Joseph Handley is the retired Premier of the Northwest Territories, a position he occupied from 2003 to 2007. Throughout his political career in the Northwest Territories, he held many positions, including Minister of Finance; Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development; and Minister of Aboriginal and Intergovernmental Affairs and Housing. Prior to his political involvement, Mr. Handley was Deputy Minister for the Government of Northwest Territories and, before that, a teacher.
George Cooper is — wait for it! — a lawyer. (I know. Who’d have guessed?!) He’s a senior partner in the law firm McInnes Cooper in Halifax and has been involved in a number of academic and professional activities, including serving on the boards of Black Bull Resources, the Canadian National Railway, and the University of King’s College in Halifax. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and is also a former Member of Parliament.

Late last week, the federal government appointed three new members to the CBC Board of Directors. Two of the three have strong ties to the Conservative party.

Opposition MPs claimed the appointments to the CBC Board were part of a larger strategy to fill vacancies on federal Boards in advance of a possible federal election. (Along with 15 judicial appointments, people were appointed to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, the CRTC, the Bank of Canada, the National Welfare Council, the Canada Race Relations Foundation and others.)

 Montreal media lawyer Hubert Lacroix will replace Robert Rabinovitch as president and chief executive officer of CBC/Radio-Canada.

Lacroix does have a bit of broadcast experience, having worked for Radio-Canada as a commentator for basketball during the Olympic Games in 1984, 1988 and 1996. He was also a contributor to the Saturday evening sports show Hebdo-Sports on Radio-Canada, where he reported mainly on amateur sports.

The CBC is trying to fill some of the biggest jobs it has – including the one that now belongs to president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch. He’s due to step down later this year after eight controversial years.

The apparent front-runner to succeed him is Sylvain Lafrance, the current vice-president of French services (Radio-Canada).

Simultaneously, another search is under way for a candidate to replace Tony Burman, who left the top news job last month after 35 years with the public broadcaster.

Employees suspect political influence in the appointments process, given that a known Conservative is heading the search team for both positions.

• why can’t Canadian citizens get the rights to the video of their own representatives?
• what on earth did Rabinovitch say that might have been worth parodying?

[Update: the answer to the second question is: nothing.]

The first poll is by Ipsos-Reid, and asks

Thinking specifically about the CBC…which of the following two statements is closer to your own opinion?

The poll is poorly worded, since the options are not mutually exhaustive. One might think CBC is independent, but it still matters who appoints the Board of Directors. (It reminds me of the get-out-the-vote campaign in West Wing, Season 4, where will changes one kid’s sign from “It doesn’t matter who you vote for, make sure you vote”, to “No matter who you vote for, make sure you vote”).

A similar question was asked in 1999 by a different polling group (Compass); at 35%, the percentage replying “independent” was much lower.

Public broadcaster	Average tenure of DG
NRK [Norway]	9 years 8 months
ABC [Australia]	8 years 10 months
YLE [Finland]	8 years 6 months
DR [Denmark]	7 years 2 months
BBC [UK]	6 years 8 months
CBC [Canada]	5 years 4 months
ORF [Austria]	5 years 1 month
NHK [Japan]	4 years 6 months
Rai [Italy]	2 years 10 months
PTV [Poland]	2 years 10 months
France Télévisions/ORTF	2 years 6 months
Czech TV	1 year 11 months
MTV [Hungary]	1 year
RTVE [Spain]	11 months

Norway

List of Broadcasting Chiefs of Norwegian PSB NRK [from Wikipedia]

• Kaare Fostervoll (1949–1962)
• Hans Jacob Ustvedt (1962–1972)
• Torolf Elster (1972–1981)
• Bjartmar Gjerde (1981–1989)
• Einar Førde (1989–2001)
• John G. Bernander (15th July 2001–2007)

(According to his Wikipedia entry, Bernander is a freemason. A nice compliment to Sandro Curzi’s remarks about freemasons in Rai, no?)
Average tenure of DG: 9 years 8 months.
Percentage of government changes followed within six months by change of Director-General (Cukierman political vulnerability index): 3/21 = 14.29% [Korvald, Bruntland (I), Syse governments possibly followed by changes, though the timing may be wrong with no more precise dates than these]

