Yesterday, in the middle of a pandemic, the CBC quietly turned out the lights on Here and Now NL and other supper hour news shows across the country.

CBC journalists were issued directives from their bosses to not tweet or complain publicly about it. Viewers expecting local news got cookie cutter network coverage of the Covid-19 crisis. They were not able to see stories about their community told to them by the familiar faces they've come to know and trust over the years.

What if this decision is a preview of things to come? Rumblings of budget cuts are in the air. By the time this pandemic is over, CBC management will be able to justify the decision to centralize or cut local supper hour programming entirely. It will be an easy decision to justify - CBC's once loyal local viewers will finally have migrated en masse to the competition.

"Cookie cutter" news doesn't fly .... especially now! We want OUR news back!