CRTC sends diversity questionnaire to broadcasters

The CRTC has sent a letter to Canadian broadcasters asking about their diversity and inclusion initiatives in hiring and broadcasting.In a four-page letter sent by email, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) asked broadcasters six questions on their “program offerings and employment opportunities,” to see if they meet diversity requirements of the Online Streaming Act.“This includes the representation of Canadians from black or other racialized communities and Canadians of diverse ethnocultural backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, abilities and disabilities, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and ages,” the letter says.“Further, broadcasters must provide opportunities to indigenous persons and programming that reflects Indigenous cultures and languages.” The questionnaire was extensive, but an abridged version follows."1. How does your organization include diverse voices and perspectives in the decision-making process for content curation and creation? Are diverse communities or individuals involved in this process to varying degrees?""2. How does your organization measure the effectiveness of its diversity policies and initiatives? What metrics are used? What is your level of transparency around measurement and reporting?""3. How does your organization collaborate with other stakeholders, such as community organizations or industry associations, to promote diversity and inclusion in the broadcasting industry?""4. How does your organization ensure that its diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives are integrated into its overall business strategies and operations?""5. How does the organization ensure that its content reflects the diversity of Canadian society, including the representation of Canadians from Black or other racialized communities, Canadians of diverse ethnocultural backgrounds, individuals from various socio-economic statuses, individuals with different abilities and disabilities, and Canadians who self-identify as 2SLGBTQI+4?""6. How does the organization address cultural appropriation, stereotypes, and misrepresentation in their content on their platforms? What are the strategies employed to tackle these concerns?"The letter gave a deadline of June 3 to reply and promised the responses received “will be made available on the CRTC website and may be included in the public record of future CRTC public proceedings.”The Online Streaming Act Bill C-11 received royal assent on April 27, 2023, and marked the first significant amendment to the Broadcasting Act since 1991. The letter called the legislation “an opportunity to modernize the CRTC regulatory framework on diversity and inclusion.”David Haskell, a professor of media at Wilfred Laurier University, said most stereotypes were rooted in reality and only false and harmful ones should be eliminated."They're trying to make sure that certain immutable characteristics become the most important factor. And if we really want to have a broadcasting system that reflects the ideas of everyone in the country, the thing that is most important, is a diversity of opinion," Haskell said."Study, after study studies, I've done myself, show that the news media, and in particular, the elite news media, heavily favours progressive and left wing ideas. And so if we were really eager to correct that incredible imbalance, the emphasis should be on diversity of opinion."Peter Menzies, a senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said market forces should drive diversity and it was readily available on the internet. He said the wrong answers to the questionnaire could have devastating consequences for broadcasters."The worst case scenario would be that the CRTC would start dictating, for instance, in people's conditions of licence, the number of hours that would have to be dedicated to various equity-deserving groups. So you end up with a programming schedule that has the potential . . . to be serving very specific groups in a very specific way," Menzies told the Western Standard.Menzies, a former vice chair of telecommunications at the CRTC, said it was a "good question" what the requirements meant for religious broadcasters."There are gay ministers, there are lesbian ministers in many of the churches and that sort of stuff. They may ask that they be included in the programming or that there be gay characters in some of the some of the TV shows that that they broadcast, but they probably already are," he said."Muslim programming, I think that would be an interesting issue even more so than the Christian community in terms of dictating programming that those certain faith groups may find inconsistent with their main message.".This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. 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