Replace Executive Leadership at Knowledge Network: BC’s Public Broadcaster
Equity Justice started this petition to Rachna Singh
TO THE KNOWLEDGE NETWORK BOARD
We, the undersigned, are a group of British Columbians of all ethnicities, who were distressed to read the recent funding audit of Knowledge Network, our provincial public broadcaster. The audit report revealed stunning inequities and lack of support for filmmakers from diverse communities.
KNOWLEDGE: OUR PUBLICLY FUNDED BROADCASTER
The commercial-free channel, launched in 1981 and available free, is funded by the B.C. government and more than 40,000 individual donors. Its programming ranges from documentaries and dramas to children’s shows. Knowledge Network has a fund to support B.C. filmmakers to create new TV programming.
The 2022 audit report shows that in the past seven years, only 1.7% of these public funds supported the work of filmmakers of colour and 0% went to Indigenous majority-owned companies. To put it in perspective, 1.7% is $34,000 of the $2+ million granted to filmmakers. This is a clear disparity and does not in any manner represent the great number of Indigenous filmmakers and filmmakers of colour in British Columbia, or reflect our provincial demographics.
AUDIT HAS FLAWS BUT HIGHLIGHTS REAL ISSUES, says CEO
Knowledge Network President and CEO Rudy Buttignol said he had “major reservations” with the audit as it “doesn’t tell the whole story.” He did however acknowledge that “notwithstanding that, we recognize [the audit] did point to the fact we have a lot of work to do in addressing the change that’s been happening”. Organizations, including the Vancouver Asian Film Festival, the Racial Equity Screen Office and the Documentary Organization of Canada who initiated the audit at Knowledge emphasized that this “gross racial inequity in funding” has harmed the careers of many filmmakers. In response, Knowledge has instituted new mandates which includes “taking immediate action to address this substantial gap,” including adding diversity quotas “over the next three years” to improve access for “equity-deserving filmmakers.”
Audit Finds Clear Disparity In Knowledge Network Funding For Filmmakers of Colour
DOES CREATION OF NEW MANDATES ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING SYSTEMIC ISSUE?
Mr. Buttignol has overseen our provincial public broadcaster for 15 years and we find it unacceptable that the gatekeepers in charge of a climate of systemic inequity are now being entrusted with its overhaul. In those fifteen years, patterns of behaviour and practices perpetuated systemic disadvantage for racialized persons and companies. By its own admission, even as other broadcasters and industry organizations pivoted to address issues of systemic racism in the summer of 2020, Knowledge lagged behind. In failing to be responsive to a historical moment at a public broadcaster, Mr. Buttignol and Knowledge squandered the trust and respect of a generation of diverse filmmakers in B.C. The new equity measures, belatedly instituted and under pressure, fail to meaningfully address this long-standing insular, neo-colonial culture and allows for its corporate leadership to escape any accountability.
To uphold its public mandate, Knowledge needs new visionary leadership. A publicly funded broadcaster should be an accessible and open place, where all filmmakers should feel welcome to tell their stories.
We are asking that the Board of Knowledge Network, entrusted with the task of governing the affairs of the Crown Corporation, replace Mr. Rudy Buttignol with a new leader who can begin the task of rebuilding relationships and creating structural change.
Perhaps with new leadership in place, Knowledge can once again become the People’s broadcaster, the trusted repository of B.C. stories.