Memo: Update on CBC News renewal
Lianne Elliott named new Executive Producer of Newsgathering.
The following memo was sent to CBC staff on May 29, 2017, from Jennifer McGuire, General Manager & Editor in Chief, CBC News
As promised, we want to keep you updated on the progress of reimagining CBC News as a fully integrated inter-platform news service.
First, we are pleased to announce that Lianne Elliott will take on a new role as Executive Producer of Newsgathering, overseeing the assignment desk, deployment and our bureaus. Lianne will transition into this role over the next several months as we roll out other changes to our newsroom structure; until then, she remains an Executive Producer at CBCNews.ca. Lianne is a gifted journalist and natural leader. Her attention to detail, digital expertise, enthusiasm for stories of all types and collaborative nature make her a perfect choice for this important job.
We will announce other changes to our Executive Producer ranks in the weeks ahead as we prepare to align staff under the pillars of Daily News and our future Central Desk. We will also post additional Executive Producer jobs for each of these areas.
The redevelopment of The National is proceeding. We’ve completed the preliminary format plans, and are now integrating the work from two successful group sessions on story-telling and segment development (for both broadcast and digital). In June, we will move to pilot some of these new treatments and update on the overall staffing plan.
Redevelopment of the World At Six is in its early stages. One of the first meetings is scheduled for later this week, to define and devise the specific development plans. In June, we will begin to explore new story treatments, format ideas, and a digital strategy. The focus, as always, will be on the audience and the promise to keep World at Six listeners up-to-date on the latest news, while providing depth, context and analysis.
Meanwhile a committee of newsroom leaders representing all parts of our news service is working on the future central desk structure and consulting widely with staff. We’ve done presentations for more than 200 employees, with more planned for this week, and nearly 100 staff interviews. The central desk will deliver content of the day’s top stories to all platforms, including audio and visuals, writing and vetting, chase and live programming. A draft proposal is expected in early June, and after further consultations the desk is expected to be operational in advance of the launch of the new National and W6’s fall launch.
The National in Conversation will be in Toronto on Tuesday. This is the last in a series of town halls that we have hosted across the country (Vancouver:https://youtu.be/OsaCoHclSLI; Charlottetown:https://youtu.be/0_qoWdVyBN8; London: https://youtu.be/MRRcvd2gBVE; Winnipeg: https://youtu.be/dl3SpY62URM). Over the last several months we have engaged audiences both live and online in candid and thoughtful discussions about journalism in Canada. These panels, hosted by chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge, have involved many of our correspondents and hosts and have been valuable outreach events for us. Tomorrow’s town hall will focus on the importance of foreign coverage and the challenges our foreign correspondents face bringing some of the world’s most challenging stories home to Canada. If you haven’t had the opportunity to watch these panels, I encourage you to do so. They are all online. Tomorrow’s will be live streamed and we plan to broadcast a one-hour edition on NN next weekend at 19:00 Saturday and Sunday.
And finally a note of congratulations to everyone involved in our weekend coverage of the Conservative Leadership Convention. In addition to strong digital numbers, and excellent radio coverage, our television programming was the clear choice of Canadians thanks to the usual editorial leadership of Peter Mansbridge, and our strong cast of CBC journalists and outside contributors.
