The Tower of Babble: Sins, Secrets and Successes inside the CBC is a Canadian non-fiction book written by Richard Stursberg.
The book is a memoir detailing Stursberg's experience as the vice-president in charge of English services at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) between October 2004 and August 2010.
When The Tower of Babble was released in April 2012, a little over one and a half years had elapsed since its author Richard Stursberg left the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), in August 2010.
He entered CBC in October 2004, to replace the retiring Harold Redekopp, with the idea of changing the network's direction, away from its focus on high arts and towards popular content.
The first chapter provides an introduction to how Stursberg entered the CBC scene, how he viewed his role replacing the retiring Harold Redekopp as the executive vice president in charge of English services, and previews what challenges he would encounter.
While the CBC had superior market placement (with respect to geographic coverage and experience with amateur sports), they lost the 2010 and 2012 Olympics to a joint CTV/TSN/Rogers $153 million bid.
Stursberg negotiated for Hockey Night in Canada's NHL rights with Gary Bettman and managed to extend their contract, but at a significantly higher price.
Instead, he initiated style and content reforms, taking effect in October 2009, including the creation of an internal newswire to provide stories suitable for TV, radio, and web services.
In the final chapter Stursberg notes the changes that have occurred since his departure and predicts the demise of CBC Sports as it loses NHL rights to CTV/TSN.
His aggressive defense against his critics was compared to a similar tactic found in Conrad Black's memoir, A Matter of Principle, which was released only a few months before.
[7] In addition to being called a "tell-all memoir",[2][8][9] the book was also described as "as much an elegy as a chronicle",[10] a "catalogued defence...[or] parting shot"[8] and like a "diary of a battlefield general".
Stursberg promoted it through reading and book signing events across Canada, including in Winnipeg,[12] Calgary,[13] and Vancouver,[14] as well as at the Ottawa International Writers Festival.
"[7] Arts and culture editor Mike Landry of the Telegraph-Journal found that "while well-written, his attempts at humour and levity in The Tower of Babble often fall flat, more confusing than chuckle-inducing.
"[9] Writer Peter C. Newman concluded that "Stursberg's rage dominates his crackling autobiography - as does his grief for the lost network's unfulfilled promise.
[10] Critic John Doyle wrote, "From what I've seen, there is a lot of self-serving blather in Stursberg's book, and his loathing for shows that are "dark" (Da Vinci's Inquest, Intelligence) is comical.