The death and life of great CBC.ca blogs

So Jowi Taylor bowed out of the Radio 2 blog with a rambling, feisty post that once again failed to generate any kind of discussion. Not even a single "Goodbye."

I had great hopes for the Radio 2 blog. It was the site's homepage. And Jowi Taylor did The Wire. Jowi built a guitar out of the effluvia of Canadian history. This guy is a music guy and a radio guy and intelligent and likeable but maybe this never came across in the blog.

Maybe he was hamstrung by the format, or by managers. Maybe Radio 2 listeners don't want to read blogs, they want to listen to classical music. Who knows?

Over at the Media Mudsling Facebook group it's noted that Jowi expressed his frustration quite publicly and candidly. I don't blame him.

Maybe he should have told the Radio 2 detractors that it made no sense for the CBC to have an entire radio station dedicated to music that no one listened to. That it was a holdover from a time when white European elites were on a mission to force Western European culture down the throats of the farmers in the countryside in an effort to civilize them, and in turn, the nation.

But he didn't say that. He ended it lyrically, thoughtfully and pleasantly, posing an elegant challenge to the listener.

There was a time when I celebrated the launch of a new blog at CBC.ca with vigour and enthusiasm, hoping that each would shine some light on this place which desperately needs illumination, and bring us closer to an audience that increasingly finds us cold and distant.

But something has gone awry. I still stand behind Inside the CBC, but where's the evolution we expected? Where are the multiple voices and contributors that could flesh out the CBC experience? How come Tod seems no better connected than when he started? Why is it not at least linked from CBC.ca?

Also at the Mudsling Facebook group it was suggested that maybe CBC.ca needs an obsessive, authoritative personality to blog about everything that makes it on to the site. Kind of a virtual tour guide with personality who can point out what you missed. This sounds like a splendid idea.

Does anyone know that Political Bytes even exists? This blog is pretty interesting and off to a great start. Who writes it? The MO seems to be to put these things online and then pray someone will find them.

So how then, to react to Ian Hanomansing's intern's blog?

The kid seems well-intentioned. But who would want to read it? It's the blog Doyle's intern never wrote. He cracks wise about CBC security and Ian's teeth. He might be making fun of me.

Or the "Letter & Response from the Director" on CBC.ca's redesign, a blog so important it has been linked from the top of the CBC home page for weeks? There were hundreds and hundreds of comments from real surfers on the first post, with some great feedback. It was looking like a real chance to connect with the audience in a direct way.

All the comments are gone.

Ironically, the second post is entitled "We Value Your Feedback."

I guess if by "Value," you mean "Delete."

I can't help but feel partly responsible. I encouraged every initiative. My philosophy was "the more, the better." But I didn't get it.

I said on Monday that I didn't understand blogging, but maybe I wasn't telling the whole truth.

It's not enough to just make a blog, or a radio show, or a TV show, and just hope for the best.

You have to be honest, to give a little of yourself, even if the whole thing is artifice. And just like any host, the blogger has to have personality and know how much of it she or he can inject into the proceedings. You have to treat the audience with respect and show them something they've never see before.

There are millions of bloggers out there working for free. But we have an edge. We work at the CBC, and have the resources of the place behind it and a perspective most people don't have. We are creative, intelligent people. We should be putting that forward. We have to focus on the stuff that people can't easily create in their spare time.

Then, they will come. They will read. And they will come back.