same author earlier
Culture 101 for Richard Stursberg
http://www.earsay.
com/standonguardforcbc/2008/08/16/culture-101-for-richard-stursberg/
June 30, 2008
Mr Richard Stursberg
Executive Vice President
CBC English Services
PO Box 500, Station A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1E6
Dear Mr. Stursberg,
The changes to CBC Radio suggest misplaced priorities. According to a
recent
article in the Globe and Mail, you do not have prior experience in radio
and
television programming, nor have you dedicated your life to cultural
issues in
the past. In other words, you are behaving like a bean-counter, and it
therefore is my job to give you a crash course in Culture 101.
Although the arts involve the principle of creative destruction, the
nurturing
of a culture does not. (Assuming it is the mandate of the CBC to nurture,
and
not neuter, Canadian culture.) Nurturing a culture involves the sacred
rules
of healthy ecology:
Do not tear down what is happily blooming—add to it.
Do not expect a yield in terms of high statistics; aim toward a
multiplying
effect like the facets of a diamond.
Arrogance is doom. Listen carefully to the feedback you receive and take
it
seriously, as your actions determine the life and death of the culture. Do
not
presume that you know what is best for the future, and do not presume to
know
better than those who have been more deeply involved all along.
Do not practice genetic modification and monoculture: rather than pander
to
what you think is the popular taste in entertainment (bringing the culture
down to its lowest imaginable denominator), challenge the public to make
new
connections by offering material of the highest possible caliber.
How does all that relate to public radio? (Each number below relates to
the
applicable rule stated above):
Retain the CBC Orchestra, the classical music programming we already have,
and
give us back the news programs taken away a year ago. (World news can’t be
covered in three minutes, and the news on Radio One amounts to a talk
show.)
Add on another CBC station for the additional programming you feel is
necessary.
Alter your business model to incor****ate the fact that we are experiencing
a
technological revolution. The reason why people aren’t listening to the
CBC in
high numbers (and how do you know they aren’t, anyway) has a lot to do
with
the availability of other media (internet, ipods, ****table CD players,
etc),
enabling them to choose and program what they want to hear. Ask the kids
and
that’s what they’ll tell you. Enable choice by offering more stations, or
by
sup****ting community radio. Getting millions of people to listen to the
same
thing is an old-fa****oned idea, and it’s not good for any culture. Getting
a
few people to listen to something intelligent is actually what builds
culture
and dialogue—the effect that multiplies like the facets of a diamond.
Listen to the audience and take us seriously. Don’t underestimate our
intelligence by sending out another form letter about the exciting new
programming.
The anti-intellectual practices of America do not need to be emulated by
Canada. The American definition of populism has had tragic consequences in
the
form of conformist consumerism. A Canadian should know better than to
simply
copy the American business model—we have the resources and the
intelligence to
redefine populism from a fundamentally different perspective. We are
living in
an era of increasing interdependence, which requires a higher level of
independent thought and dialogue. Offering the highest caliber of
literary,
musical, visual, and political dialogue is therefore not elitism—quite the
contrary—it is inclusion and encouragement toward an evolving Canadian
identity. If the CBC doesn’t play this role in the culture with our
millions
of tax dollars, who will?
Sincerely yours,
Tina Dickey
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