On August 11, 2023, CBC informed CJPME that it had made an on-air correction following a letter that identified a factual error during a July 5 broadcast on Canada Tonight with Dwight Drummond. The report failed to identify the Palestinian children that had been killed during Israel’s assault on the Jenin refugee camp and referred to them simply as militants.
CBC updated its “Corrections and clarifications” webpage to announce the correction that had been made on-air on July 7. The CBC statement reads:
“On July 5, 2023, the program Canada Tonight with Dwight Drummond reported on funerals for Palestinian militants who were killed during an Israeli military raid on a refugee camp in Jenin. In fact, the Palestinian Health Ministry said the dead included a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-olds. A clarification was broadcast on July 7 to add their ages and include attribution for that information.”
While CJPME is disappointed by CBC’s lengthy delay in informing us of the change, we applaud its commitment to transparency and publishing this information. CJPME also notes that according to Palestinian NGO Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), Israel killed four children during its military assault on the Jenin refugee camp, not three as the CBC had reported.
To read CJPME’s original letter of concern, click here.