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CBC.ca Message Boards
Presenting:
Claude Galipeau, Sue Gardner, Brenda Szymborski, JohnMcQuaker
Attending:
Harold Redekopp, Esther Enkin, Fred Mattocks, Krista Harris
A new direction for publishingaudience input on CBC.ca.
DRAFT PROPOSAL
7A200, April 21, 4 pmDial-in (416) 204-6285 or 1-866-218-3342, code9080508#
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Message Boards: what they are
Same as forums or discussionboards
An online destination where people canread messages from others and addtheir responses, over a period of weeks,
months or years. Once posted,messages are available until removed bysite owners.
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Message Boards: current state (C
Since April 3, CBC.cas message boards have beenbroken and unavailable to the audience.
Before April 3, we offered hundreds of boards
including thousands of messages: users postedanonymously on a wide range of topics.
Every message goes up immediately unless ourautomatic filters flag it as potentially offensive -in which case it is held for review by a CBC staff
person.
Message boards represent 1% of CBC.ca traffic.
We have been reviewing the service for a while policy issues, technical issues, and our overallapproach.
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Message Boards: current state(CBC)
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Absolute
Freedom
Absolute
Control
Post-
moderation
Pre-
moderation
Letters
model
No
moderation
No published
audience input
The companyreviewsaudience inputfor hate,language, etc.,after it ispublished
e.g.,BBCCBCNew YorkTimesNPRSlateCTV(programs)
The companyreviews allaudience inputBEFOREpublishing it
e.g.,National Post
Canwest Global
The companymay collectinput, butdoes notpublish it
e.g.,CNN
WGBHCTV (news)
The companypublishes anyand allaudienceinput
No mediacompanies do
this.
The companypublishes onlyselected input
e.g.,Toronto StarNational PostRadio-Canada
TSNFOX
Audience Interaction: industrypractices
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Strategic Issues
Message boards are not core toCBC.ca strategy they are an
extra.
To do them responsibly, we wouldhave to cut something else.
Current CBC practice: keyissues
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Legal/Journalistic Issues I
Quality of discourse is low. CBC does notprogram or produce the content: theaudience is the programmer/producer
Risk of libel, hate mongering, etc.Accusations of CBC censorship and bias(abortion, Middle East)
Can be flooded by organized opinion (AllianceParty on Check-Up boards)
Zero editorial impact because no one in anyofficial capacity reads them unless they blow
up
Current CBC practice: keyissues
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No delay, except if caught infilter. Little editorial
judgment.
Can use delay, withjudgment about what goesto air
Delay to air?
No.Yes e.g., callers phonedback before going on-air.Names and numbers takenby the show.
Participantaccountable?
Live, 24/7, dates back weeks,months, years.Permanent
record.
Program lasts a few hours.No publicly accessible
record
Permanence?
Sometimes.Yes: discussion framed byjournalists, guests, experts.
Tie toeditorialcontent?
Junior staffer maintains 100discussions at once: steps inonce in a while
Yes: discussioncontrolled/shaped by CBC
journalists
CBCaccountable?
No screening of participantsidentity or view. Possible toflood the boards.
Participants screened tofacilitate intelligentdiscourse reflecting a rangeof views
Screening?
CBC onlinemessage board (current)
CBC Radio/TVphone-in show (current)
Current CBC practice: keyissuesLegal/Journalistic Issues II
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Audience Relations IssuesWe want to foster an intelligent dialogue for the audience, butthe quality of conversation is low.
Repeated complaints about the moderator - censorship, bias,unfairness: I am fed up with your webmaster. Perhaps the
most serious threat to our way of life is terrorism. Why do youinsist on deleting our attempts to discuss it?
Repeated complaints about other users: [Another user] refersto Todd Bertuzzi as White Canadian Trash. I am appalled thishas not been removed. That statement and others that person
made are deeply offensive.
Postings that break the house rules are not found,evaluated, and acted upon fast enough. We look bad.
Many in the audience have voiced their dislike of the
automatic filter.
Current CBC practice: keyissues
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Issue Management Issues
Criticism of CBCs message boards made thefront page of the National Post. We arecriticized for not allowing controversialdiscussions, and for efforts to protect againsthate speech.
Generally, the message boards give ourenemies enough rope to hang us with. Highquantity, low level of CBC control = lots of
room for embarrassment.
Message board industry is still fairly new andissues of censorship, bias, etc. not yet resolved- its not possible yet to have a right answer
that is broadly seen as acceptable.
Current CBC practice: keyissues
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Financial Issues
Cost of software itself, plus customization
One salary for CBC.cas full-time moderator
Normal and emergency technical maintenance
Time of others to handle emergencies (withinCBC.ca, Communications, Audience Relations,senior management)
Current CBC practice: keyissues
M B d t t t
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Message Boards: current state(CBC)
To foster dialogue among Canadians(virtual public commons)
Quality of discourse is low.
To deepen relationships between CBCand
its audience
Many ignore message boards; others are
dissatisfied.To allow the audience to influenceprogramming
So much chatter, editorial staff dont useor even read the boards.
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Options going forward:A. No message boards/audience input on the
site at all.
B. Full, open message boards, done
responsibly.
C. A new model we call Modified Letters.
D. The Modified Letters model, plus
managing of outsourced message boardsupon request.
* Note: Regardless of the model we adopt for publishingaudience input online, we would continue to solicit input via e-
mails to programs, Audience Relations, etc. Also, we would-
Message Boards: Options
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Message Boards: Option A
A. No message boards/audience input on thesite at all.
We do not recommend this model.
This model gives CBC, the publicbroadcaster, no ability to work towardsfostering a dialogue among Canadians,deepening relationships between CBC and
its audience, or allowing the audience toinfluence programming.
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Message Boards: Option B
B. Full, open message boards, doneresponsibly.
We do not recommend this model.
Costs, in our view, are prohibitive. Wouldinclude new software, project costs toimplement, and new, ongoing cost of 24/7journalistic moderation team (~ 5 FTEs,
including senior producer), and Opssupport. Would require cuts to coreservice elsewhere within CBC.ca.
Risk would decrease somewhat, but not
substantially.
Message Boards Options C
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Message Boards: Options Cand D
C. A new model we call Modified Letters.
D. The Modified Letters model, plusmanaging of outsourced message boardsupon request.
We recommend moving forward withOption C, remaining open to Option D
upon request from those who want it.
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All input is tiedto content
here, a newsstory
Public inputin responseto thecontent
Click on titleto read fullcomment
Story page
Message Boards: ModifiedLetters
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Letter page
Read thefull
comment
Allcommentsstill availablebelow
Go tonext/previouscomment
Message Boards: ModifiedLetters
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Strategy - Fits within CBC.ca strategy.
Law/Journalism - Because discussions are tied to astory, the quality of discourse would improve the bad wont drive out the good.
Pre-moderation reduces the risks of libel, hateand flooding to practically zero: the default isletters arent published unless theyre relevantand compelling.
Letters are managed by journalistic staff astheir time permits, improving quality,safeguarding the company and allowing foraudience impact on programming.
Model is flexible: if journalists are short-staffed,
Message Boards: ModifiedLetters
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Recommended Next Steps
Agreement this is the right path. Specifically:
CBC.ca does not fix the broken messageboards. Works with Communications andAudience Relations to prepare messaging for
audience.CBC.ca explores technical solutions to movetowards Modified Letters implementation.
CBC.ca begins exploration of various
outsourcing models for message boards, to bein place before Olympics commitments need tobe met.
CBC.ca prepare communications plan for Radio,
TV and other stakeholders