General Updates and News

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

The "friends of" people are keeping active...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...roup-1.5988717



Yes, because, like, why would we want The Commons to be used and enjoyed by the public? A new pool? Blasphemous... a blank green lawn would be better...

This is just getting silly.

Completely silly. Why is CBC platforming these people... they can't use "think of the children" this time... because it is literally a pool and facilities for childern.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Completely silly. Why is CBC platforming these people... they can't use "think of the children" this time... because it is literally a pool and facilities for childern.

As a former reporter, I can definitely say it's nothing nefarious, nor does it reflect any kind of agenda. It just makes for the quickest, easiest story: a thing is happening, some person or group opposes the thing, so there's some interesting conflict there. Easy to get quotes and put it all together, even if it doesn't reflect the complexity of the subject.

This problem has become a lot worse in recent years as newsrooms are starved of funds and forced to make do with skeleton crews of inexperienced reporters, with not a lot of senior talent on hand to guide stories. Unfortunately, in this case, I think it's just that Pam Berman isn't a very good reporter. She's been doing local development and infrastructure stories forever, so you'd think the pieces would have some greater degree of context or analysis, but each one almost seems to exist in a vacuum.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

She's been doing local development and infrastructure stories forever, so you'd think the pieces would have some greater degree of context or analysis, but each one almost seems to exist in a vacuum.

Yeah, I find it's weak on analysis and a lot of the stories include quotes from people that are often pretty out there but there is no context. The same narrow viewpoints get published over and over. Who gets more quotes in the CBC or the Herald, the mayor or Peggy Cameron?

I doubt it is that harmful to the city since there are so many media outlets now and municipal planning forges ahead regardless of the FUD. But it is a lost opportunity for better public discourse and information. The local media are not great at even communicating the basics of what's going on in the city. For example there's the big Mills construction site and there are almost no details about that. I'd guess that is because it would take more investigative work, not mere regurgitation of HRM website material or quotes from activists who want attention.

[SouthPawLaw]

Brilliant, though I lament the loss of the Pavilion I can't remember the last time it held a show though so the wheel turns on.

This is a great modernization of crucial people infrastructure on the commons. Next I hope they can do something about that eye sore of a Canada games Feild. I'd be more inclined for it to be moved to the Robie street corner and build up a bit along Robie and Cogswell with a permanent backstop and bleachers and concourse or arcade. It would strengthen the willow tree if tasteful enough, and the now vacated field could be more active living amenities like an outdoor body weight gym. It being so close to the school and the hill, more basketball courts wouldn't be a miss either.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Unfortunately, in this case, I think it's just that Pam Berman isn't a very good reporter. She's been doing local development and infrastructure stories forever, so you'd think the pieces would have some greater degree of context or analysis, but each one almost seems to exist in a vacuum.

Ms. Berman has been at this for 35+ years now. She was never particularly insightful and, sadly, only seems to get worse, not better, with age. She's been phoning it in for a very long time. Typically, she only delivers the barest of bones of the what but very, very rarely the why, leaving only more questions. Lazy reporting.

I've always been a CBC Radio disciple but lately I'm finding less and less reason to listen - and that goes for both local and national programming. It's very sad; all the more so because there's virtually no local radio alternative.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Ms. Berman has been at this for 35+ years now. She was never particularly insightful and, sadly, only seems to get worse, not better, with age. She's been phoning it in for a very long time. Typically, she only delivers the barest of bones of the what but very, very rarely the why, leaving only more questions. Lazy reporting.

I've always been a CBC Radio disciple but lately I'm finding less and less reason to listen - and that goes for both local and national programming. It's very sad; all the more so because there's virtually no local radio alternative.

I agree Saul, sadly the CBC lost its way in the summer of 2015 when the winds were blowing Mr Trudeau's way. The National Broadcaster has become a bullhorn for Immigrant, Indigenous, feminist and victim stories and was very pronounced when Wendy Mesley took over the National anchor chair from Mansbridge.

I have heard that their market share has dropped 25% from 2015.The Corp still vastly overpays the staff for the product delivered. Its a shame since the CBC should be the BBC of the Western hemisphere.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Ms. Berman has been at this for 35+ years now. She was never particularly insightful and, sadly, only seems to get worse, not better, with age. She's been phoning it in for a very long time. Typically, she only delivers the barest of bones of the what but very, very rarely the why, leaving only more questions. Lazy reporting.

I've always been a CBC Radio disciple but lately I'm finding less and less reason to listen - and that goes for both local and national programming. It's very sad; all the more so because there's virtually no local radio alternative.

I remember when Berman first appeared on our TV screens maybe 10-12 years ago. I believe I even commented on it here at the time. I wondered how the heck she ever got a job as a reporter back then - she had no ability to speak on-camera and came across as someone way out of their depths. her story writing was amateurish at best. I assumed she had been parachuted into a reporting position as part of a unionized employee bumping scheme or something. The sad thing is she hasn't gotten much better in the years since. I get the sense she is just putting in time building up her pension until she can retire comfortably and nobody in management has the desire to deal with the issue.

