The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) is looking to recruit younger adjudicators.

Sylvie Courtemanche, chair of the CBSC, says particularly when it comes to adjudicating listener complaints around hip hop and urban music, a younger perspective is needed.

“We need a younger demographic to give us perspective on those kind of songs, but also shows on TV that tend to skew to a younger demographic,” Courtemanche told Broadcast Dialogue at this month’s BC Association of Broadcasters (BCAB) Conference. “We have two issues, we need a younger demographic as far as adjudication goes, but we also need adjudicators from smaller and regional newsrooms to give a different perspective.”

Courtemanche says half of the complaints the CBSC now receives are around news, balance and fairness. Specifically, the council is asking radio and TV stations in small and medium markets to propose people with news experience who can adjudicate without the perception of bias.

“Often case when we get news complaints in a big market, I need somebody from a smaller market who has no conflicts, so the adjudicator is not in a conflict position with the broadcaster who is the subject of the complaint,” explained Courtemanche.

She says more adjudicators are needed in every province. Stations wishing to put forward employees for consideration can contact Courtemanche directly at [email protected].

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