On December 5, 2023, CJPME sent a complaint to the NNC regarding a November 4, 2023, National Post (NP) opinion piece purporting to “debunk lies about the State of Israel.” The piece was identified as “analysis” by the NP, but CJPME considered the piece to be purely opinion. CJPME’s complaint pushed the newspaper for corrections to the piece or, at the very least, to clearly identify it as an opinion article.
On February 29, 2024, the National NewsMedia Council (NNC) ruled that: “Given that the columnist in this case often writes from a particular perspective, the NNC would support labelling similar content as opinion pieces in the future so as to clearly signal to readers that the piece is distinct from news reporting.”
This is a small step toward holding the National Post accountable and helping readers distinguish between opinion and news. CJPME will be watching closely for future articles from the same author to ensure that his single-minded dribble in blind defence of Israel is clearly labelled as “opinion” in the future.