"If such extreme views are broadcast in a news segment without explicit clarification that they are personal opinions, it risks violating CBSC Clause 5 – News, which mandates that news be reported with “accuracy and without bias,” and that it not be shaped by the beliefs or desires of those involved in its production."
July 2, 2025
To the Talk Radio AM640 team,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) to express our concern regarding yesterday's Alex Pierson show broadcast featuring John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute (Air time: Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at 12:40:05 PM). The segment in question contained deeply troubling commentary that we believe violates core principles of journalistic ethics and the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council (CBSC) Code of Ethics.
Mr. Spencer repeatedly generalized and vilified individuals who hold the belief, widely shared by human rights experts and organizations, that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. He dismissed such perspectives as the product of “propaganda,” describing them as indicative of a “crisis in critical thinking” and attributing them to “self-loathing Westerners.” Such comments dehumanize and stereotype pro-Palestinian advocates, painting them as mentally compromised or traitorous. These remarks are discriminatory on the basis of political opinion and amount to a sweeping attack on dissenting voices in Canada.
This rhetoric contravenes CBSC Clause 2 – Human Rights, which prohibits “abusive or unduly discriminatory material or comment” based on religion, national origin, or political opinion.
Moreover, Mr. Spencer made the unsubstantiated claim that Western academic institutions are complicit in anti-Israel propaganda and compares education studies critical of settler-colonialism and peaceful protest with national security threats. He even alleged that the media has been disseminating information from a “Hamas death cult,” thereby dismissing a wide range of credible journalistic and humanitarian sources reporting from Gaza.
If such extreme views are broadcast in a news segment without explicit clarification that they are personal opinions, it risks violating CBSC Clause 5 – News, which mandates that news be reported with “accuracy and without bias,” and that it not be shaped by the beliefs or desires of those involved in its production.
I urge your newsroom to issue an on-air clarification or provide equal airtime to perspectives countering Mr. Spencer that can critically examine and refute these harmful claims. Failing to do so will leave me no choice but to file a formal complaint with the CBSC.
Anthony Issa
Media Analyst
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East