(Ottawa) Six months after reducing its presence on X (formerly Twitter), the CBC/Radio-Canada does not plan to become more active on this platform.
Spokesperson Leon Mar says the Crown corporation will look to other platforms to direct Canadians to its websites and streaming services.
“The audience that comes to us from X is small. X is among the smallest sources of traffic,” he adds.
Without providing specific data, he cited a report from the Reuters Institute indicating that only 11% of Canadians used X to obtain information.
The CBC/Radio-Canada announced in May that it was resuming publications on its various accounts, a few weeks after having suspended them. Similar labels had also been attached to other public broadcasters such as the BBC or National Public Radio (NRP).
NRP said his departure from X resulted in “a small expected decline in viewership.”
“Prior to this decision, Twitter shares accounted for less than 2% of NPR.org’s total audience, the majority coming from our two main accounts [@npr and @nprpolitics], says the communications manager of the network, Isabel Lara. NRP suffered a one percentage point decline in visits to its website. »
The state-owned company contested the “government-funded media” label that X had placed on its accounts. In a letter sent to a senior executive at X, Nick Pickles, the CBC recalled that the government was not involved in its editorial decisions.
“Twitter said that imposing labels on media was to help Twitter users see more clearly. In this case, the label did the opposite,” we read in the letter obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act.
The CBC/Radio-Canada is financed by a combination of appropriations voted by all MPs and revenues coming from its commercial sector, underlined the author of the letter, Claude Galipeau, senior vice-president, Corporate Development .
The House of Commons passes funding for the CBC/Radio-Canada, not just the government. The editorial independence of the Crown corporation is enshrined in the Broadcasting Act.
Mr. Galipeau argued that the term “media financed by the public” would have been more accurate.
“Twitter can be a powerful way for our journalists to communicate with Canadians, but [the platform] undermines their trustworthiness and professionalism by falsely portraying our independence in this way. »
Leon Mar indicated that X never responded to the letter.
However, four days after sending the letter, X withdrew the endorsement for a number of public broadcasters, including CBC/Radio-Canada, without explanation.
