A management shuffle at the CBC has the public broadcaster more closely integrating its radio, television and digital divisions.
Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of English services, says the goal is to place greater emphasis on content rather than individual services.
It starts with a reorganization of the news division, with Todd Spencer, formerly of CNN’s Asia bureau, serving as executive director of all news content. Jennifer McGuire, executive director of English Radio, will become executive director of news programming and deputy head of news for all CBC services—radio, TV, Newsworld and cbc.ca.
Both report to newly appointed news publisher John Cruickshank, who says the plan will increase efficiency and better position the broadcaster to expand into new media.
He stressed that eliminating jobs is not part of the plan.
“The co-ordination that we can do means we can enrich stories on all platforms, develop new media much further and do everything in a more timely way,” says Cruickshank, who was named to the newly created position last year after serving as publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Cruickshank says the CBC has traditionally had very separate radio and TV news operations, but the shuffle will allow for a central assignment desk that can co-ordinate with all reporting staff.
“I hope the net result is it will mean we achieve higher quality,” he says. “We don’t have a goal of eliminating positions through this. We have a goal of improving the quality of our reporting and our programming.”
