— Feature, Musings —04.03.2024 08:51 AM
My latest: CBC, where fairness towards Israel goes to die
Canada’s state-funded national broadcaster has a secretive committee to oversee the network’s reporting on Israel – presumably to provide balance.
But Jews who work at the CBC say the network’s coverage isn’t balanced. At all.
Said one: “It’s depressing, I am afraid to speak up because I hear stories about my colleagues getting reprimanded. I feel like I am bashing my head against the wall.”
Another: “Jewish journalists aren’t being listened to. When ideas are being pitched it falls on deaf ears. [Our] stories are being ignored.”
Now, the suggestion that Canada’s state-funded broadcaster has been less-than-fair to Israel, before and after the horrors of October 7, isn’t particularly news. CBC refuses to describe the terrorist group Hamas as terrorists; it routinely accepts unverified casualty counts that come from Hamas; and, to cite just one example, it has refused – unlike other major media organizations – to apologize for falsely accusing Israel of bombing a hospital in Gaza City and killing hundreds.
For most Jews, CBC’s ongoing coverage of Israel can be fairly described by the Honest Reporting watchdog: “CBC News provides one-sided smears of Israel.”
The notion that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation tilts against Israel isn’t news, as noted. But the revelation that there exists a covert internal group overseeing CBC’s coverage of Israel, and that stories that are critical of the anti-Israel side are being actively suppressed? That’s news.
Consider these appalling facts from Jews who work within CBC:
• CBC News Network has not put The IDF on the air since before 2024
• One anchor has been posting very anti-Israel posts on social media – behind a wall, so only a select few can see it
• There’s no tracking of CBC coverage on perspectives – nor who is being put on the air
Said one former senior CBC producer – who, like all the others, feared retribution for speaking out: “As a former CBC person, I am deeply disappointed and troubled by the coverage of this war. It’s extremely one-sided and is only leading to more misinformation and hatred towards the Jewish community in Canada.
“The CBC was once the gold standard for journalism. However, those days are now gone – unless something radically changes within management.”
Asked for a comment about the shadowy “committee’s” work, CBC spokesperson Kerry Kelly admitted that it exists, which has not been publicly revealed before. Said Kelly: “We have a longstanding Middle East advisory committee created a few years ago to give CBC leadership recommendations about long-term coverage strategy in the region.”
When October 7 happened – when 1,200 men, women, children and babies were slaughtered, and 200 more taken hostage – CBC ramped up the work of the clandestine group. Said Kelly: “When coverage intensified in October, we put together a list of internal contacts (producers with extensive international experience) to provide editorial support if needed. Reporters and producers can choose to email them to ask questions or seek advice on day-to-day coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.”
Insisted Kelly: “They don’t review coverage.”
But how can the committee “provide advice” if they’re not in fact reviewing CBC coverage? And, for that matter, who is on the committee? What is their expertise? And what about suggestions that Jewish voices are disregarded, or non-existent on the committee?
Says Kelly: “We don’t have access to individual statistics on our staff’s religious or cultural identity, nor is that information we would share.”
She then goes to share what she says CBC management don’t have access to: “I can confirm the assertion that no one on the list belongs to the Jewish faith, or identifies as Jewish, is false on both accounts.”
Make sense to you? Me neither.
And nor does their coverage – which is, indeed, wildly unfair to those millions of viewers and listeners who support Israel and desperately want a balanced perspective. Will the taxpayer-funded ever get around to supplying that kind of balance?
Don’t hold your breath.
I suppose it depends on perspective but I, and most of the people in my social circles would have never called the CBC the “gold standard” in journalism at any point in time but I would agree that it is worse now than it has ever been. Not just on Israel but any subject that doesn’t fit its narrative.
Certainly, the CBC is no more guilty of source shopping than any of the other outlets but I would agree that it does spend a lot of time crafting its narrative that the civilians of Gaza are the oppressed and the IDF is the oppressors, with little recognition of Hamas’ direct role.
While a different topic The Hub looked into CBC coverage bias for the Parent/Trans issue in Saskatchewan. It would be interesting to see if a similar investigation on the CBC coverage of Israel would show a similar bias. (like we aren’t sure already)
Here is the link:
https://thehub.ca/2023-12-20/dave-snow-the-cbc-prioritizes-allyship-over-objectivity-in-saskatchewan-parental-consent-coverage-an-empirical-analysis/
Warren,
I suppose this means that Tait and the rest of them are about to mea culpa and give back those big raises? Maybe in my dreams.
Give back the raises?
Why do you think they got raises and bonuses in the first place?
I think apparatchiks describes the CBC.
CBC has never been fair to Israel.
Example: Neil MacDonald.
When Al Jazeera is more balanced than the CBC, we have a problem.
Al-Jazeera has been patently anti-Israel from day one. It’s facetious to claim CBC is worse.
