Canada Reads, But For Whom?

Are you familiar with CBC's Canada Reads campaign that happens every year? Basically five well-known Canadian personalities champion a Canadian novel, and compete by way of extolling the merits of their chosen book, until after a period of time, one book is chosen as the winner. Sort of a literary Suvivor, I guess. I enjoy the show – it's a great way to encourage interest in Canadian books and reading in general.

But just recently a blog was brought to my attention, and it has made me think a little differently about the Canada Reads campaign. There's this guy, John Mutford, who lives in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and he's a passionate Book Luster. His blog is very thoughtful and there's no doubt that he loves books, and knows a thing or two about books and authors. A while back he got a great idea for the Canada Reads campaign – why not, instead of only having well-known Canadian personalities on their panel, put one ordinary person, like maybe John, in the mix? He even wrote quite a few blog posts about his idea. In fact, he got so passionate about his idea of getting an ordinary guy or gal on the panel of Canada Reads, that he even contacted the CBC about it, and set up a Facebook page entitled: Put John Mutford On The Air! CBC Radio – Canada Reads 2008. Last time I checked he'd gotten over 600 people backing him up on this idea.

Unfortunately, in spite of what I thought to be a great interest in getting a 'regular guy' on the show, this is the response John got from the CBC:

The plans for Canada Reads '08 are underway and we're aren't making any changes to the show design. We want to continue to draw as many listeners as possible and believe this is achieved with a panel of celebrities and high-profile Canadians, people from various walks of life who have risen to the top in their endeavours. The bigger the names, the more listeners, website visitors, fans and, finally, readers for all the shortlisted books and the chosen title. We'll be announcing next year's campaign in the fall and hope you continue to find it of interest.

I honestly do not think it will make a great difference if one of the panelists wasn't a celebrity – in fact, I think it could increase interest in the show, because people would want to know how 'regular guy' does in the competition. That would create more of a connection with the show, wouldn't it? I can't help but find it rather insulting that the CBC would think that I would only be interested in a program if 'famous Canadians' were featured. It sort of reminds me of the very short-sighted view of children's publishers who publish books written by celebrities regardless of the quality, because they figure "hey, these people are famous, so the masses will buy it regardless". The CBC is publicly funded by all of us 'regular folk' – why can't the public be more involved?

Sadly, as of June 12, John has given up on the campaign, and has taken down the Facebook petition. It's really a shame that such a great idea has to die a quiet death, but let's face it – this isn't the first time the CBC has made a dumb decision. I'll never forgive them for cancelling This Is Wonderland.

Comments

[Elizabeth]

and our famous Canadians are so well known and have so much influence on the reading public

*cough cough*

[Patricia]

Yes, my thoughts exactly. The phrase 'Famous Canadian' tends to make me giggle.

[John Mutford]

Hi there,
Thanks for your concern over my Canada Reads quest. Hopefully, as next year's panelists are announced and the show starts to get hyped again, people will surf around and come across posts such as this one which question the merits of the program format. Unfortunately for me, the "rejection letter" came during an unrelated, but emotional time for me, so I just felt it was best to let it drop. But as long as there is interest out there, I'll just have it on hiatus.

Nice post!
John

P.S. Did you follow any of the 7 Wonders of Canada initiative? One of the judges for that was a guy from Trooper. It's hard to take them seriously after all this.

[Isabella]

I regret that I didn't learn about his endeavour till late in the game, and haven't got my own act together to post anything about it lately. I think his idea's great! Having him as a "regular-guy reader" on the panel would ensure I'd be listening in. I'm really surprised CBC is taking the attitude the formula is working, cuz from where I stand, interest has been dwindling. Heck, at this point, I'd say John's more of a celebrity than some of their other recent panelists. Here's hoping he takes up the mission again!

[Beth]

Well, geez, I guess all of us non-celebrities wouldn't know how to choose a book to read if it weren't recommended by someone famous. We're that dumb.

This is one of the reasons I love blogging - all the reviews and recommendations by "everyday" people - people whose opinions I respect and trust.

[radmama]

Awww. That's too bad.

The Halifax afternoon show ran a Young Canada Reads panel with ordinary kids (11-14) and it was FANTASTIC. Intense, thoughtful discussions with less posturing.

I think mixing the ordinary/celebrity panelists would be great.

[Patricia]

That's very interesting radmama – I didn't know that. Thanks for that info. So what does that say about what CBC thinks of adults? That were all a bunch of celebrity-obsessed idiots? Sheesh.

[do i have to?]

I don't know how I feel about Canada Reads, period.

What is the point of the show, anyway? To pick books from multinationals, throw in a small press and/or a translation for inclusivity's sake, add a dash of Canadian celebrity, and stir. This is supposed to get people excited about reading?!?

And I don't know how I feel about John Mutford's campaign to secure a place on a panel. On one hand, it's a got that feel-good spin to it (you'd think the ceebs would jump all over a book-lover living in the tundra), and on the other hand it seems like he's simply seeking his 15 minutes of fame. I can't help but wonder, if Mr. Mutford was a book reviewer and blogger living in Toronto, would his petition to CBC have been more or less successful?

[Dale]

I was sad when John dropped his bid but what are you supposed to do when you're up against the lunkheads over at CBC? I work near there and watch them set up their 'reporting LIVE' shots for the news all around the outside of their own building. Ridiculous.

[Andrea]

The whole concept of Canada Reads is strangely negative. The discussion is centered on why the books should be eliminated. As a listener, you end up not wanting to read any of them because you've heard so much negative criticism.