The Tea Makers

It’s now been about five months since we launched our new programming under CBC News Renewal. First of all, I want to thank you all for your commitment and hard work as we continue to build our new programs, structures and processes. We’ve enjoyed some significant successes and despite the inevitable bumps along the road, I’m confident we are well advanced in building the kind of integrated, round the clock news organization that our audiences expect. Our strategy is working and remains in place.

Our programming and service over the Olympic period was spectacular on all three platforms: radio, television and online. It was great to see the TV supperhours post ratings that have not been seen in over ten years and they continue to track higher than last year. Last week we made changes to prime time on the CBC News Network that capitalize on the success of the new shows we launched in the fall. Over the past five months, we listened carefully and learned some lessons about how our whole operation can work better to deliver better service. After reviewing all the feedback, we have and will continue to implement operational changes.

Our main priority going forward in this phase of the renewal is very clear: content, content, content. If we are to attract more Canadians to our service and if we are to remain best in class, content and quality have to be front and center. Over the next few weeks and months, we will be unveiling strategies to measure and evaluate the news and programs we deliver. We will also be paying close attention to fixing the systems and work processes that help us make that great content.

Today, I would like to outline some organizational changes meant to better position us to address these goals.

Jonathan Whitten becomes Executive Director of News Content, taking over the daily management of our multi platform assignment Hub and the content it delivers to all our programs and services. He will manage news content overall, including daily editorial strategies, coverage plans and resource allocations. Jonathan maintains his responsibilities over news specials.

In this next phase of renewal, Cynthia Kinch will work closely with Jonathan to assist him in mapping out a more effective relationship between all programs/services and The Hub. As Director assigned to the Hub Project, she will have a direct reporting line into my office and brings great expertise to the role.

Heaton Dyer becomes Executive Director, Programming Strategy and Innovation. As with other senior managers, Heaton will have tri-medial responsibilities and will ensure that all our programs are aligned, each of them maximizing editorial, audience growth and revenue opportunities.

David Studer (Director of Investigative Programming and TV Current Affairs), Jane Anido (Director of Radio News Programming) and Director of The National will have direct reporting lines to Heaton. The other managers who are responsible for creating programming will have a dotted line relationship to Heaton: Liz Hughes (Director of CBC News in the Centres), Rachel Nixon (Director of Digital Media for CBC News) and Todd Spencer, who takes on a new role in this change.

Todd Spencer becomes Executive Director of the CBC News Network with overall responsibility for the journalism, coverage, responsiveness, program objectives and staff of the network. Todd has been very effective in dealing with organizational issues in the past few years, everything from co-location to integration to industrial relations. In this new role, Todd will be able to concentrate almost entirely on editorial and programming issues.

Fred Youngs becomes Director of Strategic Resource Management and Project Manager. Fred will be making sure we are managing our workflow and work processes in an effective manner. With Finance and HR, Fred will manage our resource reviews to continually assess resources against the expectations we expect from those resources. Fred will also act as Project Manager for various ongoing initiatives including the renewal of cbcnews.ca with Rachel Nixon and the co-location project here in Toronto with John Bainbridge.

Gino Apponi becomes my Chief of Staff and will support me on the overall management of the senior news team, driving departmental strategic processes and the overall administration of CBC News. In this senior role, Gino will also have direct responsibilities for staff development and training and ensuring that on going communication about the department’s priorities, both external and internal, is effective.

Other members of my senior team will be taking on additional duties in their existing roles. As was previously announced, Executive Editor Esther Enkin will be responsible for the new Language File in addition to her role as arbiter of journalistic policy and standards. Mona Venkateswaran assumes the responsibility of managing our department’s relationship with Media Sales and Marketing as part of her existing role as Senior Director of Business Administration.

Over the past year and a half, since the launch of the renewal process, the CBC News leadership team has worked closely together and gained important insights about the news operation. We’re going to take advantage of these. A truly integrated operation means a newsroom that is able to understand all parts of the process, from newsgathering to packaging to programming—and one that shares its diverse knowledge broadly. We still have work to do.

We’ll have more details to share in coming days in conversations with your individual groups and teams. I’d like to thank all of our senior team members, each of whom has played a huge role in our renewal and will continue to help us build on our wins in their new roles. These changes take effect April 1.

Jennifer McGuire
General Manager and Editor in Chief, CBC News