CBC Radio is an odd duck for me. It has no real competition given the state of commercial radio here, yet it seems again and again to pander to a very narrow segment of the public, with the same old voices appearing time and time again, many of which are very fringey.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Dartguard

The National Broadcaster has become a bullhorn for Immigrant, Indigenous, feminist and victim stories...

Originally Posted by Keith P.

CBC Radio is an odd duck for me. It has no real competition given the state of commercial radio here, yet it seems again and again to pander to a very narrow segment of the public, with the same old voices appearing time and time again, many of which are very fringey.

Couldn't agree more with both of you. The relentless, breathless, cloying, oh-so-earnest pursuit of "victims'" and their tortured journeys to vindication and (*barf*) self-actualization are both nauseating and, worst of all, boring as hell!

Originally Posted by Dartguard

Its a shame since the CBC should be the BBC of the Western hemisphere.

Yes, and it could be. If it were up to me, I'd drop CBC TV entirely. With very exceptions, it cannot compete in that medium and it's sickening to watch it try. Nor should it, as a public enterprise, be competing with private broadcasters for ad revenue. And it pains me to watch my taxes going down the toilet on such vapid dreck as Family Feud Canada (I defy anyone with even a room-temperature IQ to endure an entire episode).

We could cut TV and immediately save most of the billion-plus budget, some of which could then be re-applied to radio, where CBC absolutely could and should excel.

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I remember when Berman first appeared on our TV screens maybe 10-12 years ago. I believe I even commented on it here at the time. I wondered how the heck she ever got a job as a reporter back then - she had no ability to speak on-camera and came across as someone way out of their depths. her story writing was amateurish at best. I assumed she had been parachuted into a reporting position as part of a unionized employee bumping scheme or something.

To be fair, I don't think she ever intended to be a TV reporter but, like all of her colleagues, got dragged into it by CBC's move to economize by standardizing content across all three media (radio, TV, internet). Unfortunately, she was never great on radio in the first place.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Couldn't agree more with both of you. The relentless, breathless, cloying, oh-so-earnest pursuit of "victims'" and their tortured journeys to vindication and (*barf*) self-actualization are both nauseating and, worst of all, boring as hell!



Yes, and it could be. If it were up to me, I'd drop CBC TV entirely. With very exceptions, it cannot compete in that medium and it's sickening to watch it try. Nor should it, as a public enterprise, be competing with private broadcasters for ad revenue. And it pains me to watch my taxes going down the toilet on such vapid dreck as Family Feud Canada (I defy anyone with even a room-temperature IQ to endure an entire episode).

We could cut TV and immediately save most of the billion-plus budget, some of which could then be re-applied to radio, where CBC absolutely could and should excel.



To be fair, I don't think she ever intended to be a TV reporter but, like all of her colleagues, got dragged into it by CBC's move to economize by standardizing content across all three media (radio, TV, internet). Unfortunately, she was never great on radio in the first place.

It is now clear that CBC is marching to a particular agenda these days, either one they created for themselves or one imposed upon them by the Federal govt. Just look at CBC NS news page online on any given day and you see numerous news headlines that barely qualify as "news", such as today's:

N.S. Muslim community grateful to gather for 2nd Ramadan during pandemic

Inspiring stories celebrate Black achievement in Nova Scotia

Ready and Able series explores accessibility and inclusion

Head of Dal computer science says $13M in funding will help bolster diversity

I come from the land of North Preston, the birthplace of so many entrepreneurs

How a small Halifax church and an immigrant community lifted each other

This Nova Scotia writer gives voice to generations of Black trauma, truths in new book

One of Nova Scotia's first Black nurses remembered for groundbreaking career

Expert says race-based health data in Nova Scotia 'a great start' to addressing systemic racism


I don't know how many stories like this are too many for a mainstream news organization, but it sure is a lot.

As for your comment on their reliance on victim stories, it seems to me that Elizabeth Chiu is their Chief Victim Correspondent, as everything she does seems to be in that vein, complete with an overly emotive delivery. I now switch off CBC News whenever she appears.