Australia

Directors-General and Managing Directors of ABC:

1. Sir Charles Moses (1935–65)
2. Sir Talbot Duckmanton (1965–82)
3. Keith Jennings (1982-83)
4. Geoffrey Whitehead (1983–86)
5. David Hill (1986–94)
6. Brian Johns (1994–99 )
7. Jonathan Shier (??/03/2000–31/12/2001);
8. Russell Balding (29/05/2002–20/03/2006); left before the end of his five-year contract
9. Mark Scott (22/05/2006–present)

Average tenure of DGs, excluding most recent: 8 years 10 months (5 years 9 months if one counts only managing directors)
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 1/11 = 9.09% [Hawke government followed by appointment of Geoffrey Whitehead]

Finland

List of Directors-General of Finnish PSB YLE [from Wikipedia]:

• Hella Wuolijoki 1945–1949
• Einar Sundström 1950–1964
• Eino S. Repo 1965–1969
• Erkki Raatikainen 1970–1979
• Sakari Kiuru 1980–1989
• Reino Paasilinna 1990–1994
• Arne Wessberg 1994–2005
• Mikael Jungner 2005–

Average tenure of DG, excluding most recent: 8 years 6 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 3/35 = 8.57% (counting changes of Prime Minister; Kekkonen (I), Virolainen, Koivisto (II) governments followed by changes); 1/6 = 16.67% (counting changes of President; Ahtisaari presidency followed by appointment of Wessberg).

Denmark

List of Directors-General of Danmarks Radio [from DR website]

• Hans Juul Sølvhøj 1961 – 1964
• Erik Carlsen 1964 – 1967
• Hans Juul Sølvhøj 1967 – 1976
• Laurits Bindsløv 1976 – 1985
• Hans Jørgen Jensen 1985 – 1994
• Christian Nissen 1994 – 2004
• Kenneth Plummer 2005 -

Average tenure of DG, excluding most recent: 7 years 2 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 0.

United Kingdom

BBC Directors-General (post-war period only):

• Sir William Haley (31st March 1944-30th September 1952)
• Sir Ian Jacob (1st December 1952- 31st December 1959)
• Sir Hugh Greene (1st January 1960-31st March 1969)
• Sir Charles Curran (1st April 1969-1977)
• Sir Ian Trethowan (1977-1982)
• Alasdair Milne (1982-29/1/1987)
• Sir Michael Checkland (27/2/1987-??/12/1992); stepped down two months early after Birt’s appointment named well in advance
• Sir John Birt (??/12/1992-2000)
• Greg Dyke (01/04/2000 – January 29, 2004)
• Mark Thompson (June 22, 2004 – )

Average tenure of DGs, excluding most recent: 6 years 8 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 0.

Canada

Presidents of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, post-war period only:

• 1945–1958: A. Davidson Dunton
• 1958–1967: J. Alphonse Ouimet
• 1968–1972: George F. Davidson
• 1972–1975: Laurent A. Picard
• 1975–1982: A.W. Johnson
• 1982–1989: Pierre Juneau
• 1989: William T. Armstrong
• 1989–1994: Gérard Veilleux
• 1994–1995: Anthony S. Manera
• 31st March 1995–1999: Perrin Beatty
• November 1999–Present: Robert Rabinovitch

Average tenure of Presidents, excluding most recent: 5 years, 4 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 3/13 = 23.07% (Diefenbaker, Trudeau (I) and Chrétien governments followed by changes).

Austria

List of Directors-General of Austrian PSB ORF [from Wikipedia]:

• 1960–1967: Josef Scheidl
• 1967–1974: Gerd Bacher
• 1974–1978: Otto Oberhammer
• 1978–1986: Gerd Bacher
• 1986–1990: Thaddäus Podgorski
• 1990–1994: Gerd Bacher
• 1994–1998: Gerhard Zeiler
• 1998–2001: Gerhard Weis
• 2002–31/12/2006: Monika Lindner
• 01/01/2007- : Alexander Wrabetz

Average tenure of DG, excluding most recent: 5 years 1 month.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 1/7 = 14.28% (Vranitzky government followed by appointment of Podgorski).

