Following a MAP Alert concerning CBC National Radio News Reader Neil Herland's September 21 social media posts, which had made misleading comments about a pro-Palestine protest outside of an arts centre, the Toronto Sun published an article alleging that Herland was pulled off the air by the CBC and may be facing possible disciplinary action.
The alert called on our supporters to contact the Ethics Commissioner over social media posts by Neil Herland, which breached CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices, Code of Conduct, and Social Media Guidance. At the time of writing, CJPME has not received a response to our complaint to the Ethics Commissioner.
CJPME also sent a complaint to the CBC Ombud. While we were informed by the Ombud that we can expect a response from the editor-in-chief within twenty working days, we have not yet heard back.
Herland accused pro-Palestine protesters of trying to “taunt and intimidate” him at a “Toronto synagogue.” Herland noted he was going to see a guest speaker that he described only as “an Australian-born university teacher who lives in Israel and once served as Israeli ambassador to the UK.” However, the event, which included synagogue services, was held at the Meridian Arts Centre, not a synagogue, and the speaker was Mark Regev, a former high-ranking Israeli official known for his alarming views.
We want to thank our grassroots volunteer base who responded to the campaign and helped ensure that CBC heard these concerns. We are grateful that it appears our concerns are being taken seriously by CBC. We hope that there will be an apology and corrective editorial action.
CJPME continues to monitor the situation and developments from CBC's response.
We believe that journalists should be held accountable to professional journalistic standards and ethics.