Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she appreciates CBC expressing regrets for its story about her office contacting the Crown attorney’s office on charges related to the Coutts Border Blockade. .“I’m glad that they acknowledged that their story was incorrect, so I feel vindicated,” said Smith at a Thursday press conference. .“I want to ensure that I have a good solid relationship with the media.” .CBC expressed regrets on Wednesday for publishing a story which claimed a person in the Office of the Premier of Alberta had contacted the Crown's office to interfere with the case of people charged at the Coutts Border Blockade..READ MORE: CBC 'regrets' story claiming Smith sent emails to Crown over Coutts blockade.CBC stopped short of an apology. .“As such, we have updated this story and related pieces, removing references to direct contact between the premier's office and prosecutors – which the premier has vehemently denied,” it said. .Smith said the media has an important role to play..When it makes mistakes like that, she said they should issue corrections quickly to ensure people continue to have confidence in it. .Many other news outlets suspected CBC did its due diligence, and they compounded the errors..She called this “an advisory for everyone that my only expectation is that we have fair, accurate, and balanced news coverage.” .In response, she said she hopes they do better in the future, and she will hold them to that. .Smith said the sad part was it took CBC a long time to issue a correction. .When it became clear during the election she did not contact the Crown’s office, she said it could have issued the retraction than rather than wait five weeks after..She said it was “better late than never, but I think the media has to be very mindful that when they make these kinds of allegations, their story has to be fair, it has to be accurate, it has to be balanced.” .Smith followed up by saying CBC was promoting distrust in the media. .People look to the media as a trusted source to hold governments accountable and print truthful information. While it did not correct the story sooner, she said she feels vindicated. .She said was glad she did not have to file a defamation lawsuit, and it is clear after all of the work her team did to track down the false information that CBC had no proof. .Smith concluded by saying she wants to reset her relationship with the CBC and all media. .“I don’t expect it to always go our way, but I think that there has to be more balance, more fairness, and certainly facts have to be at the heart of news reporting,” she said. .Smith’s legal counsel sent a clear message to CBC in April to retract false information published and apologize by end of the month or get sued..READ MORE: Smith gives CBC an ultimatum — retract and apologize by end of April or get sued.“We write with respect to the Article noted above and related recent CBC News articles and broadcasts, which transparently seek to sensationalize allegations already fully addressed by the premier and resuscitate a false and defamatory narrative against the premier, her office, Alberta Crown prosecutors, and the administration of justice in Alberta," said Bennett Jones lawyer Munaf Mohamed. .“The premier has openly voiced her concerns with charges related to COVID-19 violations.”