Japan

NHK Presidents [Kaicho], post-Occupation period only [from Wikipedia, Ellis Krauss' Broadcasting Politics in Japan]:

1. 高野岩三郎　1946年4月26日～1949年4月5日; completed a three year term before introduction of the 1950 Broadcasting Act
2. 古垣鐵郎　1949年5月30日～1956年6月13日; two three-year terms; prolonged slightly by passage of the 1950 Act
3. 永田清　1956年6月13日～1957年11月3日; Kiyoshi died in office
4. 野村秀雄　1958年1月14日～1960年10月17日; Nomura appointed late after LDP factional disagreement
5. 阿部眞之助　1960年10月17日～1964年7月9日;
6. 前田義徳　1964年7月17日～1973年7月16日; three-term President, Maeda resigned after patron Satō died
7. 小野吉郎　1973年7月17日～1976年9月4日; resigned two months into a second three year term
8. 坂本朝一　1976年9月21日～1982年7月2日; two quiet three-year terms
9. 川原正人　1982年7月3日～1988年7月2日; two three year terms
10. 池田芳蔵　1988年7月3日～1989年4月4日; Ikeda resigned on grounds off ill-health
11. 島桂次　1989年4月12日～1991年7月16日; Shima resigned after annoying certain LDP factions
12. 川口幹夫　1991年7月31日～1997年7月30日; two quiet three year terms
13. 海老沢勝二　1997年7月31日～2005年1月25日; resigned after corruption scandals
14. 橋本元一　2005年1月25日～現在

Average tenure of Presidents, excluding most recent: 4 years, 6 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 1/29 = 3.44% (Ikeda government followed by appointment of Shinosuke Abe).
Average percentage of tenure completed: 87.78%

Italy

Directors-General of RAI:

Salvino Sernesi	1949	1953
Giovan Battista Vicentini	1954	1955
Rodolfo Arata	(June) 1956	1960
Ettore Bernabei	January 5, 1961	September 18, 1974
Michele Principe	May 23, 1975	January 25, 1977
Giuseppe Glisenti	January 26, 1977	June 17, 1977
Pierantonino Bertè	July 12, 1977	June 18, 1980
Villy De Luca	June 19, 1980	July 21, 1982
Biagio Agnes	July 29, 1982	February 1, 1990
Gianni Pasquarelli	February 5, 1990	July 23, 1993
Gianni Locatelli	July 23, 1993	August 3, 1994
Gianni Billia	August 3, 1994	December 31, 1994
Raffaele Minicucci	January 16, 1995	February 29, 1996
Aldo Materia [1]	March 6, 1996	July 15, 1996
Franco Iseppi	July 15, 1996	February 8, 1998
Pier Luigi Celli	February 9, 1998	February 17, 2000
Pier Luigi Celli [2]	February 17, 2000	February 9, 2001
Claudio Cappon	February 9, 2001	March 19, 2002
Agostino Saccà	March 19, 2002	March 27, 2003
Flavio Cattaneo	March 27, 2003	August 5, 2005
Alfredo Meocci	August 5, 2005	June 20, 2006
Claudio Cappon	June 22, 2006	present

Average tenure of Directors-General, excluding most recent: 2 years 10 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 8/36 = 22.22% (Fanfani (I), Fanfani (III), Moro (II), Andreotti (II), Andreotti (III), Ciampi, Berlusconi (I), Prodi (I), Prodi (II) governments followed by changes).

Poland

Presidents of Telewizja Polska (PTV):

1. Wiesław Walendziak (Jan 1994 – Apr 1996)
2. Ryszard Miazek (Apr 1996 – June 1998)
3. Robert Kwiatkowski (July 1998 – Jan 2004)
4. Jan Dworak (Feb 2004 – May 2006)
5. Bronislaw Wildstein (May 2006 – )

Average tenure of Presidents, excluding most recent: 2 years 10 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 2/9 = 22.22% (Pawlak (II), Cimoszewicz governments followed by changes).

