The Media Accountability Project  

On March 10, 2025, CJPME media analyst Anthony Issa submitted a formal letter to Global News BC1, condemning its incomplete and misleading coverage of the mass killings of Alawite civilians in Syria’s coastal regions. Global’s original report failed to mention that over 1,300 Syrians (mostly civilians) had been executed by HTS-backed security forces, as documented by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Following CJPME’s intervention, Global News issued a follow-up report on March 11, finally acknowledging the staggering civilian death toll.

Here is a transcript of the broadcast:

“Syria's interim government has signed a deal with a Kurdish-led group. Syria’s defence minister says it has ended a military operation on the west coast that triggered the worst violence since the fall of the Assad regime. it says loyalists of the former president have now been neutralized. More than 1,300 people, mostly civilians, have died since Thursday.”

This update represents a major step toward correcting Global News' previous omissions, demonstrating the power of media pressure in holding Canadian outlets accountable for their coverage of war crimes.

This outcome highlights the critical role of CJPME in pushing Canadian media toward more rigorous reporting on the Middle East. By challenging misleading narratives, we ensure that crimes against civilians in Syria and beyond do not go ignored or misrepresented.

CJPME will continue to push for fair, accurate, and transparent coverage of the Middle East.

"Referencing them as loyalists is inaccurate and contributes to a sectarian narrative that pits different religious communities in Syria against each other without evidence of such being the case."

"It is essential to provide viewers with basic background and context surrounding the recent events in Gaza."

"It is therefore entirely appropriate, and indeed necessary, for Global National to have reported on the impact of Israel’s judicial changes on Palestinians under Israeli rule. This reporting should necessarily include the impact on the 1.6 million Palestinians who hold second-class Israeli citizenship, as well as the 5.2 million Palestinians under Israeli military occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza."

I appreciate your coverage of Netanyahu’s decision to delay his coalition’s judicial reforms in response to recent protests and strikes in the country. I also appreciate that you called attention to Israel’s far-right National Security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who stated publicly that the reforms will pass. However, there is critical context that you’ve failed to include in your news segment.

The reason that the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir agreed to this legislative pause, rather than resign from the coalition, was in return for a commitment from Netanyahu to establish a “national guard” under Ben-Gvir’s control, which many are calling a “militia.”