| RCI ACTION COMMITTEE Defending Radio Canada International - Canada's Voice to the World |
| RCI and CBC RCI's Mandate to broadcast to international audiences was reaffirmed in 1980 and 1994 The mandate of RCI to explain Canada to an international audience is explained in the Corporate and Program Policy of our domestic service the CBC and guarantees RCI will reflect the spectrum of Canadian viewpoints on national and international views fairly and accurately, with a particular concern for balance. Responsibility for the implementation and application of this policy rests with Radio Canada International. Details RCI Executive Director on relations between RCI and CBC when he arrived at RCI RCI's director, Bob O'Reilly, is the latest in a long line of leaders to come to RCI from the CBC. The first thing he had to do when he arrived on the job two years ago was build up trust with a staff who had formed a natural distrust of the CBC after years of neglect and threats of closure. "The general feeling at RCI was that CBC sold them out," says O'Reilly. "There's no question there was tension, and tension is the polite word." from the Ryerson Review of Journalism Spring 2000 http://www.ryerson.ca/rrj/content/print/2000/spring/2000_spr_rci.html In March, 1999, the domestic service, CBC, decides to move RCI within CBC premises Radio Canada International will play an even more important role in CBC’s future having secured a stable funding base for the future as it undertakes its mission to project Canada’s image abroad. CBC will encourage a closer relationship with the rest of the Corporation by relocating RCI’s operations into La Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal. http://cbc.radio-canada.ca/htmen/220nrl.htm CBC President announces review of RCI Mandate on April 18, 2001 In an e-mail to staff at the domestic service and to RCI staff, CBC President Robert Rabinovitch outlined the next year of RCI's existence till March 2002. He omitted to include RCI-produced English and French broadcasts in the programming that would continue. And he announced "we will undertake a fundamental re-evaluation of our international service and its mandate..." Details RCI Executive Director Robert O'Reilly unveils a "Redeployment Plan" on May 23, 2001 The plan eliminates RCI-produced newscasts in all seven languages on the weekend. Morning shows to Africa, the Middle East and Africa, in French and English are cut, as well as the evening broadcast to India. Russian and Ukrainian one hour programs are to be cut back to half hours. Other live English and French programming will be cut back. Details of May 23, 2001 announcement Main points and schedule of implementation See also Program Descriptions as of June 5, 2001 A new RCI Director is appointed on June 12, 2001, Integration of RCI into CBC continues Employees were given little more than an hour’s notice of a meeting called by Sylvain Lafrance, CBC Vice President of French Radio and New Media. Lafrance announces the appointment of a new General Manager of RCI, an executive from our domestic French service, Radio-Canada. Lafrance repeats his intention to continue the integration of RCI into the domestic service. Details RCI website officially explains role of Denis Doucet, the new director on June 21, 2001 "Mr Doucet is now in charge of all RCI activities, and one of his main tasks will be to revise the mandate and operations of the service. The purpose of this exercise is to ensure that RCI can live up to the challenges of a modern international broadcasting system and fit in with the Corporation's international strategy." http://ww.rcinet.ca/Scripts/default.asp?l=en |