A CBC story faulting the Catholic Church was “an error in judgment” that violated the broadcaster’s own ethics code, a network ombudsman said yesterday. The ruling came three days after CEO Catherine Tait hailed the CBC as the “gold standard” on ethics, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“It is my view that CBC made an error in judgment,” wrote Ombudsman Jack Nagler. “Editors at CBC Saskatchewan did not have an explanation for the failure,” he added..The ruling came over an online story published at CBC on Dec. 22, 2021 headlined, “Catholic Bishops Fail To Release Details Of $30 Million Fundraiser For Residential School Survivors On Time.” It was written by reporter Jason Warick of CBC Saskatoon..The story suggested that the Church reneged on a promise to detail a $30 million fundraising drive to finance programs for former students of Residential Schools. Warick’s story said a November 30 deadline has passed and “asked when the fundraising will start.”.CBC readers called the story false and misleading since the Church had not only begun public fundraising campaigns but that “Jason Warick reported on some of them himself.” The story was subsequently rewritten without a note to readers identifying the clarification, a breach of the network’s Journalistic Standards And Practices guide..“CBC violated its policies by failing to inform readers about the change,” wrote Ombudsman Nagler. “Journalistic Standards And Practices says: When we make corrections and clarifications online we should include on the story page an explanatory note to the audience.”.“I have on many occasions reminded CBC journalists that precision matters and provides readers or listeners or viewers with confidence that CBC’s journalism is reliable,” wrote Nagler. “CBC could have made wiser choices before the initial publication of the article,” he added..The citation followed an announcement Monday by Tait that she was conducting a “cross-country campaign” to discuss CBC ethics. “The gold standard of CBC, the Journalistic Standards And Practices, are really the highest in the country,” Tait told CBC Vancouver. “That’s something really important to remind people of.”.“At the end of the day, the antidote to disinformation is more good, high quality, credible journalism, not just from the public broadcaster but from all media outlets,” said Tait. “That’s really what we’re here to talk about.”.Tait in her last appearance at the House of Commons heritage committee in 2019 said the network was a “beacon for truth” in a stormy sea of irresponsible news coverage. “How do we protect and defend our citizenry from this unbelievable tsunami of disinformation? In a sense we become a beacon for truth,” said Tait..“We need the public to feel safe, that we are a beacon.”
A CBC story faulting the Catholic Church was “an error in judgment” that violated the broadcaster’s own ethics code, a network ombudsman said yesterday. The ruling came three days after CEO Catherine Tait hailed the CBC as the “gold standard” on ethics, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“It is my view that CBC made an error in judgment,” wrote Ombudsman Jack Nagler. “Editors at CBC Saskatchewan did not have an explanation for the failure,” he added..The ruling came over an online story published at CBC on Dec. 22, 2021 headlined, “Catholic Bishops Fail To Release Details Of $30 Million Fundraiser For Residential School Survivors On Time.” It was written by reporter Jason Warick of CBC Saskatoon..The story suggested that the Church reneged on a promise to detail a $30 million fundraising drive to finance programs for former students of Residential Schools. Warick’s story said a November 30 deadline has passed and “asked when the fundraising will start.”.CBC readers called the story false and misleading since the Church had not only begun public fundraising campaigns but that “Jason Warick reported on some of them himself.” The story was subsequently rewritten without a note to readers identifying the clarification, a breach of the network’s Journalistic Standards And Practices guide..“CBC violated its policies by failing to inform readers about the change,” wrote Ombudsman Nagler. “Journalistic Standards And Practices says: When we make corrections and clarifications online we should include on the story page an explanatory note to the audience.”.“I have on many occasions reminded CBC journalists that precision matters and provides readers or listeners or viewers with confidence that CBC’s journalism is reliable,” wrote Nagler. “CBC could have made wiser choices before the initial publication of the article,” he added..The citation followed an announcement Monday by Tait that she was conducting a “cross-country campaign” to discuss CBC ethics. “The gold standard of CBC, the Journalistic Standards And Practices, are really the highest in the country,” Tait told CBC Vancouver. “That’s something really important to remind people of.”.“At the end of the day, the antidote to disinformation is more good, high quality, credible journalism, not just from the public broadcaster but from all media outlets,” said Tait. “That’s really what we’re here to talk about.”.Tait in her last appearance at the House of Commons heritage committee in 2019 said the network was a “beacon for truth” in a stormy sea of irresponsible news coverage. “How do we protect and defend our citizenry from this unbelievable tsunami of disinformation? In a sense we become a beacon for truth,” said Tait..“We need the public to feel safe, that we are a beacon.”