I fully agree with your sentiment about CBC television. It's a shame, because there is no reason for it to be so unwatchable. I can watch PBS and enjoy it, but I cannot watch virtually anything produced by CBC. And it has been that way for a great many years. It's not like the rest of TV has surpassed them either. We live in an era where the staples of both OTA networks and streaming services are some mix of dark, dystopic dramas, comic-book CGI extravaganzas, heavily scripted "reality" shows, and a mix of sci-fi futurism and medieval violence. I dislike all of those genres and it would seem there is plenty of other fertile ground to be tilled. But when they try, you get unfunny comedies or dull-as-dishwater historical dramas. They just can't make anything that attracts my interest.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

N.S. Muslim community grateful to gather for 2nd Ramadan during pandemic

Inspiring stories celebrate Black achievement in Nova Scotia

Ready and Able series explores accessibility and inclusion

Head of Dal computer science says $13M in funding will help bolster diversity

I come from the land of North Preston, the birthplace of so many entrepreneurs

How a small Halifax church and an immigrant community lifted each other

This Nova Scotia writer gives voice to generations of Black trauma, truths in new book

One of Nova Scotia's first Black nurses remembered for groundbreaking career

Expert says race-based health data in Nova Scotia 'a great start' to addressing systemic racism

I don't see what's wrong with any of these stories, and they're of interest to plenty of other readers besides yourself. Other stories on the homepage right now:


How Nova Scotia plans to commemorate the 1st anniversary of April's mass killing


N.S. man builds boat as COVID-19 project


Season set to to end this weekend for Mooseheads, Eagles


Family seeks answers in Sydney woman's 2017 disappearance

More help in the works for long-term care, says premier


Sister of N.S. shooting victim wants answers


Rita MacNeil, Cape Breton's 'first lady of song,' to join Songwriters Hall of Fame

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I don't see what's wrong with any of these stories, and they're of interest to plenty of other readers besides yourself.
[/I]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of them per se.

But there there's no denying the preponderance of those sorts of touchy-feely, introspective "persecution and reconciliation" stories in all media these days, and particularly at the CBC. It couldn't possibly be any clearer to me as a (very) longtime CBC listener and viewer how pervasive they've become over the last decade or so; presumably as a former reporter you couldn't have failed to notice it yourself. I'm at the point of having to switch stations about every second time I turn on the radio just to escape it.

Again, there's nothing wrong with the individual stories, but at CBC they seem to have become the broadcaster's very raison d'être and, to my own taste at least, it's simply made the network stultifyingly boring. Any topic would be if repeated enough. We're practically marinating in guilt-soaked navel-gazing. Enough!

Apart from story selection, what's equally irritating to me at CBC is the woeful decline in quality of the on-air staff. There was a time when they were expected to be relatively well-informed and literate people who could at least enunciate clearly enough to be understood and string together a series of complete English sentences. The Ceeb was for the longest time the very exemplar of that. Now they're as hapless and helpless as the local CTV News Airhead Gigglefest crew of yahoos - who at least have the virtue of me not paying their salaries. Fer Chrissakes, there's even a CBC morning host on the weekends who grew up in Cape Breton but had to ask a caller from Boularderie Island "where's that?", and regularly drops gems like "me and him had a conversation about it". If I hadn't heard it myself I'd never believe it. I mean, I don't expect or want Shakespeare; simple competence would do just fine. (For that matter, I've never understood how people who are paid to speak and convey reliable information to other people, and who fancy themselves "professional communicators", don't have enough simple pride in their craft to even speak English competently or learn the pronunciation of peoples' or places' names before going on the air. CBC traffic reporters these days don't even bother to learn local geography or street names before advising people which routes to avoid, that damn Google being so damn hard to use...

As you can tell, I could (and gladly would) go on ad nauseum but we seem to have strayed very far from the topic of building in HRM so I'll just apologize and shut up now.

[someone123]

A few projects visible here. In particular I noticed East West Street (which I don't think has its own thread). 2440 Agricola site is barely visible in the lower right corner.


Source

[Dmajackson]

I was in line the other day for a rapid test at Alderney Gate and noticed that even at only six floors the new rooftop restaurant being built at 2050 Gottingen will have some beautiful views across the harbour.


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[RoshanMcG]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I guess we don't have a thread for 34Eleven (3411 Joseph Howe Drive)? The construction is now above grade.


See link above

[RoshanMcG]

Dalhousie Arts Centre

[OldDartmouthMark]

I must have missed the memo... what are they doing to the Dal Arts Ctr?

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I must have missed the memo... what are they doing to the Dal Arts Ctr?

Big extension out the back. Designed by Lydon Lynch.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Big extension out the back. Designed by Lydon Lynch.

Cool! Thanks!

I'm interested because we tend to go there quite a bit (in non-covid times), so improvements are always good news. IMHO it's perhaps the best venue in Halifax for acoustics.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by RoshanMcG

Dalhousie Arts Centre

Hmmm... didn't realize it was going to change the front facade like this - removed some of the interesting Japanese Metabolist-leaning bits... hopefully, the building doesn't lose too much quirk.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I'm interested because we tend to go there quite a bit (in non-covid times), so improvements are always good news. IMHO it's perhaps the best venue in Halifax for acoustics.

Many years ago there was a push for a larger performing arts centre in Halifax (I think it might have been called Nova Centre). It's interesting in that, aside from covid, I am not sure the demand has dropped and the city has grown more but a project like that seems to have fallen off the radar. Roy Thompson Hall is an example of this type of venue.

There is the project in the old WTCC space but I believe it's in the same size, and presumably acoustic, ballpark as existing venues.