Across the nine major news categories, the CBC claimed 31 Gemini nominations out of a possible 39 (up from 27 in 2005), including sweeps in best direction, best news magazine segment and best host. CBC’s the fifth estate, with nine noms, has more than double the next-highest broadcaster total – Global’s four noms – while Citytv avoided being shut out for a second straight year with a pair of noms, for newscast and best reportage. CBC’s dominance was largely unaffected by the surprise absence of CTV News.

It’s no trade secret that there have been rumblings from various national newsrooms in recent years about potentially bypassing the Gemini Awards altogether in favor of the Radio-Television News Directors Association Awards, which hand out the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award. But the frustration hadn’t turned to action – until this year, when CTV News decided to not submit its programs and people for Gemini consideration.

‘I had a management meeting in late June,’ begins Robert Hurst, president of CTV News. ‘We took a vote to see who wanted to continue supporting our news involvement in the Geminis. Of 15 people around the table, one person put up their hand. The rest of the people said, ‘They’re not legitimate. Let’s pull out.”

The disaffection has its roots in the private casters questioning the Gemini voting process – including both alleged vote stacking (due to superior CBC numbers in the membership) and jury stacking in favor of the Ceeb. This led to a reappraisal of the system employed by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, led by former CTV president Trina McQueen, who now sits on the CBC board of directors.

As a result, the entire process – from jury selection to what jurors watch – was overhauled two years ago.

‘Most people tend to watch [only] CTV, Global, CBC or City every night,’ says Academy chair Paul Gratton. ‘So we bent over backwards to try to change the voting structure exclusively in those categories to try to make it more fair and objective.’

A jury was assembled in order to ensure that those who did the voting would be exposed to all the news programs so they could do a fair comparison.

‘Everybody signed off on the list – including CTV,’ adds Gratton. ‘These were people all considered credible and as unbiased as they could be. It was a nice balance – all the broadcasters were represented.’

Hurst doesn’t believe the changes are enough. ‘[This year] CBC probably has 98% of the nominations in all the news categories.’ (The number is closer to 80%.) ‘Is that legitimate in terms of the number of broadcast journalists across the country?’ he asks.

CBC spokesperson Jeff Keay declined comment on the CTV News pullout and its implications, citing the pubcaster’s longstanding relationship with the awards show while extending its congratulations to this year’s nominees.

‘We’re enthusiastic about participating in the Geminis,’ he says.

Last year, the fifth estate had all five nominations for best direction in a news information program or series – a feat it repeated this year. But one could say CBC has a lock on the prize.

‘Only the CBC hires directors to go into the field,’ notes Hurst. ‘It’s a stupid category.’ And according to Hurst, getting the Academy to change or remove the category is near impossible.

Not so, responds Gratton.

‘There may be some anachronisms that are still there from earlier days,’ he admits. But, he notes, after every Gemini show, a rules and regulations committee looks at each request that is submitted.

‘If some individual writes a letter and says, ‘I don’t think there should be a director’s category in journalism because it’s not really done anymore,’ the committee will sit down to debate, analyze and try to get proper information. It has the power to eliminate the category.’

Hurst adds that not only is the CBC dominating an anachronistic category, but that the Geminis ignore where most broadcast journalists in Canada work – and that’s at local stations.

‘We all win awards at RTNDA every year,’ he says. ‘Those awards are reflective of local news operations as well. And they’re modeled after the American system, where there are regional Emmys that then go to national Emmys. The Geminis were started in Toronto [and Toronto journalists win most of the awards]. It’s elitist.’

While Gratton acknowledges that the Academy is aware of the need for local recognition, he stresses that it would be an enormous undertaking to both add categories and to ensure that there are enough members across the country to form impartial juries and subcommittees.

‘Our feeling has been that we’re already up to four nights of the Geminis. At what point do you draw the line?’ he says.

That doesn’t rule out, however, the possibility of an open dialogue between the Academy and broadcasters after this year’s Gems are over. Gratton is even receptive to discussing a suggestion put forward by McQueen a few years ago that would bring the RTNDA into the Geminis essentially as the craft group for broadcast journalism.

‘Everything is doable,’ says Gratton. ‘We’re not gods on high trying to impose a model on people. We’re member-driven.’