The Media Accountability Project  

"It is very clear that CTV News has closed itself off from having meaningful dialogue with its readers. Considering this lack of responsiveness and accountability, I am curious whether there is a more useful contact at CTV News. If so, please pass it on. Otherwise, I would appreciate a direct confirmation that CTV News is not interested in engaging with constructive feedback or improving its reporting practices."

"It is clear that AP used Israel's own words for its headline, which makes this article biased and in violation of journalistic standards. I, therefore, ask you to change your headline and any reference to Sinwar as 'the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks' in your article."

"It would be more appropriate and accurate to refer to the “shadowy military facility” as a detention center or to use its actual name: Sde Teiman detention facility."

"By focusing on Netanyahu’s visit and speech, the article turned the attention away from the fact that Israel is still waging its genocide. Failing to mention this essential piece of information emphasizes the importance of adding context and illustrates how controversial his visit and speech were."

"You refer to the Hamas 1988 Charter to say that Hamas’ goal is the destruction of the state of Israel. Hamas adopted a new charter in 2017, which indicated its struggle against Zionists and does not call explicitly for the destruction of Israel, as you report."

On July 16, 2024, CJPME sent a letter to the Toronto Star and the Associated Press challenging the framing of an article from July 14 about a brutal Israeli attack a few days earlier in Khan Yunis area of Gaza in an article entitled, “Hamas says Gaza cease-fire talks haven’t paused and claims military chief survived Israeli strike.”  The article covered an Israeli attack that killed 90 Palestinian civilians, which Israel tried to justify by saying it (possibly) resulted in the assassination of a Hamas leader.

CJPME challenged the Star/AP’s decision to headline a Hamas comment on the ceasefire talks, rather than 1) Israel’s devastating attack on civilians, 2) Israel’s decision to make an attack in a supposed “safe zone,” and 3) Israel’s false claim of having killed a Hamas leader, was very suspect and biased.  

CJPME argued that the Star/AP should choose a headline which, rather than focusing on some “diplomatic” development involving Hamas, focused on the significant aspects of the situation, e.g. “Israel’s attack in Gaza ‘Safe Zone’ results in death of 90 civilians.”

The next day, CJPME was happy to see an article from AP, by the same author as the article on the 14th, again about a brutal attack by Israel in Gaza which killed scores of Palestinian civilians, which carried the title, “Israeli strikes in southern, central Gaza kill more than 60 Palestinians, including in ‘safe zone’”  While we don’t always get an explicit acknowledgement that our letters have had an impact, we are often gratified to see our input incorporated in later coverage.

On July 19, 2024, CJPME sent a letter to the CBC about an Associated Press article published by the CJPME entitled: “U.S. shutters problem-plagued temporary aid pier in Gaza, claiming mission accomplished” published on July 17, 2024.  In particular, CJPME took issue with the sentence: “Aid groups also were terrorized by attacks, from Hamas, gunmen who stripped convoys of supplies and the Israeli military.”  While CJPME made a number of points about the article, CJPME foremost challenged CBC/AP’s use of the word “terrorized.”

The UN defines “terrorism” as criminal acts against civilians with the purpose to “intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing an act.” CJPME argued that, if indeed Hamas or unidentified gunmen had stolen aid, it would not be for any political purpose, but rather to feed starving people.  As such, the characterization of such attacks as being by nature “terror” would be inaccurate.  CJPME asked the CBC/AP to modify the sentence, such that the modifier “terror” not longer applied to Palestinian groups.

The CBC responded with a lengthy email which acknowledged several of the issues raised by CJPME, and explained that they had had a lengthy back-and-forth with AP to strengthen the article.  In the end, CBC rewrote the paragraph in question to add attribution and other details to make the language more precise. It now reads:

“Everyone has agreed all along that land crossings are the most productive way to get aid into Gaza, but the Israeli military has routinely blocked routes and slowed deliveries due to inspections. Hamas, armed gunmen who stripped convoys of supplies and the Israeli military created dangerous conditions for aid workers, according to various aid groups, the U.N. and the U.S. More than 278 workers have been killed in the conflict, said Samantha Power, administrator of USAID.”

Notably, in addition to adding far more contextual balance to the paragraph, the CBC/AP removed the word “terrorized” (as applied to Palestinian groups) as requested by CJPME. 

"While you write that the Houthi drone strike in Tel Aviv was “deadly,” you omit to mention any details about Israel’s strikes in the port of Hodeida."

"I’m disappointed with the article’s paragraph which talks about the death toll in Gaza, as it fails to make clear that the Palestinians are the overwhelming victims in this conflict."

"Your article and headline should clarify that the stabbing attempt is, at this point in time, only an allegation made by the Israeli authorities, who claim without evidence that the Canadian tourist 'threatening Israeli security forces with a knife.' However, this is mere hearsay as there has not been a formal investigation into the incident."