These documentaries cannot continue to be made without a strong and stable national public broadcaster. A public broadcaster has neither the same mandate nor the same objectives as a private company, since it must work in the public interest. It cannot be subject to the dictates of ratings, nor must it seek to please advertisers. A strong public broadcaster takes risks and invests in projects that are first and foremost in the public interest.
Documentary filmmakers want their films to be seen, and they do get seen. The examples John mentioned earlier have all been successes in theatres, at festivals and on television, in Canada and elsewhere. By chasing ratings to attract advertisers rather than working in the public interest for Canadian viewers, the CBC/SRC distorts its mandate and its programming. The frantic race for the biggest audience cheapens programming and forces our national broadcaster towards content that caters to the lowest common denominator, as in the private sector: reality shows, singing contests, game shows and the like. Programs like that are low-risk and cheap to make.
Auteur documentaries and POV documentaries are hard to make and can be risky, both financially and politically. But when they are supported and broadcast properly, the odds of their success increase tremendously.We feel that these kinds of documentaries are the most successful in helping to fulfil the CBC/SRC mandate, which we understand to be as follows: the CBC/SRC should be distinctly Canadian, should provide a means of cultural expression, should contribute to our national consciousness and should reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada in both official languages.
Yet in the past few years, our organization, DOC, has seen an alarming decline in documentary programming on public television, particularly in English on the CBC. Documentary programming has declined from 263 hours in 2002-2003 to 122 hours in 2005-2006. One by one, documentary series have been cut from the main network, for example The Passionate Eye, Life and Times and Witness, while others have been reduced. CBC cut Opening Night, the only documentary series for the arts. And while the documentary An Inconvenient Truth was breaking box office records in 2006, the highly popular show The Nature of Things was downgraded to a limited summer series, with no official word about its return.
Its independent producers have been waiting for 18 months to hear how many new programs will be commissioned for the current season. How is this possible when the environment is at the top of everyone's agenda, and David Suzuki has been identified as the most popular man in Canada?