"It is not the first time that Postmedia has inappropriately labeled opinion as news — it seems to happen far more with Postmedia than any other National NewsMedia Council member outlet that I am aware of. Please take meaningful action to prevent this chronic violation of Canadian journalistic standards."
March 20, 2024
To:
Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun
Adrienne Batra, Toronto Sun
Dear,
Joe Warmington’s recent article on the NDP’s Palestine motion is labeled as national news in all of the Postmedia outlets in which it is published, including the Toronto Sun. “As politicians grandstand in Ottawa, there are still hostages and hungry kids in Gaza” is a work primarily of opinion. It does not meet the standard of news. It is misleading to label it as such for your readers.
There are numerous examples of Warmington’s writing crossing the boundary from news into commentary. Here are just 3 obvious examples:
- “Hamas, who have caused all of this carnage and misery, are still in control there and here. Even with their mass murder on record for all to see, Hamas learned late Monday they still have friends in the Canadian Parliament.”
- “And also support at the street level, where their intimidating antics, assaults and disruptions are ignored and even tolerated.”
- “As long as Hamas is in control of Gaza, there is no proper humanitarian effort possible to feed the innocent children who are used as shields by the terror group, who are the bad guys in this war they started with their savage slaughter Oct. 7, 2023 of 1,200 innocent Israelis.”
I hope I do not need to argue why this article should be labeled as an opinion. It must be obvious to any editor. How and why Warmington’s articles are sometimes labeled as news is a question that should raise some alarms around Postmedia’s processes around these matters. It is not the first time that Postmedia has inappropriately labeled opinion as news — it seems to happen far more with Postmedia than any other National NewsMedia Council member outlet that I am aware of. Please take meaningful action to prevent this chronic violation of Canadian journalistic standards.
Sincerely,
Jason Toney
Director of Media Advocacy, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East