Elegy for a Star: If Solomon, why not Lang and Mansbridge?
Evan Solomon was fired because he broke a rule in CBC’s journalistic practices handbook that prohibits corporation staff from using their positions to gain a private benefit. Solomon’s violation of this rule was not only obvious, it was egregious: he connected an art dealer with the rich and powerful he’d come to know through his job, and collected ten percent on every sale that resulted from the introduction. It earned him hundreds of thousands of dollars, until the arrangement ended badly over, of course, money. Neither the exact meaning of this “no benefit” rule, nor its exact...
Read MoreCommercial sponsorship and the news: can they be compatible on CBC?
© 2012 by Wade Rowland In 2009 CBC television news, under prodding by the then-VP for English language programming Richard Stursberg, completely revamped its on-air appearance. The set for the flagship evening newscast The National went from a traditional desk and over-the-shoulder graphic arrangement to something borrowed from Star Trek: the Next Generation. What was intended to become a familiar stable of correspondents was selected and groomed to provide a more stylish and animated approach to their on-camera presentation. What had previously been an occasional use of faked throws from...
Read MoreAbout Wade Rowland
Ranked among Canada’s leading literary journalists, Wade Davies Rowland has written more than a dozen books on subjects ranging from television journalism, organized crime, and international environmental law to his current concerns, which include communications technology, the philosophy of science, and technology and human values. Full author bio.