CBC managers asked to testify at a senate hearing on Islamophobia but refuse, saying it undermines “journalist independence.” . CBC Logo-redCBC Logo (photo credit CBC) .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, a 2022 Ombudsman’s report showed the CBC broke its ethics code with a story that framed elderly white Canadians and Conservative voters as bigots..“Our journalists regularly report on issues like Islamophobia and must do so independently,” wrote CBC Government Relations Executive Director Shaun Poulter to the Senate Human Rights committee..“They cannot risk being perceived as advocates or agents subject to a committee’s scrutiny and recommendations.”.“I hope you can appreciate that senators questioning news leaders about their editorial decisions and practices undermines the journalistic independence guaranteed in the Broadcasting Act,” wrote Poulter, with no mention of the Ombudsman’s report..The Senate Human Rights committee is conducting hearings on Islamophobia. It had asked CBC managers to testify..“Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate this request,” wrote Poulter..“The committee’s work is important. It is the kind of work our journalists often report on for Canadians. That is their role. It would not be appropriate for our editorial leaders to also be participants in the committee’s work.”.CBC News on Oct. 25, 2021, published a website commentary by an Elections Canada poll worker Zeehaa Rehman that was subsequently revised for breaching its Journalist Standards and Practices Guide..“It was not okay,” wrote the Ombudsman..“It was not okay to publish a headline that declared political parties and by inference their voters as “hating” people.” .The article “was neither fair nor precise enough to be considered accurate.”.“Declaring a politician to be hateful should be based on their policies and their actions not just the colour of their lawn signs,” wrote the Ombudsman..A CBC manager of digital news acknowledged the article was “not up to our usual standards.”.The article by a self-described Muslim woman stated “on election day I greeted people who voted for parties that hate people like me. Elections provide numerical evidence of the rise of right-wing politics and that should worry us all.”. CBC logoCBC logo .“On election day, I greeted incoming voters, determined if they were at the correct polling address and helped count votes after the polls closed. During the first hour of my shift, an elderly white woman came in with a walker … After she left I couldn’t help but wonder whether, despite our pleasant interaction, she was one of the people who hate people like me.”.“It was jarring to realize that many of the people who had seemingly been nice to me throughout the day had chosen to vote for the Conservative Party,” wrote Rehman..“I am a visibly Muslim, South Asian woman and also well aware of the rising number of police-reported hate crimes throughout Canada, like the mass murder of a Muslim family in London [ON] and the rhetoric that enables it.”.The website article was posted for nearly a month before it was corrected by management. The CBC gave no indication why the original article passed editorial checks.
CBC managers asked to testify at a senate hearing on Islamophobia but refuse, saying it undermines “journalist independence.” . CBC Logo-redCBC Logo (photo credit CBC) .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, a 2022 Ombudsman’s report showed the CBC broke its ethics code with a story that framed elderly white Canadians and Conservative voters as bigots..“Our journalists regularly report on issues like Islamophobia and must do so independently,” wrote CBC Government Relations Executive Director Shaun Poulter to the Senate Human Rights committee..“They cannot risk being perceived as advocates or agents subject to a committee’s scrutiny and recommendations.”.“I hope you can appreciate that senators questioning news leaders about their editorial decisions and practices undermines the journalistic independence guaranteed in the Broadcasting Act,” wrote Poulter, with no mention of the Ombudsman’s report..The Senate Human Rights committee is conducting hearings on Islamophobia. It had asked CBC managers to testify..“Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate this request,” wrote Poulter..“The committee’s work is important. It is the kind of work our journalists often report on for Canadians. That is their role. It would not be appropriate for our editorial leaders to also be participants in the committee’s work.”.CBC News on Oct. 25, 2021, published a website commentary by an Elections Canada poll worker Zeehaa Rehman that was subsequently revised for breaching its Journalist Standards and Practices Guide..“It was not okay,” wrote the Ombudsman..“It was not okay to publish a headline that declared political parties and by inference their voters as “hating” people.” .The article “was neither fair nor precise enough to be considered accurate.”.“Declaring a politician to be hateful should be based on their policies and their actions not just the colour of their lawn signs,” wrote the Ombudsman..A CBC manager of digital news acknowledged the article was “not up to our usual standards.”.The article by a self-described Muslim woman stated “on election day I greeted people who voted for parties that hate people like me. Elections provide numerical evidence of the rise of right-wing politics and that should worry us all.”. CBC logoCBC logo .“On election day, I greeted incoming voters, determined if they were at the correct polling address and helped count votes after the polls closed. During the first hour of my shift, an elderly white woman came in with a walker … After she left I couldn’t help but wonder whether, despite our pleasant interaction, she was one of the people who hate people like me.”.“It was jarring to realize that many of the people who had seemingly been nice to me throughout the day had chosen to vote for the Conservative Party,” wrote Rehman..“I am a visibly Muslim, South Asian woman and also well aware of the rising number of police-reported hate crimes throughout Canada, like the mass murder of a Muslim family in London [ON] and the rhetoric that enables it.”.The website article was posted for nearly a month before it was corrected by management. The CBC gave no indication why the original article passed editorial checks.
