The Media Accountability Project  

A new documentary released by CBC's The Fifth Estate is generating significant blowback. Upset by how CBC lifts the veil on Canadian charities complicity in apartheid, pro-Israel groups like the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and HonestReporting Canada (HRC) are fiercely the attacking the public broadcaster.

To be clear, I am not asking you to take sides in your reporting on Palestine and Israel but rather to provide reporting that includes new and significant developments in both Canadian and United Nations positions. I appreciate your consideration and look forward to your responses to my questions and request.

"Simply put, repeating what “Israel says” misinforms and misleads listeners. CBC has a responsibility to distinguish fact from assertions, and provide adequate, balanced context to the listener."

"In light of the above, referring to it as “disputed” misleads readers and violates the journalistic imperative of accuracy. I urge you to revise the article in question and to adopt the terminology “occupied West Bank” in all future reporting on this issue. Using accurate language is essential to uphold the journalistic principles of accuracy, impartiality, and fairness expected from professional journalists."

Will you correct his article immediately and inform your readers that it is Israel that is preventing Fares Alghoul and all international media from entering a genocide zone?

"Israel claimed these allegations were based on intercepted documents from Gaza listing his name on Hamas salary and personnel records, claims that could not be independently verified. This context is essential to understanding the targeted nature of the strike, yet you excluded it from your segment."

"The omission of this context from your reporting leaves viewers with a distorted impression of the situation. I respectfully ask that your editorial team ensures that future radio broadcasts on Gaza give greater voice to Palestinian civil institutions, such as the Tribal Affairs committee for better journalistic balance and perspectives."

"CBC Listen aired an episode featuring David Common in conversation with former ambassador to Israel, Jon Allen, about Israel’s genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip—but CBC refuses to describe it that way. The episode contains factual inaccuracies, erases Palestinian voices, and the host makes harmful comments about Palestinians in Gaza."

Numerous Canadian outlets, including the CBC, have reprinted a highly flawed Associated Press article that reports on Israel’s killing of 15 Palestinian medics and aid workers, based entirely on the Israeli military’s internal findings where they claim the incident as a case of “professional failures.” While AP doesn’t raise skepticism around this statement, they also minimize firsthand Palestinian testimony by the Palestinian Red Crescent Societie (PRCS) and its official rejection of the Israeli military’s report which it describes as “full of lies.”