France

Presidents of France Télévisions (and before, joint presidents of France 2 and France 3, and Presidents of ORTF):

• Jacques-Bernard Dupont : 27/06/1964 – 7/06/1968
• Jean-Jacques de Bresson : 7/06/1968 – 13/05/1972
• Arthur Conte : 14/07/1972 – 23/10/1973
• Marceau Long : 23/10/1973 – 31/12/1974
• Jean Cazeneuve : 06/01/1975 – 1978 [President, TF1]
• Jean-Louis Guillaud : 1978 – 06/1981
• Jacques Boutet : 06/1981 – 31/08/1982
• Michel May : 31/08/1982 – 14/07/1983
• Hervé Bourges : 14/07/1983 – 06/04/1987
• Francis Bouygues : 06/04/1987 – 23/02/1988
• Patrick Le Lay : depuis le 23/02/1988
• Philippe Guilhaume : 10/08/1989 – 07/09/1992 [Presidents, France 2, France 3]
• Hervé Bourges : 07/09/1992 – 13/12/1993
• Jean-Pierre Elkabbach : 13/12/1993 – 06/06/1996
• Xavier Gouyou Beauchamps : 06/06/1996 – 28/05/1999
• Marc Tessier : 28/05/1999 – 06/07/2005
• Patrick de Carolis : depuis le 06/07/2005

Average tenure of President/DG of major public channel/group, excluding most recent: 2 years 6 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 5/16 = 31.25% (Messmer, Chirac (I), Mauroy, Bérégovoy, de Villepin governments followed by changes).

Czech Republic

Česká televize, Directors-General:

Ivo Mathé	1. January 1992	1. April 1998
Jakub Puchalský	1. April 1998	31.january 2000
Dušan Chmelíček	1. February 2000	21. December 2000
Jiří Hodač	22. December 2000	11. January 2001
Inter-rim period	11. January 2001	9. February 2001
Jiří Balvín	9 February 2001	27. November 2002
Petr Klimeš (inter-rim director))	27. November 2002	18. July 2003
Jiří Janeček	19. July 2003	(current)

Average tenure of Directors-General, excluding most recent: 1 year 11 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 2/7 = 28.57% (Tosovsky’, Spidla governments followed by changes).

Hungary

Magyar Televizio, Presidents [from EUMAP]

1. István Nemeskürty (January–April 1990),
2. Albert Szalacsi Tóth (April–August 1990),
3. Elemér Hankiss (August 1990–January 1993),
4. Gábor Nahlik (January 1993–July 1994),
5. Tibor Szilárd (July 1994),
6. Ádám Horváth (July 1994–December 1995),
7. Ferenc Székely (January–September 1996),
8. István Peták (October 1996–January 1998),
9. Lóránt Horvát (January 1998–May 1999),
10. Zsolt Szabó László (May 1999–July 2001),
11. Károly Mendreczky (July 2001–July 2002),
12. Imre Ragáts (July 2002–December 2003),
13. György Pinke (January 2004–February 2004),
14. Zoltán Rudi (March 2004–

Average tenure of Presidents, excluding most recent: 1 year
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 4/6 = 66.67% (Antall, Boross, Horn, Medgyessy governments followed by changes).

Spain

Directors-General of RTVE:

• Fernando Castedo (Jan ‘81 to Oct ‘81)
• Carlos Robles (Oct ‘81 to July ‘82)
• Eugenio Nasarre (Jul ‘82 to Dec ‘82)
• Jose-Maria Calvino (Dec ‘82 to Oct ‘86);
• Pilar Miro (Oct ‘86 to Jan ‘89);
• Luis Solana (Jan ‘89 to Feb ‘90);
• Jordi Garcia (Feb ‘90 to May ‘96)
• Mónica Ridruejo (May ‘96 to Feb ‘97)
• Fernando López-Amor (Feb ‘97 to Nov ‘98)
• Pío Cabanillas (Nov ‘98 to May ‘00);
• Javier González (May ‘00 to July ‘02)
• José Antonio Sánchez Domínguez (July ‘02 to April ‘04);
• Carmen Caffarel (April 2004 onwards)

Average tenure of DG, excluding most recent: 11 months.
Cukierman political vulnerability index: 4 / 5 = 80% (all government changes since Suárez followed by changes, except change in 1993 between majority and minority PSOE governments).