According to Broadcast Dialogue, there will be no more paid appearances by CBC/Radio-Canada on-air journalists.
That dictum came in a memo co-signed by CBC News Editor-in-Chief Jennifer McGuire and Michel Cormier, Radio-Canada’s executive director of news and current affairs.
The exceptions are existing booked speeches.
The key word is ‘paid’.
On-air journalists are still allowed to speak at public events, to moderate debates or take part in other public appearances.
Meantime, the Canadian Media Guild calls the CBC management stance a “blanket ban” and a violation of the collective agreement, and suggests it will fight the new provisions.
Don’t see why they would make any appearances with new rules.
Paid public speaking gigs are only part of the issue involving Amanda Lang. At least one of those paid speeches involved the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). It’s alleged that Lang was romantically involved with an RBC board director around the same time.
The biggest allegation (broken by Canadaland) is that Lang strenuously objected to a CBC colleague’s proposed expose of RBC and other Canadian firms using Foreign Temporary Workers, costing existing workers their jobs.
Lang apparently didn’t think it was a big deal and was so vociferous that CBC Radio dropped the story from its World At Six broadcast. Her alleged gripings weren’t enough to permanently kill the story. It soon aired on tv’s The National and became one of the biggest investigative features of 2014. It prompted the Harper government to tighten up the foreign-workers program.
Globe and Mail television critic John Doyle thinks Lang’s trifecta of bad decisions should result in her resignation or firing. Can’t say I disagree. She was previously married to the communications director of Barrick Gold. Despite her otherwise good broadcast skills, she seems to be better suited for either a private network (i.e. return to the Business News Network) or the corporate world as a board director or spokesperson.