Calls for CBC President to Quit

By Stephen Pate – The chorus of calls for CBC President Hubert Lacroix to resign are coming from his friends not his critics.

“Lacroix should resign. He is helping Stephen Harper drive CBC into the ground.’ said Friends of Canadian Broadcasting spokesperson Ian Morrison.

“More than one staff member challenged their president and CEO, Hubert Lacroix, to quit in protest of what they believe is the federal government’s willful neglect.” reported the Globe And Mail.

“Lacroix has but one move to make: Resign. And if he doesn’t, then the CBC itself should demand that he steps down” wrote The Citizen.

“Lacroix made the statement today in response to angry questions from CBC staffers who called on Lacroix to resign during a stormy question and answer session about the CBC’s just released five-year plan.”

“This plan and Lacroix’s shameful statement are a betrayal of the values of public broadcasting. This new plan will also make CBC less accessible for many Canadians, especially older people who tend to vote,” Morrison said.

Personally I wonder about the CEO of a multi-billion dollar public corporation who wants to get down in the gutter to fight a disabled journalist, just because he can. CBC President Lies to Parliament.

Downsizing is not a plan or strategy

By any standard of corporate governance, Lacroix is past his best-before-date. It is dawning on CBC employees, the supportive audience and many in the media that Hubert Lacroix is not only in a bind but he has no idea of how to solve the crisis.

In the business world, boom and bust cycles are a way of life. During downtimes, which is what the CBC is experiencing, management tries to temporarily cut spending and find new revenues to grow the organization in the medium and long-term.  Cut then grow.

A company with no vision will only cut expenses.  Then next year they cut expenses again to match revenues. Rinse and repeat until the company goes out of business or is merged with another healthier organization.  CEO’s are hired for their vision to get organizations out of trouble not downsizing year after year.

Here’s the CBC plan which is nothing more than cutting the CBC into oblivion.

“According to the plan CBC will:

• Cut 1000 – 1500 creative staff by 2020, on top of 657 staff cut in April
• Significantly cut in-house production, except for news, current affairs and radio
• Privilege digital and mobile distribution over broadcast radio and television
• Cut CBC’s real estate holdings in half” Friends of the CBC

It is true: the CBC is in trouble. The world of media and entertainment is changing. People get their news on smartphones and tablets. But it’s not the end of the world. Many media organizations have developed plans to change with the times and thrive.  Television networks will not disappear and neither will newspapers.

The CBC president thinks he has to throw the baby out with the bath water because he does not know what else to do.

The Globe and Mail suggests Lacroix’s plan may be fatal to the corporation Disruption, what’s your function? How the CBC plans to disrupt … itself 

CEC President Hubert Lacroix should resign and the Harper government should find an executive who can grow the CBC from strength to strength.  Lacroix is a lawyer who is way over his head and does not have a practical plan to make the CBC strong.

Alternatively, Lacroix may be just doing the biding of the Harper government.  “Heritage Minister James Moore confirmed that downsizing and decentralizing the CBC is a goal for the federal Conservative government,” wrote Postmedia in 2012.  Moore: downsizing CBC remains a goal

Is what appears as incompetence part of Harper’s goal?

Follow me on Twitter at @sdpate or on Facebook at NJN Network, OyeTimes and IMA News Buzz. Featured image courtesy of Radio-Canada (CBC)

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network