't as strong as most. But Perigoe said he spotted something in her demeanour and her personality - a passion to succeed no matter what her scholastic record. It convinced him she deserved a chance. She proved him right (and I guess proved he really did deserve that “best educator” award.) It was as if my friend Perigoe had won a second award that night.
Perhaps the irony in the evening came from St. Philip's acceptance speech. She echoed the concerns many of the young broadcasters expressed as they thanked the RTNDA for the recognition.
“I am so honoured to receive this,” St. Philip said, “particularly when the broadcasting industry seems to be going through such tough times.”
Many of those individuals recognized through the evening came from broadcast outlets or investigative reporting departments now threatened by both public and private budget cutbacks. The truth was some of these award winners' jobs might not exist come next year's RTNDA Awards night.
As I often think about the state of radio and television, if only the accountants of broadcasting spent time listening to the eagerness and passion of its creators, how much better broadcasting might be. If, instead of fighting over who wins or loses the pay-for-carriage skirmish, the broadcast systems and cable companies worried more about saving community broadcasting, how many more Elizabeth St. Philipses we might be inspiring. And, consequently, how much better the industry might be serving the public airwaves of the country.
