CBC Lockout Watch, Day 6.1

When I read Curtis Brown's Brandon Sun op-ed, I was transported a decade back in time to my years at an Industry-Respected Journalism School.

I too was taught by professors who had worked for years at the CBC and thought it was the sine qua non of Canadian broadcasting, even of the Canadian national identity itself. I also was caught up in the same sterile debates about whether journalists were debased by mucking about with the technicians' work, as if we were part of an officer corps who could not be seen fraternizing with the enlisted men.

Many of these debates ended up turning me off journalism altogether. This blog is about as close to the field as I ever hope to come again.

Curtis Brown is right: CBC employees have a sweet deal compared to most of their private sector colleagues, who do more work for less pay. Why should they be protected from the realities of working life?

We all talked about becoming great freelancers when we were in school. Few of us had the stomach to survive the uncertainty and gravitated towards PR jobs instead. Perhaps with this lockout, we'll find out who's really cut for broadcasting and who isn't.