CBC called out for not reporting October 7 killing, kidnapping of Jews as 'terrorism'

Alex Dhaliwal
  |   November 27, 2023   |   Be the first to comment

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has received a reality check from viewers over its failure to report the October 7 attack on Israel as terrorism.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, viewers submitted 307 separate complaints to the CBC Ombudsman after it referred to Hamas attackers as “militants” not “terrorists.”

George Achi, Director of Journalistic Standards at the CBC, requested journalists “use fact-based language,” as first reported by Rebel News.

In a leaked October 11 memo, he directed reporters to “not refer to militants, soldiers or anyone else as ‘terrorists’” since “the notion of terrorism remains heavily politicized.”

Complainants accused the broadcaster of “whitewashing” the murder of Jews in favour of “political correctness,” said the ombudsman of the complaints. The overwhelming consensus shows the CBC’s designation of Hamas killers as militants “trivializes their true nature and intent.” 

Hamas or Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiya has been designated in Canada as a terror group since 2002. 

Nevertheless, CBC managers justified the editorial policy in a bid to remain impartial in its coverage of the terror attacks last month that left more than 1,200 dead in Israel, including several Canadians.

On October 17, Conservative Heritage critic Rachael Thomas questioned the CBC's insistence that it must not take sides.

“Of course, you’re taking a side,” said Thomas. “You’re taking a side against terrorists. […] Whose side are you on?”

Network Ombudsman Jack Nagler said if CBC had described the events of that day as an act of terrorism, their initial coverage would have been more accurate.

According to section 83.01 of the Criminal Code, terrorism is defined as violent lawlessness “for a political, religious or ideological purpose” with the “intention of intimidating the public.” 

“In choosing to avoid that term CBC made its own job of describing the nature of what happened October 7 more difficult,” said Nagler. 

Among the criticisms of its October 7 coverage is one viewer, who said the state broadcaster’s sanitized language “demeans the seriousness and barbarity” of the Hamas attacks, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. 

Others condemned the CBC for their apparent “lack of moral courage” in its coverage, citing a 2011 directive by the ombudsman that the network did not ban its reporters from using the word.

Although the ombudsman said the Crown corporation did not breach its Journalistic Standards And Practices, he noted there is “room for improvement.”

“That was executed well in some instances but not all,” claimed Nagler, including one CBC Radio World Report broadcast that described the killings and kidnappings of Jews as a “surprise attack by Hamas militants,” resulting in “Israeli airstrikes [that] pounded the Gaza Strip” with casualties on both sides.

While Nagler said “there is nothing untrue” about that statement, he said their language throughout is ‘antiseptic’ as if this had been a “normal clash” between two rival military forces.

On October 17, the federal government voted down a Conservative motion to question the CBC about their editorial stance, including CEO Catherine Tait and Achi.

MPs from several House parties expressed disgust with the deliberately mild language used to describe the Hamas slaughter of Jews. 

“It amounts to censorship,” Bloc MP Martin Champoux told the Commons. “Hamas’ heinous attacks are terrorism. Journalists know this.”

“If the CBC can’t call an organization that murders the elderly, kidnaps children and rapes women the terrorist organization that they are, they don’t deserve taxpayer money,” added Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman.

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