Canada's CRTC grants broadcast license to al-Jazeera

[The Dude]

Story here and here.

This is pretty interesting in light of the CRTC's denial of licenses to FoxNews and RAI, and its Big Brother revocation of a Quebec radio station's license yesterday.

So, on a more general note, is a federal broadcast regulator really good for anything but censorship, cultural protectionism and providing a source of massive taxpayer-funded expense accounts for upper-echelon civil servants?

Discuss.

[Col. Crackpot]

So, on a more general note, is a federal broadcast regulator really good for anything but censorship, cultural protectionism and providing a source of massive taxpayer-funded expense accounts for upper-echelon civil servants?

Discuss.

personally, i think prohibiting a news/political network is far worse than censoring 'adult content'. Although the boob incident here was ludicris aud an embarrasment. it would seem that you folks up north have your own issues with overbearing govenment nannys. Regarding Al-Jazzera, i have get it on Cox Digital. I can't really comment on it because i don't speak arabic.

[Shaidar Haran]

Story here and here.

This is pretty interesting in light of the CRTC's denial of licenses to FoxNews and RAI, and its Big Brother revocation of a Quebec radio station's license yesterday.

Is it the semi-sanitized western version or the full blown Arab world version? I can see how they might be able to sneak the former in but I would have thought the latter would be a no go.

So, on a more general note, is a federal broadcast regulator really good for anything but censorship, cultural protectionism and providing a source of massive taxpayer-funded expense accounts for upper-echelon civil servants?

Yes, regulation is necessary. It's necessary simply to keep an ordered broadcast system and to provide a legal and industry standards for broadcast. The problem comes when regulation is used for censorship, editorialism, and plain old agenda pimping.

[The Dude]

personally, i think prohibiting a news/political network is far worse than censoring 'adult content'.

Agreed: don't get me wrong, I am not against the CRTC allowing al-Jazeera to broadcast in Canada. In fact, I think it's inappropriate for the CRTC to have applied special restrictions on al-Jazeera (which, essentially equates to an admission that, unedited, al-Jazeera's content would violate Canadian broadcast standards/ thoughtcrime laws).

However, I think that it is also grossly inappropriate for the CRTC to deny the applications of Fox and RAI (the latter had a supporting petition of 100,000 signatures!)

Which brings me back to my question: are broadcast regulators good for anything but selective censorship and protectionism?

[The Dude]

Is it the semi-sanitized western version or the full blown Arab world version? I can see how they might be able to sneak the former in but I would have thought the latter would be a no go.

It's to be a sanitized version. Canadians must be sheltered by our wise, benevolent state.

Yes, regulation is necessary. It's necessary simply to keep an ordered broadcast system and to provide a legal and industry standards for broadcast.

Sure, some regulating body is necessary to manage public airwaves, but what business do they have in the cable or satellite TV businesses, for instance?

The problem comes when regulation is used for censorship, editorialism, and plain old agenda pimping.

I honestly can't see how this can be avoided when licensing decisions are made, by government agencies, based on content, rather than on comsumer demand or technical issues.

[Shaidar Haran]

Is it the semi-sanitized western version or the full blown Arab world version? I can see how they might be able to sneak the former in but I would have thought the latter would be a no go.

It's to be a sanitized version. Canadians must be sheltered by our wise, benevolent state.

Ah, that makes sense. The westernized version is a lot different than the Arab version. And as Crackpot pointed out the western version is aired here in the US. It's not terribly remarkable, no different than most ethno-centric news channels.

Al-jeezera is one of the few networks I would agree should be censored.

Yes, regulation is necessary. It's necessary simply to keep an ordered broadcast system and to provide a legal and industry standards for broadcast.

Sure, some regulating body is necessary to manage public airwaves, but what business do they have in the cable or satellite TV businesses, for instance?

Protecting the consumer's rights and to a certain degree the freedom of the market. Just because it's cable or satelite doesn't mean there aren't worthwhile legal and technical standards that are better set by the government than left up to companies: things like market monopolies and the like.

The problem comes when regulation is used for censorship, editorialism, and plain old agenda pimping.

I honestly can't see how this can be avoided when licensing decisions are made, by government agencies, based on content, rather than on comsumer demand or technical issues.

Simple, see to it that those officials know you don't want them deciding what you can and can't watch. It's as simple as that.