An observation:
This is why the thing we call 'broadcasting in Canada' is so different today, than it was even as recently as ten years ago:
"The new members of the (2014) board at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters are:
- Chair Kevin Goldstein, vice-president, legal and regulatory affairs at Bell Media
Vice-Chair Susan Wheeler, vice-president, regulatory affairs at Rogers Media
Secretary Sylvie Courtemanche, vice president and associate general counsel government relations and compliance at Corus Entertainment
Treasurer Glenda Spenrath, vice-president, operations & regulatory affairs at Newcap Radio
Directors Rick Arnish, chairman, Jim Pattison Broadcast Group
Nathalie Dorval, Vice-présidente, affaires réglementaire et droits d’auteur at Cogeco
Cynthia Rathwell vice-president, regulatory affairs at Shaw Communications..."
I do not pretend to know all, or even many, of these people now charged with representing the private-sector interests of an industry in which I spent more than a few years of my working life. But, the only CAB 'industry leader' whom I can truthfully identify as having ever had any actual, on-air - or even behind-the-scenes - broadcasting experience at any point in his or her lifetime is Rick Arnish. Insofar as I can determine, the remaining board members are either career lawyers or accountants, whose main connections to broadcasting appear to have been in the area of securing and protecting their corporate employers' fiscal or regulatory interests. Nothing wrong with that ... but they're not 'broadcasters.'
Certainly, the mandate of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the makeup of its 2014 board appears to be nothing like that of the CAB we knew in the last century and into the early part of this one. Nor, sadly, is it intended to be.
This is not your grandfather's, or even your father's, radio or television station - or industry - anymore. It's just 'another business.'