Just as it is to continue to demand a positive view of all modern Israeli government action.
I don’t think anyone is demanding that the media only report positively on anything Israel does. What we’re seeing is a narrative where the only victims are the Palestinians and the only victimizer is Israel. Contrary to the narrative, the IDF isn’t targeting civilians or hospitals. They are targeting Hamas fighters who use civilians as shields and operate out of civilian buildings, like hospitals. That’s the same group that said they would conduct another Oct 7 operation as soon as they could. Hamas’ ongoing role in this is no longer reported because it doesn’t fit the narrative. And CBC, more than most, loves its narratives.
They say that, yes. Given that 2 top level ministers in the Knesset have espoused – frequently – a desire to ethnically cleanse the region in favour of Jewish supremacy, there is approximately zero chance that this particular government will get much more of a benefit of the doubt than the Palestinian Authority from me. Like Bernie Sanders said the other day – this simply isn’t the same Israel we are dealing with anymore.
Jason
Hamas has pledged to kill all the Jews.
And the Liberals’ buddies in Iran have also pledged to do this.
CBC has been a taxpayer-funded pool of extreme left-ism for a couple of decades, minimum. It’s home-spun programming is an activist’s wet dream, but it isn’t of interest to most rational people. Its news coverage can be OK when reporting on certain international items (Israel being the notable exception), but its domestic news – especially radio news – has been a joke for many years.
Cut off the billions in subsidies and see how long people actually choose to watch/listen voluntarily.
Warren,
I quite deliberately waited until now to comment on the killing of the seven World Central Kitchen workers. I had to cool off on this one. The IDF said they weren’t deliberately targeted, in THREE different cars…that statement stretches credulity to its limits.
Although this was a nighttime attack, one doubts that the cars couldn’t have been properly identified. The national unity government has apologized, but is that enough? In short, there must be court-martial consequences for any flag officer or colonel who gave these orders.
What were the consequences when three hostages bearing a white flag were killed? I’m still waiting for the IDF to take action. At least in that tragedy, the commanding officers ordered the troops to cease fire.
Those of us who strongly stand with Israel are having our foundation shaken to its very core by these types of unacceptable killings that without a doubt violate the rules of engagement.
This second incident needs to be the last.
Ronald,
Hamas bears responsibility for using civilian infrastructure for their operations.
Where Israel supporters get it wrong is in hiding behind that statement as an all-purpose blanket for any and all actions taken by the IDF against civilian infrastructure. The foreign aid workers killed were intrinsically assumed to be part of a terrorist network without any basic attempt to discern otherwise. And that’s where the Kahanist government of modern Israel is at – we found terrorists in a hospital, therefore all hospitals are fair game. We found terrorists in a food kitchen, therefore all food is fair to target. It’s sick.
Jason,
Netanyahu’s strategy seems to be a subtle wink and a nod. A quite deliberate IDF policy of carte blanche, and that is unacceptable.
Like I’ve said before, Gantz and Gallant need to leave the national unity government yesterday. Otherwise, they become complicit by the shared stain.
Warren,
Well, the IDF has dismissed two reserve officers: a Colonel and a Major.
Meanwhile, a Brigade commander, along with a Division commander, have been reprimanded. So has the head of Southern Command.
IMHO, not good enough. We need to see a court martial followed by appropriate prison sentences if found guilty.
Harper should have done to the CBC what everyone assumed he would when he was PM. He didn’t game theory that one properly.
Martin,
The problem with orthodoxy is that radical examples of same tend to discredit the party that has such intentions. To privatize the CBC, or parts thereof, will come off as crank policy more than anything else. For better or worse, The Mother Corp. is the national broadcaster.
As you know, I’ve repeated ad nauseam what is the right strategy: clean house at the national and regional news director divisions and as the main shareholder IMPOSE a code of conduct that reflects true political impartiality. Otherwise…the corporation reserves the right to can even the new guys and gals who fill the news director positions. It’s long overdue for the government to flex its muscles and lay down the law as regards the television and radio news divisions. And if necessary, do the same thing with Radio-Canada.
Agreed.
I don’t care for CBC news coverage either. But whining about it as if it’s a federal crisis seems juvenile and obscures actual issues facing most of us – or worse, turns it into the lightning rod to distract from other, more concerning anti-democratic stunts future PM Poilievre is sure to attempt.
Why didn’t he?
Gilbert,
Harper didn’t do it because it was demonstrably a vote loser in Central and Atlantic Canada.
(You know, that majority government thing that is normally much more easily achieved by Liberals than Conservatives. Not applicable, next time though re: the DISTINCT possibility of a CPC majority mandate.)
I don’t know which leading party is the greater group of fools: both should almost quite literally want to kill to have Kinsella as their war room head. It’s a recipe for
a record political victory, or at minimum, a totally unforeseen political turn-around.