Miffed, Unapologetic and Hopefully Gone

A last word, hopefully, on the disappointing, if not scandalous, happenings inside the CBC's news operations.

Business reporter Amanda Lang is still there, miffed and unapologetic, even after the CBC finally has banned its reporters from taking money for speaking engagements. Lang and chief news reader Peter Mansbridge have been getting big outside bucks for speaking at events sponsored by associations and companies they report on.

CBC had refused to admit that reporters taking outside money is unethical. However, last week it finally folded that hand and ordered the ban. As columnist John Doyle wrote in the Globe and Mail: “Barn door closed after the horse left.”

Lang wrote a supercilious and embarrassing 1,600-word defence of herself in the Globe. Interestingly, more than 300 Globe online readers so far have commented on her defensive piece, almost all of them deriding her and indicating that she should resign.

Her resignation might just be in the works. Her bosses did not approve the Globe piece. Also, her defence has not appeared on any CBC news site.

There are rumours that the CBC bosses are discussing how to cut her loose. If they are, there are others whose ties should be snipped. These should include Mansbridge and CBC President Hubert Lacroix who has had to pay back $30,000 in expense money he was not entitled to receive and who has dozed through all the CBC news crises.

The shame of the Lang and other CBC scandals is the hurt laid on its many other dedicated reporters, editors and other news workers. They don't deserve any of this and CBC needs to clean house to restore their pride and the confidence of Canadians, most of whom do not want to see the CBC rot and die.