CBC News scrapped controversial guidance telling journalists not to call the 9/11 attacks terrorism just 30 minutes after a federal cabinet minister publicly condemned the softer terminology, records show.Basem Boshra, CBC’s director of journalistic standards, announced late Friday that management was withdrawing its earlier instructions on how reporters should describe the September 11, 2001 attacks.“It has caused significant concern, anger and hurt for many people,” Boshra said in a public statement. He said the network had “decided to adjust it to clarify.”Blacklock's Reporter said the original internal directive instructed CBC journalists to describe the attacks as “hijackings that led to passenger jet crashes” rather than terrorist attacks.“Do not refer to the September 11 attacks as terrorist attacks,” the directive said, according to an internal document first reported August 26 by the Toronto Sun.Boshra announced the reversal at 4:44 p.m. Eastern on Friday.Thirty minutes earlier, at 4:14 p.m., Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree issued a statement on behalf of the federal government rejecting attempts to characterize 9/11 without referring to terrorism.“The Government of Canada has always recognized 9/11 as the deadliest terrorist attack in history and we unequivocally condemn terrorism in all its forms,” said Anandasangaree.“No cause, grievance or ideology can ever justify the deliberate targeting of civilians.”Anandasangaree noted 24 Canadians were among the thousands of people killed on September 11, 2001..Keith Boag, a former CBC Ottawa bureau chief, criticized the network for reversing course following the backlash.“CBC’s capitulation in the face of criticism of its carefully considered policy on whether journalists should make judgments about contentious issues is cowardly pandering,” Boag wrote on social media.“It’s an embarrassment to journalism.”Heritage Minister Marc Miller welcomed the reversal, calling it “a welcome change to what was a piece of pedantic and foolish guidance that caused legitimate anger.”The timing of the CBC reversal comes despite repeated assurances from senior executives that the taxpayer-funded broadcaster operates independently of political influence.“We do not take into consideration political winds or influences,” former CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait testified during 2024 hearings of the Commons heritage committee.Tait told MPs the broadcaster operates at arm’s length from the federal government in its editorial, financial and operational decisions.“This independence is critical to the trust Canadians place in us,” she testified.Current CBC president and CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard, who earns $562,000 annually, similarly told the heritage committee April 23 that CBC journalists were not pursuing political agendas.“They are not pushing their opinions,” said Bouchard.“I don’t believe our reporters are pursuing a particular agenda. They are seeking the truth.”CBC had defended its directive for days despite mounting criticism from 9/11 survivors, Canadian commentators and senior U.S. officials.FBI Director Kash Patel issued a sharply worded rebuke August 27.“Any agency that doesn’t publicly reject this bastardization of history and an insult to the souls lost during our largest terrorist attack in U.S. history will no longer have a friend in the FBI,” said Patel..U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra also condemned the directive, warning that failing to recognize terrorist ideologies could undermine cross-border security co-operation.“Just this year the FBI has been instrumental in or directly responsible for multiple disruptions of significant terrorist and violent criminal organizations operating within Canada,” said Hoekstra.“Failure to recognize and confront radical and terrorist ideologies significantly endangers our efforts to establish and harmonize a shared national and economic security partnership.”The controversy also prompted the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to issue an unusual public statement acknowledging the attacks as terrorism.“We know the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 changed the world, tragically ended many lives, and affected thousands more,” said CSIS.“They serve as a heartbreaking reminder of the importance of the counterterrorism work we do.”
