The Media Accountability Project  

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. 

The article morally defends Israel, suggesting that while Israel “could have incorporated all Palestinian territory long ago,” it hasn’t. Israel has belligerently occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since June 1967, threatening to annex it several times in recent years. Claiming that a colonial Israel is morally defensible because it has not entirely annexed Palestine is outrageous.

The article states that the ICJ “rejected a request by South Africa to order Israel to halt its defensive war against Hamas.” It is unfair, misleading, and inaccurate to describe Israel’s war as “defensive.” This is highly editorializing language that has no place in a news article. Such language is reserved for news explicitly tagged as “opinion.”

"What does it say about our democracy? The true horror is that the media, which is supposed to be our vanguard of information, is no longer making individuals informed and unbiased."

"Please publish a correction to remove the suggestion that all protesters support the Houthi Motto as this claim is entirely uncorroborated, and add missing Palestinian perspectives."

At no point does Casemore interview a protestor, or a pro-Palestinian organization. While the article makes frequent reference to the possibility of antisemitic, illegal, anti-Israel or hateful incidents, Casemore does not see fit to ask the protestors how they describe their protests.  

"There is really only one logical conclusion, that the demonstrator is not “calling for Jihad” in a political sense, but rather referring to someone named Jihad or Jehad."

"It is a disservice to your readers to focus solely on the accounts of highly partisan organizations. The criticisms of these groups run far and wide."

"I, therefore, ask you to add a Muslim voice and mention the rise in Islamophobia to make your article more balanced and fairer."

Please help us challenge the National Post and John Ivison for an opinion article defending and misrepresenting a dehumanizing post made by a marketing professor from the University of Guelph-Humber, Paul Finlayson.