Whatever the horrors of a war or the magnitude of an event, there is no longer a commercial break on Radio-Canada.
There used to be ones for the death of the Pope or the King, for Confederation Day and for every great tragedy, but those days are gone. Today, Super-C ground beef, Vagisil wipes, Coors Light, freeze-dried puppy meatballs, Ozempic, Ezgo whitening gel, and more have the same importance as the bomb that pulverized a large building in Kharkiv as the Hamas terrorists who killed them The throats of festival-goers or refugees from Gaza are amputated in the cold in destroyed hospitals.
Last week, Radio-Canada wanted to make a meaningful contribution by commemorating the two years of war in Ukraine with special broadcasts. Anne-Marie Dussault dedicated an hour to him around the clock and Céline Galipeau dedicated a special edition of the television news. In both cases, unbearable images were broadcast of this bloody conflict, in which civilians, more than soldiers, are the big losers.
A little excursion from Patrice
During the week, Patrice Roy, a presenter like Ms. Galipeau, presented on-site interviews with Ukrainian personalities, especially artists and authors. Since Radio-Canada still has more money in the bank than it would like to believe, we came to the conclusion that dear Patrice Roy also did a little “recreational journalism” stint in certain cities in Ukraine that were less affected by the war. had won. Not to mention that it would be a good selling point for advertisers in these difficult sponsorship times.
Since Radio-Canada's own journalists do not shy away from doing this in secret, as Alain Saulnier, the French broadcaster's former director general of information, regularly does, I have often denounced Radio-Canada's practice of splicing its newscasts by inserting it to spice things up with dozens of advertising messages. This practice not only raises doubts about the integrity and independence of information, but ultimately also undermines our understanding of values. There is no longer any difference between the construction of the Northvolt factory, the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka, a case of road rage, the resignation of the mayor of Gatineau, the death of a giraffe at the Calgary Zoo and the new Hyundai.
Radio-Canada is deaf
Advertising on Radio-Canada's newscasts has long been criticized, but management has consistently been tone-deaf. How deaf she is every time private broadcasters accuse her of unfair competition, whether because she sells her advertising at a low price or because she hosts quizzes or similar programs that are inappropriately subsidized. In the height of impudence, Radio-Canada even has the courage to add advertising to the France Télévisions news programs it continues to broadcast, even though they are banned from advertising in France!
In January 2020, Janet Yale's Ottawa-appointed expert panel recommended that CBC/SRC stop advertising on newscasts. A recommendation that Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party included in its platform ahead of the September 2021 general election. But Ottawa has done nothing since then.
In such a context, it is a real provocation and a shame that Radio-Canada, interspersed with advertising messages, presents this assessment of a war that has so far claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of refugees.