Review of complaints about Heather Mallick’s column of September 5, 2008
This office received about three hundred complaints concerning a column by Heather Mallick entitled “A Mighty Wind Blows Through the Republican Convention” (CBCNews.ca, September 5, 2008).
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Policy calls for opinions to be based on fact. Ms. Mallick’s item generally stays in the opinion column but she does offer some flat statements that appear to offer “facts” without any backup. For instance, there is no factual basis for a broad scale conclusion about the sexual adequacy of Republican men. In fact, that type of comment, applied to any other group, would easily be seen as, at best, puerile. Similarly, the characterization of Palin supporters as white trash lacks a factual basis. I asked Ms. Mallick to explain the basis for these characterizations. In a note she explained her opinions of Ms. Palin, but did not provide a factual justification for the statements.
Ms. Mallick is free to draw her own conclusions about Ms. Palin’s appearance, as irrelevant as that might be to her worth as a public official, but a similar sortie against one of her children is, at best, in poor taste. Had Ms. Mallick’s article been labeled “satire,” there might have been scope for such descriptions and conclusions—they have a certain cartoonish tinge—but even the best and most pointed editorial cartoonists have, at some point, run afoul of sensible editorial authority. There is a significant difference between censorship and appropriate editorial oversight. CBC journalists are required to exercise appropriate oversight over material that appears on CBC outlets. Ms. Mallick is entitled to her opinions, and those opinions should not be censored, but those opinions must also be expressed in a manner that meets our Journalistic Standards and Practices. Liberty is not the same as license.
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But there is another significant aspect to our policy. As mentioned, it calls on CBC outlets to touch on the widest range of views possible. On CBCNews.ca, there does not appear to be a wide range of “pointy” views. For instance, many of those who complained claimed that there is no one of an opposite ideological viewpoint readily apparent on the service. Unfortunately, this appears to be true. As I observed in an earlier review concerning CBC Newsworld programming, the CBC should not necessarily avoid having people of strong views on the air, but we must ensure that people of differing views are given a fair opportunity.
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CONCLUSION:
Portions of Ms. Mallick’s column do not meet the standards set out in policy for a point-of-view piece since some of her “facts” are unsupportable.
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Vince Carlin
CBC Ombudsman
Ok, so when does Kate start getting paid to write as a freelancer for the CBC?
Talking of the CBC. I suppose one could either ignore it and turn it off or- as Mr Duffy says in his little blurb “somebodies got to keep ’em honest”. He is talking about Parliament Hill.
This morning with a Tim Hortons to go, I drove up the road home and heard CBC Radio One. A Michael Enright had one Susan Jacoby, author of “The Age of American Unreason (Knopf). Two professorial types joined her.
Her sneers were- of course at McCain and Rightist intellectuals. Using the word “folks” as a new appendage. Saying there was a “lionization of the average person”. She threw in the late George Wallace and his “pointy headed intellectuals” phrase. She accused Obama’s opponents with trying to play act as the ordinary man in the street. Then one of the speakers had a hit at Stephen Harper. Trying to tell Canadians that he is “one of them”. A regular guy no less.
One of the speakers added that Pierre Trudeau certainly did not appear to be identified with the average Joe. Yet he was Prime Minister. Meaning the tactic is not needed – this to identify with the average Canadian. Not mentioned was how his popularity waned. Nor the con job against Joe Clark to get Trudeau back in power.
By all means says I, to my car radio, go ahead and enjoy your morning. One of the speakers spoke about Tim Hortons patrons and someone looking down on latte drinkers.
I enjoyed my Hortons and free timbit for my dog even more.