CBC managers after receiving a “confidential” complaint pushed an editorial revision on a news story mildly critical of the federal government, Access To Information (ATIP) records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter show. CEO Catherine Tait has repeatedly denied any political interference in ensuring “correct” CBC News coverage.ATIP records show the unnecessary “correction” was prompted by a single complaint. The revision followed the May 14 announcement of a $1.7 million federal subsidy for Italpasta Ltd., a Brampton, ON, spaghetti maker. The Government of Canada in its press release called the $1.7 million an "investment." .A week later on May 21 the CBC published a website story headlined, “Ottawa is spending $1.7 million for 10 new jobs at a pasta plant. Are these corporate subsidies worth it?”Records show shortly after the story was published an unidentified complainant contacted CBC Ombudsman Jack Nagler and Editor in Chief Brody Fenlon to claim the “subsidy” headline was wrong.“The $1.7 million is in fact a repayable loan,” wrote the complainant. “I am concerned this article may mislead people into believing the dollar amount is a grant or something of that nature and lead to complaints of excessive or misuse of public funds.”The identity of the complainant was withheld.“I pushed through the correction,” a senior producer wrote May 22 after executives spent a full day reviewing the story. CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson on Thursday said the complainant was “an audience member” and the name would not be disclosed. “Complaints are treated as confidential,” said Thompson. .Tait in earlier testimony at Commons committee hearings said any suggestion of political interference in the newsroom was disturbing.“I am disturbed by political interference,” testified Tait. “I worry about our journalists. (All newsroom employees) must be confident their work is shielded from external interference.”“I am concerned by some views expressed that the power of a parliamentary committee could be used to summon employees who make day to day decisions about our journalism. Political interference in journalism is precisely why the Broadcasting Act protects journalistic independence in law.”The complaint led to a prompt rewrite of the headline. The sentence “are these corporate subsidies worth it?” was replaced with “are such loans and government aid worth it?” Ashley Terry, executive producer of CBC digital news, wrote the complainant to express regret.“I regret your disappointment with this article and by extension, in the CBC,” wrote Terry in response. “I agree with you in this case we didn’t quite hit the mark.”“You are correct that calling the pasta plant assistance a ‘subsidy’ could mislead the audience as a subsidy implies the money would not be repaid. Based on your feedback the article was edited.”“We don’t always get it right but on the rare occasions that we make a mistake we try to address it transparently,” wrote Terry.“I hope this reassures you of the continuing integrity of our digital news service.”Terry did not respond to requests for comments. The CBC Journalistic Standards And Practices guide forbids unnecessary changes to published stories. “To change the content of previously published material alters that record and could undermine our credibility as well as the public’s trust in our journalism,” says the guide.ATIP records indicate CBC News at no time tried to verify confidential terms of the Italpasta Ltd. loan. Records of other federal financing for corporations confirm loans are typically awarded on more generous terms than a borrower could obtain from any bank.The Department of Industry in 2022 ATIP files disclosed it typically waived loan payments for years at a time. A 2021 Tax Court proceeding divulged interest charges on federal loans were offered “significantly lower than the market rate,” as little as 2.5% annually on a 20-year loan.The Canadian Infrastructure Bank in a 2023 submission to the Senate National Finance Committee said its loan terms were so generous that borrowers “don’t have to start paying me back” until they were profitable, testified CEO Ehren Cory. “If that takes two years or five years or seven years, our terms are quite flexible,” he said.
