A record number of complaints flooded the CBC last year, with thousands of viewers accusing the network of anti-Jewish bias in its coverage of the Middle East conflict, says Blacklock's Reporter.According to a report to the board, audience complaints totaled 4,785, a 45% increase from 2022.Ombudsman Jack Nagler noted in his Annual Report that the complaints revealed a deep divide in how Canadians perceived the events and CBC's coverage. "About 55% of complainants thought CBC was unfair to Israel, and about 45% thought CBC was unfair to Palestinians," he wrote.The conflict in Gaza was the main source of complaints, with many viewers taking issue with the language used by journalists."Time after time, people pointed to the language used by journalists in their reports as an indisputable sign of bias," Nagler wrote. Examples included whether to call the conflict a "war" and how to refer to Hamas attackers.Nagler previously criticized the network's coverage, saying it left "room for improvement." The CBC refused to call Hamas attackers "terrorists," instead using the term "militants." Nagler singled out a CBC Radio World Report for criticism, saying its language was "antiseptic" and failed to convey the severity of the attacks.Members of the Commons heritage committee also criticized the CBC for failing to correct a story that falsely reported an Israeli airstrike had killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital. Subsequent investigations revealed the hospital was destroyed by a misfired Palestinian rocket."Right now, there is a war taking place in Gaza," Conservative MP Rachael Harder told a committee hearing."The CBC has determined to cover it from one angle. They put out a headline that was entirely false in nature. They readily accepted Hamas as their sole source of information."
